The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced that nine foreign flagged ships remained under detention in UK ports during June 2020 after failing port state control (PSC) inspection, while there were five new detentions.
Notes on the list of detentions
- Full details of the ship. The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
- Company. The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.
- Classification society. The list shows the classification society responsible for classing the ship only.
- Recognised organisation. Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys: and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the flag state
- white (WL), grey (GL) and black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag State.
In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (2009/16/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.
When applicable, the list includes those passenger craft prevented from operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for the safe operation of regular ro-ro ferry and high speed passenger craft services (1999/35/EU).
UK MCA highlights that
All deficiencies should be rectified before departure.
New ship detentions in June 2020
#1 MARCO POLO: The Bahamas-flagged vessel was detained on 19th June 2020 at Avonmouth, after having been found with six deficiencies with one ground for detention.
#2 VASCO DA GAMA: The Bahamas-flagged vessel was detained on 19th June 2020 at Tilbury, found with five deficiencies with three grounds for detention.
#3 ASTOR: The Bahamas-flagged vessel was detained on 19th June 2020 at Tilbury, found with two deficiencies with two grounds for detention.
#4 ASTORIA: The Portugal-flagged vessel was detained on 19th June 2020 at Tilbury, found with five deficiencies with four grounds for detention.
#5 COLUMBUS: The Bahamas-flagged vessel was detained on 19th June 2020 at Tilbury, found with five deficiencies with four grounds for detention.
Ships that remained detained during June 2020
#1 LIVA GRETA: The Lativa-flag vessel was detained on 11th January 2020 at Birkenhead, after it was found with nine deficiencies with two grounds for detention. This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020.
#2 POSEIDON:The Iceland-flag vessel was detained on 19th July 2018 at Hull, with 10 deficiencies, including two grounds for detention. This vessel was released on 30th June 2020.
#3 TECOIL POLARIS: The Russian-flagged was detained on 6th June 2018 at Immingham. Twenty-seven deficiencies with eight grounds for detention were found. This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020.
#4 The unregistered ‘CIEN PORCIENTO’ was detained on 4 March 2010, Lowestoft, after found with 30 deficiencies with seven grounds for detention. This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020.
