Paris MoU held its 46th Committee meeting in Valletta, Malta, from 20 – 24 May 2013
The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU) heldits 46th Committee meeting in Valletta, Malta, from 20 – 24 May 2013. The meetingwas attended by members, the European Commission, EMSA, Montenegro,observers from the ILO, US Coast Guard, Black Sea MoU, Caribbean MoU,Mediterranean MoU, Tokyo MoU and Vina del Mar Agreement.
The Committee adopted amendments to the Memorandum to include the MaritimeLabour Convention 2006 as a relevant instrument. Guidelines for Port StateControl under this Convention were also agreed, providing practical guidance forPort State Control Officers to inspect ships starting 20 August 2013.
Brian Hogan, the Chairman, stated: “The Paris MoU has always been supportive ofverification of working and living conditions under the ILO Convention 147. With theintroduction of the MLC2006 we are entering a new era to improve theseconditions on board”.
High importance was given to Concentrated Inspection Campaigns (CICs). A CICon Propulsion and Auxiliary Machinery has been scheduled from September toNovember this year, a CIC on hours of rest under the STCW Convention in 2014and a CIC focussing on Crew Familiarisation in 2015. The 2014 campaign will becarried out jointly with the Tokyo MoU. For 2015 this is pending agreement by theTokyo MoU. In addition, the Committee considered a number of options for otherjoint CICs with the Tokyo MoU for 2016 and beyond. The report of the CIC on FireSafety Systems, carried out in September, October and November of 2012, waspresented to PSCC46. Concerns were expressed on the high percentage of CICrelated detentions. The results will be published and submitted to the IMO nextyear.
The Committee also agreed on PSC guidelines for the Ballast Water ManagementConvention. The proposed guidelines will be submitted to the IMO correspondencegroup of FSI for consideration.
The Committee also considered the first results of the Harmonised VerificationProgramme on operational safety of passenger ships.Richard Schiferli, the Secretary General, stated: “There have been approximately100 of these inspections carried out in the first 4 months of this year. Only 1inspection resulted in a HAVEP related detention. I appreciate the goodcooperation with the cruise industry on this important campaign. First results areencouraging, but we have to wait until the end of the year to make an assessmentof the results”.
The Committee adopted the 2012 Annual Report, including the new White, Greyand Black List and the performance list of Recognised Organisations. This yearThailand and the United States of America moved from the “Grey List” to the”White List”. The lists will be published early June and used for targeting purposesstarting 1st July 2013. The Annual Report will be published by the end of July thisyear.
On behalf of the Member States, Mr Hogan concluded the meeting by thanking theEuropean Commission/EMSA and the Paris MoU Secretariat for their contribution.In particular Mr. Hogan thanked the Maritime Administration of Malta, for theexcellent arrangements they made for this Committee meeting in Valletta.
Source: Paris MoU