ClassNK

Port State Control

PSC Annual Report

• Port State Control Annual Report June 2023 - English   (4365kb)
• Port State Control Annual Report June 2022 - English   (4179kb)
• Port State Control Annual Report June 2021 - English   (6515kb)
• Port State Control Annual Report June 2020 - English   (4821kb)
• Port State Control Annual Report June 2019 - English   (3906kb)

What is Port State Control?

Port State control, or PSC, is the exercise of the right of a port State, when granting permission to a foreign flagged ship to enter a port of the port State, to inspect the vessel to ensure that it meets international safety, pollution and other requirements.
Various international standards and conventions, such as the SOLAS Convention, MARPOL Convention, and the International Load Line Convention, have been enacted in order to promote the safety of life and property at sea and to protect the marine environment with respect to oceangoing ships. Although the flag State and owner of a ship have fundamental responsibility for ensuring that these requirements are implemented, supervision by the flag State is many times insufficient. There is also often a lack of adequate competence and experience on the part of ship crews and others that can all too often have an adverse impact on safety, as well.
PSC has been established as a means of proactively complementing the role of flag States with the primary aims of improving ship safety and eliminating substandard ships. This consists of conducting inspections of various aspects of a ship once it has arrived in port, including the safety of life and property onboard the ship, prevention of pollution by the ship, and the living and working conditions onboard the ship.

PSC inspection process

A PSC inspection typically consists of a check of the documents and certificates onboard ship combined with a condition survey of the vessel. However, a more detailed survey is carried out if there are “clear grounds” for such, as when deficiencies are found in the ship's compliance with mandatory international requirements, or there is some question as to the safety condition of the vessel. If serious deficiencies are found affecting safety as a result of the inspection, the ship is detained and the captain is instructed to rectify the deficiencies before departure. In the event that the deficiencies are not rectified or no suitable plan is presented for rectifying them, the ship will be prohibited from leaving the port.

MOUs

The importance of PSC is now recognized by most countries around the world. Regional cooperation among port States has led to the concluding of Memoranda of Understanding, or MOUs, that seek to promote and realize more effective PSC for a given region. The first such agreement was signed in Paris in 1982. Since then, MOUs concerning the implementation of PSC regimes have been concluded in a total of nine regions in the world, as summarized in the following table (only member states are listed).

Name of Agreement	Member States
Paris MoU (European and North Atlantic region)	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, the United Kingdom
Tokyo MOU (Asia-Pacific region)	Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, Vanuatu, Viet Nam
Latin American Agreement (Latin-American region)	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Republic of Dominica, Uruguay, Venezuela
Caribbean MOU (Caribbean region)	Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, France, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
Mediterranean MoU (Mediterranean region)	Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, Türkiye
Indian Ocean MOU (Indian Ocean region)	Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Eritrea, France (La Reunion), India, Kenya, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sultanate of Oman, Tanzania, Yemen
Black Sea MOU (Black Sea region)	Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Türkiye, Ukraine
Abuja MoU (West and Central Africa region)	Angola, Benin, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Republic of Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo
Riyadh MoU （Arab States of the Gulf）	Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, State of United Arab Emirates, Sultanate of Oman

Concentrated Inspection Campaigns (CIC)

Regional PSC MOU members will agree to carry out concentrated inspection campaigns from time to time for periods of usually three or four months. These campaigns are often announced beforehand through press releases and other means and generally focus on certain aspects of ship safety. Past inspection campaigns have focused on such areas as follows:

• MLC, 2006
• Structural Safety and Load Lines
• Cargo Securing Arrangements
• Tanker Damage Stability
• Crew Familiarization for Enclosed Space Entry
• Harmful Substances Carried in Packaged Form
• STCW Hours of Rest
• Lifeboat Launching Arrangements
• Propulsion and Auxiliary Machinery
• Safety of Navigation
• Fire Safety Systems
• ISM Code

Activities of the Society

Whenever the Society receives a PSC inspection report from a port State Administration, an investigation is carried out at the Head Office of the Society to determine the cause of the deficiency. The shipowner and flag State are then informed of the results of the investigation, and the results are also input into a dedicated database on PSC maintained by the Society. Effective use is also made of this information through the publication of the Annual Report on Port State Control, and other materials by the Society.
In addition, “Technical Information” releases are issued to provide updates and various notices on a range of topics including information on PSC, whenever necessary.