Tag: flag states

All Panamanian-flagged vessels transiting or visiting Panamanian ports, prior to their arrival to the US, must conduct a Flag Annual Safety Inspection (ASI) as soon as they arrive at any port or terminal in Panama, the Maritime Authority announced.

In 2020, US Coast Guard Marine Inspectors conducted 18,414 inspections on US-flagged vessels and identified 27,087 deficiencies, resulting in 63 Flag State detentions, according to the USCG 2020 Flag State Control Domestic Annual Report.

Panama Maritime Authority has decided that is compulsory that all Panamanian flag vessels with Priority 1 in Paris MoU Inspection and Selection Scheme, that arrive at any port in Italy, to Conduct a Flag annual safety inspection (ASI) as soon as they arrive.

UK MCA shared guidance on the arrangements in place for inspection for compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (“MLC”). Inspection for MLC compliance is not required for vessels operating exclusively on domestic voyages and within 60 miles of a UK safe haven. 

The ILO has issued a second revised edition of Guidelines for flag State inspections under MLC, 2006, as amended. The guidelines are intended to assist flag State administrations to effectively implement their responsibilities with respect to the ship inspection and certification duties under the MLC.

ICS has published the latest Flag State Performance Table for 2020-2021 which finds that many of the largest flag states – including the Marshall Islands, Hong Kong (China), Singapore as well as the Bahamas and Cyprus– continue to perform to an exceptionally high standard, with traditional flags and open registers performing equally well.

Isle of Man Ship Registry became the first Flag State to launch a seafarer welfare app, named as "Crew Matters", as it has just gone live and is available to approximately 10.000 seafarers.

Paris MoU issued its official report on the 2019 Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Emergency Systems and Procedures. A total of 48 ships were detained as a direct result of the CIC.

The Isle of Man Ship Registry has become the first flag state to join the Getting to Zero Coalition, an industry-led alliance working towards decarbonization of global shipping.

While the maritime authorities have the main responsibility of ensuring the effectiveness of the flag States’ monitoring and reporting systems for human rights issues, these mechanisms are not always sufficiently implemented, a new report by British charity Human Rights at Sea shows.