The paris mou celebrates 25 years
The maritime authorities of the paris memorandum of understanding on port state control (paris mou) celebrated 25 years of co-operation during the 40th session of the port state control committee (pscc) that was held at bonn, germany, 7- 11 may 2007.
Founded in 1982 with fourteen member states, the paris mou has been at the forefront of initiatives to reduce the operation of sub-standard shipping and to enhance the safety of life at sea and to protect the environment.
The mou has grown to 27 member states and the committee made significant progress in its deliberation over a new inspection regime more suited to this larger region. The committee also discussed the database which will be the core element of this new regime. This will also take into account performance of companies operating ships.
One of the main items on the agenda was the proposal of a common training programme for port state control officers (pscos). The general principles of setting and continuing common and consistent standards, providing training to pscos and the updating of technical knowledge were embraced. A number of initiatives will be financed and developed jointly by the member states, paris mou secretariat and european maritime safety agency (emsa).
The committee noted emsa’s progress with an electronic tool for pscos to check the application of legislation. This is expected to be delivered towards the end of the year following field testing by the member state pscos.
Bulgaria and romania were welcomed as full members of the paris mou.
The chairman said that it was very encouraging to see the paris mou increasing its influence to reduce sub-standard shipping in the black sea region.
The committee continued to take actions in response to the 2nd joint paris/tokyo mou ministerial conference, held in vancouver in 2004. It gave high importance to concentrated inspection campaigns (cics) and scheduled a cic on international safety management (ism) code from september to november this year. The campaign will be carried out jointly with the tokyo mou.
In addition the committee considered a number of options for other joint cics with the tokyo mou for 2008 and beyond.
A cic on navigation solas chapter v including voyage data recorder, automatic identification system and electronic chart display and information system will be carried out during 2008. During 2009 a cic on lifeboat launching arrangements will be carried out.
The report of the cic marpol annex i carried out in february, march and april of 2006 was presented to pscc40. The results will be presented to the imo in 2008.
On the afternoon of the fourth day germany hosted a commemoration of the 25 years of paris mou with a boat excursion on the river rhine for key members of the maritime world.
Mr. Richard j. Schiferli, the general secretary of the paris mou, made an opening address to the guests recalling the ”amoco cadiz” incident in 1978 that led to ministers within the region giving political support for the formation of the paris mou. This resulted in the founding member states taking a determined stance against sub-standard shipping in the region. Dr. Cleopatra doumbia-henry from the international labour office, captain hartmut hesse on behalf of mr. Efthimios e. Mitropoulos, secretary-general international maritime organization and mr. Fotis karamitsos from the european commission, directorate-general energy and transport also addressed the guests.
Mr. Karamitsos said “ there are still a number of challenges ahead, but with the quality of the paris mou psc administrations and their inspectors, and through the excellent spirit of co-operation that has been established between the eu and the paris mou, i am confident that the paris mou will always remain at the forefront”.
Pscc chairman, mr. Brian hogan from the department of transport of ireland, praised the dedication of all who worked within the paris mou and especially thanked the many administrative staff and co-ordinators for port state control and acknowledged the high calibre and conscientious work throughout the years by the pscos. He offered his sincerest gratitude to the pscos and referred to his own period as a port state control officer and the value and meaning of the work and the job satisfaction.
Later that evening germany also hosted a gala dinner in the godesburg castle overlooking the rhine valley. Mr. Felix stenschke, head of the shipping division at the german ministry of transport welcomed all the delegates and guests recalling the historical role of the rhine as a waterway that provides for transiting sea-going ships. He underlined the commitment of the present german eu presidency to the recast eu directive on port state control and to achieving good progress during the transport ministers council in june 2007.
Notes to editors:
The ministry of transport of germany hosted the 40th meeting of the executive committee of the paris memorandum of understanding on port state control in bonn between 7-11 may 2007.
Port state control is a check on visiting foreign ships to see that they comply with international rules on safety, pollution prevention and seafarers living and working conditions. It is a means of enforcing compliance where the owner and flag state have failed in their responsibility to implement or ensure compliance. The port state can require defects to be put right, and detain the ship for this purpose if necessary. It is therefore also a port state’s defence against visiting substandard shipping.
Regional port state control was initiated in 1982 when fourteen european countries agreed to co-ordinate their port state inspection effort under a voluntary agreement known as the paris memorandum of understanding on port state control (paris mou). Current membership includes 27 countries. The european commission, although not a signatory to the paris mou, is also a member of the committee.
The new inspection regime (nir) will introduce full coverage of visiting ships and a more risk-based method of ship selection and thereby a more effective use of resources. It will also strengthen current banning measures and the training for inspectors.
Inspection reports are recorded on a central database sirenac located in st malo - france, available for search and daily updating by mou member countries. Inspection results can be viewed on the paris mou public website and are also provided to the equasis public database.
The secretariat of the mou is provided by the netherlands ministry of transport, public works and water management and located in the hague.
The paris mou has been a blueprint for the introduction of regional regimes of port state control in the asia pacific rim (tokyo mou), latin america (viña del mar), the mediterranean, caribbean and other emerging regional port state control regimes. Canada and russia are members of both the paris mou and the tokyo mou.
This is the second pscc meeting chaired by mr. Brian hogan. Mr hogan is currently the chief surveyor of the maritime safety directorate of the department of transport in ireland. He has a background in ship surveying both with government and recognised organisations and is a fellow of the royal institution of naval architects and the institute of chartered shipbrokers.
For more information on the paris mou on port state control please consult our internet website on the following address: www.parismou.org