Tag: PSC Focus

While every port operates under a specific set of PSC procedures and ships are prepared to be inspected in line with the priorities set by the MoU and the Port, it is a common understanding that this may not be the case at all times.

The Secretary General, Abuja Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, Captain Sunday Umoren, says only 14 out of 22 coastal countries in the West and Central Africa conduct inspections on ships calling at their ports.

During 2021, an increased number of inspections and detentions was noticed in comparison with 2020. A total of 1,394 detentions marked worldwide on all ship types. The global Detention rate (for all ship types) has been marked to 2.23%, while the last 3 years (2018-2019-2020) average was 2.43%

Every Ship Manager aims for the smoothest PSC inspection in order to avoid unnecessary costs and delays and protect Company from any reputational damage caused from a poor PSC performance.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen a decrease in the inspections within 2020 (-28% compared to 2019) with numbers bouncing back in 2021( -14% compared to 2019), expecting a full recovery in 2022.

The Indian MoU published its annual report for 2021, reporting a total of 4993 inspections. Out of these inspections, 2197 had deficiencies and the total numbers of deficiencies were 9131.

Tokyo MOU published its Annual Report for 2021, indicating that it achieved a nearly 20% increase of inspections in 2021, with 22,730 inspections, involving 14,951 individual ships. 

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) announced that a new Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) on hours of work and rest has been initiated from 1 May 2022 to run up to 30 June 2022.

In some cases the Pilot may inform the local PSC station for unsafe acts observed during pilotage, however this is not a common practice. So, what can a PSCO do?

Australia is one of the few places in which the ratio of safety and security inspections is very high; close to 1, meaning that almost all ships inspected for safety are inspected for security items also.