Paris MoU Sees Less Bans in 2015

Paris MoU saw a large decrease in the refusal of access or bans in 2015 – 11 bans compared to 20 in the previous year, according to 2015 Annual Report on Port State Control.

The data shows that the detention percentage has remained stable at 3.33 percent. The number of deficiencies has decreased ten percent when compared to 2014. Moreover, the number of inspections carried out was 17,858 – slightly less than in 2014 when this number was 18,430.

Over a three-year period of time, most cases of refusal of access (45) involve ships which have been banned for multiple detentions. Five ships have been banned for a second time and the remaining three cases involved ships that “jumped the detention” by sailing without authorization.

The flags of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Moldova, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Togo have recorded the highest number of bannings over a three-year period.

Looking at the Paris MoU “White, Grey and Black (WGB) Lists”, the overall situation regarding the quality of shipping seems to be stabilizing. Although individual flags have changed lists, the total amount of 43 flags on the white list is equal to 2014. On the WGB list for 2015, a total of 73 flags are listed.

Sweden took the lead on the 2015 performance list for flags and recognized organizations (ROs). Portugal and Spain have moved from the grey to the white list. India and Switzerland went one position down from the white list. Saint Kitts and Nevis has fallen from the grey list to the black list. The poorest performing flag for the third year in a row is that of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The best performing RO was DNV GL, followed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Lloyd’s Register (LR).

The lowest performing organizations include International Register of Shipping (IS), Universal Shipping Bureau (USB) and Bulgarian Register of Shipping (BRS).

Adopted by the Paris MoU Committee, the new performance list is effective as of July 1, 2016.

Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom contributed most to the overall inspection efforts in terms of percentage, together over 51 percent. High risks ships have been operating mostly in the southern part of the region, while low risks ships have been calling in the north-western part of the region.

Finally, with 1,166 inspections and 131 detentions, the ships on the black flag score a detention rate of 11.23 percent, which is similar to 2014 and 2013. For ships flying a grey-listed flag, the detention rate is 8.58 percent – significantly higher than in 2014. The detention rate for ships on the white flag is 2.5 percent, which is at the same level as 2014.