The Dutch fleet moves down from fourth to fifth place on the Performance List of the Paris MoU. Both the lists of best performing flag states and worst performing flag states got smaller, causing the so-called “Grey List” in between to grow. The lists are based on the total number of Port State Control inspections and detentions over the past three years.

The “White, Grey and Black (WGB) List” presents the full spectrum, from quality flags to flags with a poor performance that are considered high or very high risk. It is based on the total number of inspections and detentions during a three-year rolling period for flags with at least thirty inspections in the period. The new lists take effect from the 1 July 2021.

Also read: Dutch flag rises on Port State Control performance list

White List top 10

With 2729 inspections and 42 detentions, the Netherlands ended up in fifth place, down from 4 last year. Last year, Dutch flagged ships were inspected 2960 times resulting in 40 detentions.

Denmark now heads the list with 1199 inspections and 12 detentions. Last year, the UK headed the White List, but this year it landed outside the top 10 on 13. Norway remained the runner up. The Marshall Islands rank third, up from 6. Bermude went from 10 to 4. The Bahamas dropped from 4 to 6. Greece entered the top 10 from 20 to 7. Singapore dropped one spot to 8. The Cayman Islands came in ninth, up from 12, taking over from Japan which now concludes the top 10. Hong Kong lost a spot in the top 10 and came in at 11.

Changes between White, Grey and Black

In total 70 flags are listed: 39 on the White List, 22 on the Grey List and 9 on the Black List. In 2019 the total number of flag States on the list was also 70 of which 41 on the White List, 16 on the Grey List and 13 on the Black List.

Estonia, Korea and the Philippines went from White to Grey. Saint Kitts and Nevis, Mongolia, the Cook Islands, Tunisia, Palau and Ukraine went from Black to Grey. Tuvalu went from Grey to Black and Cameroon entered the list ranking Black. Last year, three flag states were categorised as High risk on the Black List: Togo, Albania and Comoros. This year, only one country is considered High risk: Albania.

Recognised Organisations

For several years the Committee has also closely monitored the performance of Recognised Organisations (ROs) acting on behalf of flag states. A minimum number of 60 inspections per RO is needed before the performance is taken into account for the list.

In 2020, 32 ROs were recorded on the performance list. Compared to last year’s performance level, the RO performance level has slightly improved. It is noteworthy that, unlike in the past three years, no more ROs are categorised as very low performing. Out of 369 detentions recorded in 2020, 37 (10%) were considered RO related (15% in 2019). Both in terms of numbers and in relative terms, a significant decrease, according to the Paris MoU.

The top 5 of ROs has remained unchanged: American Bureau of Shipping, DNV GL, Lloyd’s Register, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai and Bureau Veritas.

Picture by Marc Ryckaert.