Hong Kong Marine Department issues Note
The Hong Kong Marine Department has issued Merchant Shipping Information Note to shipping industry of the measures taken by Marine Department to maintain the quality of the ships on the Hong Kong Shipping Register.
It is the responsibility of a flag State that administers its shipping register to ensure itsships are in full compliance with the applicable international and national regulations. To thisend, the Marine Department (MD) introduced in 1999 a Flag State Quality Control (FSQC)system to uphold the quality of Hong Kong registered ships.
FSQC is a systematic and interactive management system that differs from mainlyreliance on regular ship inspections by MD surveyors. It stresses more on assuring that shipmanagers discharge their responsibilities properly and that recognized organizations (ROs) andrecognized security organizations (RSOs) carry out effective and decent surveys as well as auditson Hong Kong ships. The MD continuously monitors the work of ROs and RSOs through carefulvetting of all survey and audit reports; participation in DOC audits, SMC and/or ISPS audits;evaluation of port State control inspection records of Hong Kong registered ships, etc. Qualitycontrol on safety management over companies managing Hong Kong ships is exercised throughparticipation in DOC audits by ROs and ISPS audits by RSOs, feedback from port State controland FSQC inspections.
FSQC is supported by a computer-based information system to monitor the quality ofHong Kong registered ships. The database is built up on information obtained from varioussources such as survey records from port State control inspection and detention records, RO’sinspection and audit records, FSQC ship inspections and company audits etc. The information ofeach ship on the Register will be analyzed to assess the ship’s compliance with applicableregulations.
The criteria for selection of ships for FSQC inspection include but are not limited tosafety management performance of the company, port State control inspection records of theship, age and type of the ship, time laps since previous FSQC inspection of ships managed by thesame company, RO’s survey and audit records, assessment of crew quality, casualty record ofships managed by the company and assessment of the ROs which are responsible for the surveyand audits. More attention is paid to old ships, ships which have detention record under portState control, and certain types of ships such as bulk carriers or general cargo ships. The purposeof the FSQC inspection is to identify the underlying cause of the deteriorating standards.
Under either of the following circumstances, at the owner’s or the manager’s cost,the Director of Marine may request a special FSQC and/or company audit in order to assist thecompany concerned and/or its fleet to enhance their standards:
(a) if a Hong Kong registered ship is detained with serious deficiencies under portState control or subjected to a serious accident;
(b) if the serious deficiencies or accident are found to be the result of a deficientship management system, the safety management system of the company mayalso be audited to verify compliance with ISM Code
Source: Hong Kong Marine Department
