Deficiencies, detentions and rectifications
When deficiencies are found during the inspection, the nature of the deficiencies and the corresponding action taken are filled in on the inspection report. Some examples of actions taken are: ‘master instructed to rectify deficiency before departure’, ‘ship detained’, ‘flag State informed’, etc.
The descriptions of all codes for “action-taken” can be found on the reverse side of Form B of the inspection report.
In principle, all deficiencies must be rectified before departure of the ship. It is up to the professional judgement of the PSCO to decide that he has to board the ship on a second occasion to check personally if all deficiencies have indeed been rectified.
The following are the main criteria for the detention of a ship:
- a ship which is unsafe to proceed to sea will be detained upon the first inspection, irrespective of the time the ship is scheduled to stay in port;
- the deficiencies on a ship are so serious that they will have to be rectified before the ship sails.
In case deficiencies are clearly hazardous to safety, health or the environment, the maritime authorities will ensure that the hazard is rectified before the ship is allowed to proceed to sea and for this purpose they will either detain the vessel or issue a formal prohibition of a ship to continue an operation. The flag State will be notified as soon as possible.
If deficiencies cannot be remedied in the port of inspection, the maritime authority may allow the ship to proceed to another port, subject to any appropriate conditions determined by the maritime authority of the port of departure, with a view to ensuring that the ship can so proceed without unreasonable danger to safety, health or the environment. In this case a follow-up inspection will normally be carried out in this respective port.
In the event of a detention of a ship, the PSCO will note information on the owner or operator of the vessel at the time of the detention. The master will be asked to sign to confirm this information.
When a ship has been detained all costs accrued by the port State to inspect the ship will be charged to the owner or the operator of the ship or to his representative in the port State.
The detention shall not be lifted until full payment has been made or a sufficient guarantee has been given for the reimbursement of the costs.
The owner or the operator of a ship has a right of appeal against a detention decision taken by the port State authority. An appeal will not however result in the detention being immediately lifted.
On the conclusion of an inspection, the master of the ship will be provided with a document, which will indicate the results of the inspection and details of any action required to be taken.
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