Ships from the Bahamas, Singapore, France and the United Kingdom complied best with international shipping regulations over 2018. They top the Paris MoU White List, a list that ranks flag states according to deficiencies found during port state control inspections. The Netherlands is close to the top of this list and came in sixth.
The “White, Grey and Black (WGB) List” rank flag states according to their performance during port state control inspections in the Paris MoU area (European coastal states and the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe). Flags on the White List are quality flags with a consistently low detention record. Flag states with a poor performance that are considered high or very high risk end up on the black list. The list is based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a three-year rolling period for flags with at least thirty inspections in that period. Ships flying a flag from the Black List will be subjected to more and extended inspections (resulting in more time spent in port), whereas those on the White List are inspected less often.
73 Flags Listed
Regarding the “White, Grey and Black List” for 2018, a total number of 73 flags are listed: 41 on the “White List”, eighteen on the “Grey List” and fourteen on the “Black List”. In 2017, the total number of flag states on the list was also 73 of which forty on the White List, twenty on the Grey List and thirteen on the Black List.
Best Performing Flag States
Compared to 2017, the number of flags on the White List has increased with one. Lithuania and the Russian Federation performed better during port state control inspections and have entered the White List while Saudi Arabia has dropped to the Grey List. Large shipping registers such as the Marshall Islands, Liberia, Panama and Malta were subject to most inspections, due to the sheer number of ships flying their flags, but still all ended up on the White List. The bottom is made up of the Faroe Islands, Russian Federation and Republic of Korea, indicating these countries should closely monitor their ships' performance in order to stay on the White List next year.
Worst Performing Flag States
Ships flying the Albaninan flag were found to have more deficiencies than before causing the country to drop from the Grey to the Black List. New on the performance list and to the Black List is Mongolia. The Cook Islands, Belize and Saint Kitts and Nevis top the Black List and are categorised as medium risk. Togo and the Republic of Congo conclude the Black List and are labelled very high risk.
Zero Detentions
Over 2016-2018, only four flags suffered no detentions following Port State Control inspections. These were Japan, Ireland, Estonia and Libya. The Netherlands saw 44 detentions over the three year period. However, Dutch flagged ships were submitted to 2978 inspections, whereas Japan had only 133, Ireland 130, Estonia 87 and Libya 30.
RO Ranking
The organisation creates a similar ranking for Recognised Organisations (ROs). These organisations carry out surveys and issue or endorse statutory certificates on behalf of a flag state.
For several years, the Committee has also closely monitored the performance of ROs acting on behalf of flag states. The performance of the ROs is calculated using the same formula as the one for flag state performance. A minimum number of sixty inspections per RO is needed before the performance is taken into account for the list.
In 2018, 32 ROs were recorded on the performance list. Compared with last year’s performance level, the level of RO performance is similar. The American Bureau of Shipping, DNV GL, China Classification Society, Lloyd's Register and Bureau Veritas were the best performing ROs in 2018. Four ROs were recorded in the very low performing parts, these were the International Register of Shipping, Panama Shipping Registrar Inc, Shipping Register of Ukraine and Columbus American Register.
RO Related Detainable Deficiencies
Details of the responsibility of ROs for detainable deficiencies have been published since 1999. When one or more detainable deficiencies are attributed to an RO in accordance with the Paris MoU criteria, it is recorded “RO responsible” and the RO is informed. Out of 566 detentions recorded in 2018, a number of 97 (17%) were considered RO related (14.3% in 2017).
New Performance Lists Coming
The Paris MoU also adopted new performance lists for flags and Recognized Organizations (ROs). These lists will take effect from 1 July 2019. From then on, the performance lists will be used for calculating the Ship Risk Profile. More information will be published in the Paris MoU 2018 Annual Report, available in July 2019.
Related News
For more inspection results, read a recent article by Richard Schiferli, former Secretary General of the Paris MoU, also published on SWZ Online: New Initiatives to Tackle Sub-standard Shipping.
