Port State Control News

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued a third ban in less than two months after another shipping company was found to have underpaid its crew, breaching the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).On April 23, AMSA boarded the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, FPMC B Forever, operated by Formosa Plastics Marine Corporation, in the Port of Newcastle for a port State control inspection.Inspectors found the crew had been underpaid by almost A$15,000 and were being charged for potable water…

IACS, the membership organisation for the world’s leading classification societies, has published the results of its Concentrated Inspection Campaign on Emergency Power Supply Tests on ships, conducted during 2025, and made a number of recommendations that will improve compliance with SOLAS requirements.The campaign was launched in response to concerns raised by the Tokyo MoU over risks in the testing procedures, following observations raised by Port State Control officers over…

This year’s Port State Control Concentrated Inspection Campaign (PSC CIC), taking place from September 1 to November 30, will focus on ballast water management.DNV reports the Paris and Tokyo MoUs have agreed to run the CIC, and it is expected that the majority of other PSC MoUs will participate.The CIC will be supported by an additional questionnaire highlighting the CIC focus areas, usually published in early August.DNV will offer a complimentary webinar on September 2.DNV’s…

The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU) successfully concluded its 58th Committee meeting in Malmö, Sweden, May 26-30, 2025. The meeting, formally opened by Ms. Pernilla Wallin, Deputy Director, Department of Civil Aviation and Maritime Affairs, Swedish Transport Agency, and chaired by Mr. Brian Hogan, marked progress in enhancing maritime safety, environmental protection, and seafarer welfare.A key outcome of the meeting was the review of the Concentrated…

The US Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance has released the U.S. Port State Control Annual Report for 2024 noting a decrease in detention rate due to fire safety issues.The annual detention rate decreased from 1.22 to 0.94%.Fire Safety: For the fourth straight year fire safety deficiencies lead all deficiency categories. Oil accumulation in the engine room once again led the deficiency total, 18 deficiencies. However, this was a significant reduction from last year’s total of 31 deficiencies.

This week, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued its report on the deaths of three stevedores in a cargo hold access space on board a bulk carrier.Berge Mawson was in Indonesia, loading coal from barges using a floating crane. During a pause in loading due to heavy rain, all hatches were closed. After the rain stopped, a stevedore mistakenly entered the access space of a cargo hold and was overcome. Two other stevedores collapsed while attempting to rescue him as crew collected rescue equipment.

In Australia, Gladstone Magistrates Court has fined Universal Shipping Alliance Ltd, owner of the bulk carrier KMAX Leader, A$63,000 ($40,000) for failing to comply with an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) written direction and ordered them to pay court costs.KMAX Leader, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, entered the Port of Gladstone in October 2023 due to propulsion issues. The vessel undertook extensive work in November 2023 which failed to repair the ship’s propulsion.Concerned with the lack of an effective repair plan…

DNV has encountered instances where ships have been detained during Port State Control (PSC) inspections due to the arrangement of emergency escape trunks from machinery spaces even though the arrangements were approved by the flag state or their Recognized Organization.As a result, DNV has issued guidance explaining that on many ships, the protected emergency escape trunk does not, for various reasons, extend all the way down to the lowest deck level of the engine room.Common…

The Paris MoU has raised concerns about fire safety, specifically fire doors, after the results of two previous concentrated inspection campaigns found a high level of non-compliance.The results of a concentrated inspection campaign on Fire Safety held from September 1 to November 30, 2023 were shared with the industry. Overall, compliance appeared to be satisfactory, however the result was less favorable on two specific topics; good working condition of fire doors (9.3% non-compliance) and fire drills (9.2% non-compliance).In the press release issued at the time…

Kaylene Dale has been appointed the new CEO of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), starting on October 1, 2024.Dale brings extensive experience in Commonwealth regulatory settings and with the maritime sector. This includes working with AMSA’s search and rescue functions as part of her role at the Australian Border Force, where she has held a number of leadership positions – most recently as the Deputy Commissioner for strategy and capability.Department of Transport Minister Catherine King said: “I welcome Ms Dale to the role…

The Member Authorities of the Tokyo and the Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control will launch a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Crew Wages and Seafarer Employment Agreements (MLC, 2006) from September 1.The purpose of the campaign is to:• create awareness within the shipping industry about the requirements on crew wages and seafarer employment agreements (MLC, 2006); and• verify that ships comply with these requirements.This inspection campaign will be held for three months and will examine specific areas related to crew wages…

