Paris MoU: Ship Bans Down in 2015 While Sweden, UK and France Top ‘White List’

The Paris MoU has issued its annual report on port state control inspections showing a large decrease in the number of ship bans and deficiencies compared to 2014.

The Paris MoU is an organization consisting of 27 participating maritime Administrations and covers the waters of the European coastal States and the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe.

Of the 17,858 inspections carried out in 2015, the Paris MoU reported 11 bans, or refusal of access, in its coverage region compared to 20 in 2014. The detention percentage has remained stable at 3.33%, while the number of deficiencies fell 10% compared to 2014.

Looking at the Paris MoU “White, Grey and Black Lists” the overall situation regarding the quality of shipping seems to be stabilizing. Although individual flags have changed lists, the Paris MoU notes the total amount of 43 flags on the “White list” remained equal to 2014.

Sweden is leading this year’s “White List”, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The MoU notes that this year Portugal and Spain have both moved from the “Grey List” to the “White List”, while India and Switzerland moved from the “White List” to the “Grey List” and Saint Kitts and Nevis moved from the “Grey List” to the “Black List”. In 2015, there are a total of 11 flags on the “Black List”, with the United Republic of Tanzania having the worst performance for the third year in a row.

Among Recognized Organizations (RO), that is organizations that are delegated by flag States to carry out statutory surveys on their behalf, the best performers during the period 2013-2015 was DNV GL, followed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). International Register of Shipping is bottom of the RO list in 2015, in terms of poor performance, followed by Universal Shipping Bureau and Bulgarian Register of Shipping.

The Paris MoU notes that the total number of inspections did decreased slightly in 2015 compared to 2014’s 18,430 inspections. Since 2011, the average detention percentage increased on an annual basis through 2013 (3.78%), but decreased in 2014 to 3.32%. In 2015 the detention percentage remained stable at 3.33%. 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%.

Among ships flying a “Black List” flag, there were 1,166 inspections and 131 detentions for a detention rates of 11.24%, similar to both 2014 and 2013. For ships flying a “Grey List” flag, the detention rate was 8.58%, significantly higher than 2014 (6.27%). For ships flying a “white listed flag” the detention rate is 2.50% which is at the same level as 2014.

The 5 most frequently recorded deficiencies in 2015 were “ISM” (4.3%, #1797), “fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions” (2.5%, #1044), “nautical publications” (2.5%, #1016), “charts” (2.4%, #996) and “oil record book” (1.6%, #645), according to the Paris MoU.

The current member States of the Paris MoU include Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up