Sweden Tops Paris MoU’s Flag List

Sweden took the lead on the 2015 performance list for flags and recognized organizations adopted by the Paris MoU Committee, followed by the flags of the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and Norway.

The committee approved the 2015 inspection results and adopted new performance lists for flags and organizations that will take effect from 1 July 2016.

Specifically, the ‘White, Grey and Black (WGB) List’ presents the full spectrum, from quality flags to flags with a poor performance that are considered high or at very high risk. It is based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a three-year rolling period for flags with at least 30 inspections in the period.

On the WGB list for 2015, a total of 73 flags are listed: 43 on the white list, 19 on the grey list  and 11 on the black list.

In 2014, the number of flags listed was 72, namely 43 on the white, 19 on the grey and 10 on the black list.

Compared to 2014, the number of flags on the white list remains the same. Portugal and Spain are new on this list, moving from the gray one.

Moreover, the number of flags on this year gray list remains the same. New on the list are India and Switzerland, who 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 flags are that of the United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Moldova, Togo, Comoros and Cook Islands.

In addition, the committee has monitored the performance of the classification societies acting as ROs for flags for several years.

Among the best performing organizations were DNV GL, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Lloyd’s Register (LR) and Korean Register of Shipping (KRS).

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

On 1 July 2016, the performance lists will be used for calculating the ship risk profile.