The Paris MoU has published its 2023 Annual Report, highlighting that the overall detention rate for 2023 (3.81%) is lower than that for 2022 (4.25%).However, the detention rate has not returned to pre-pandemic levels of 2.98% during 2019.Analysis of the deficiencies indicates that, compared to previous years, there is no specific convention or part of a convention that is indicating more areas of non-compliance. Instead, there are recurring areas of concern:• SOLAS Chapter II-2 (Construction-Fire Protection…

INTERCARGO-registered dry bulk ships continue to outperform the industry average in both deficiencies and detentions, as highlighted in the latest INTERCARGO benchmarking report on bulk carriers.The Benchmarking Bulk Carriers 2023-2024 report details detention rates and deficiencies per inspection across flag states, port state control, class and P&I clubs.In 2023, detention rates decreased for the dry bulk fleet globally, whilst deficiencies per inspection saw a slight increase across the industry.

The Paris MoU Committee has approved the 2023 inspection results and adopted new performance lists for flag States, with Tanzania and Cameroon graded as “very high risk” and Denmark topping the White List.The “White, Grey and Black 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 30 inspections in that period.The White List represents quality flags with a consistently low detention percentage.

DNV has issued advice on current developments in Port State Control (PSC) inspections and focus campaigns in China, Australia, and the US. The advice includes:The China Maritime Safety Administration (China MSA) has implemented a stricter monitoring of vessels meeting any of the following criteria:• Vessel has been detained twice within the last 12 months, irrespective of the place of detention.• Vessel has been penalized twice in 12 consecutive months for serious violations, such as: insufficient manning…

The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU) held its 57th Committee meeting in Madrid from May 6 to 10, 2024 and concluded that the results of the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Fire Safety, held from September 1 to November 30, 2023, showed that overall compliance appeared to be satisfactory.The result was less favorable on two specific topics: maintenance of fire doors (9.3 % non-compliance) and performing fire drills (9.2% non-compliance).

Complaints about breaches against the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) on ships decreased in 2023, compared to the previous year, the Australia Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) latest report on seafarer welfare shows.The report records an 18% decrease in complaints to AMSA about breaches to the MLC, down to 214 complaints in 2023, from 261 complaints in the previous year.Of the complaints received in 2023, breaches of employment conditions were the most common, such as issues with wages…

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued a 180-day ban to the Indian-flagged bulk carrier Darya Shaan after its operator took repeated risks with the safety of the crew, vessel and Australian marine environment by not reporting serious defects to the main engine and machinery whilst the ship entered Australian ports.AMSA inspectors attended the ship at Port of Melbourne on April 26 and found multiple maintenance issues on board including defective main engine control and monitoring systems…

From July 10 to August 9, 2023, the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control conducted a Focused Inspection Campaign on pilot transfer arrangements.The campaign was part of a trial of an alternative approach to the regular Concentrated Inspection Campaigns by conducting several short, targeted inspection campaigns referred to as Focused Inspection Campaigns. In the coming months more such campaigns are scheduled. After completion of the trials, the results…

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued its third ban from Australian waters to a Briese Heavylift GmbH & Co ship this year.AMSA issued the 90-day ban to the Antigua & Barbuda-flagged general cargo ship BBC Jade, after inspectors in Port Alma found 57 tons of explosive substances had been incorrectly stowed on board the vessel during transit.The International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code outlines the minimum international standards for the maritime transport of dangerous goods…

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Marshall Island-flagged container ship Big Lilly from Australian waters for 90 days, for serious safety and maintenance issues.Prior to this ban, the ship was detained in Melbourne, after an AMSA Port State control (PSC) inspection identified serious defects with the watertight integrity of the ship’s cargo hatches, main engine and safety equipment.AMSA inspectors identified a long list of defects, and while the seafarers onboard had taken steps to maintain the ship…

Lloyd’s Register has reminded the industry that the Member Authorities of the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control (PSC) are launching a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on fire safety from September 1 to November 30, 2023.The Member Authorities of the Black Sea Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control and the Member Authorities of the Acuerdo Vina Del Mar 1992 are concurrently also launching a CIC.The purpose of the campaign…

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has banned the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier MSXT Emily from Australian waters for one year, after finding apparent serious issues of wage theft and seafarer mistreatment onboard.Following a tip-off from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), AMSA inspected the ship at the Port of Hay Point, in Queensland, and found evidence of several violations of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.The vessel had been chartered by K-Line to load a cargo of coal for discharge in Japan.Seafarers onboard the vessel had not been paid in accordance with their Seafarer Employment Agreements: four contained apparently-forged signatures from employees…