Paris, Tokyo MoUs Want Watckeepers Rested

16 March 2013, the general cargo vessel Danio  grounded in the Farne Islands nature reserve, off the east coast  of England while on passage from Perth to Genk, Belgium. The  chief officer, who was the officer of the watch, had fallen asleep.
The general cargo vessel Danio grounded off the east coast of England in March 2013, because the officer of the watch had fallen asleep.

The Maritime Authorities of the Paris and the Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control will launch a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) with the purpose of establishing that watchkeeping personnel are meeting the requirements regarding hours of rest as per STCW 78 as amended (including the Manila amendments).

 

This inspection campaign will be carried out for three months, commencing on September 1, 2014 and ending on November 30, 2014.

The deck and engine room watchkeepers’ hours of rest will be verified in more detail for compliance with the mentioned scope of the CIC during a regular Port State Control inspection conducted under the regional ship selection criteria within the Paris and Tokyo MoU regions.

Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) will use a list of 10 selected items to establish that watchkeeping personnel are meeting the requirements regarding hours of rest, focusing attention on the Minimum Safe Manning Document (MSMD) and records of rest.

In addition information will be gathered on the watch system, whether the MSMD requires an Engineer officer and whether the ship is designated UMS (Periodically Unattended Machinery Space).

For this purpose, PSCOs will apply a questionnaire listing a number of items to be covered during the concentrated inspection campaign.

When deficiencies are found, actions by the Port State may vary from recording a deficiency and instructing the master to rectify it within a certain period to detaining the ship until serious deficiencies have been rectified.

In the case of detention, publication in the monthly detention lists of the Paris and Tokyo MoU web sites will take place. It is expected that the Paris and Tokyo MoUs will carry out approximately 10,000 inspections during the CIC.

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Press Release; July 31, 2014; Image: MAIB