Istanbul, Turkey - Representatives of the Port State Control Committee, the governing body under the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region (BS MOU), met by virtual means for the Twenty-first session from 13 to 15 April 2021. The 21st Committee meeting, which was originally scheduled to be held in Constanta, Romania in March 2020, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and afterwards was organized virtually as agreed by all member Authorities. The meeting was chaired by Captain Alexandar ILIEV - Harbour Master of Port Burgas, Bulgaria.
The Chair made a welcome speech and officially declared the opening of the meeting. In his opening speech, Mr. Alexandar ILIEV stressed the important role of port State control for promotion of safer shipping and cleaner seas and the responsibilities of both flag States and port States. The port State control activities have been heavily affected by the circumstances arising from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. He expressed gratitude and appreciation to all the Black Sea countries for their valuable support which contributed to the success of the initiative. Moreover, he encouraged BS MOU to further enhance and improve its activities so as to promote safety of navigation, protection of the marine environment and the labour conditions on board ships. He also conveyed his condolences to Captain Hüseyin YÜCE, the ex-Secretary of the Black Sea MOU Secretariat, who passed away on 07 January 2021. Lastly, he reaffirmed the commitment and continuous support from all member states to the BS MOU and declared opening of the meeting officially.
We are pleased to present the nineteenth issue of the Annual Report on Port State Control in the Black Sea region which is published under the auspices of the Port State Control Committee of the Black Sea MOU.
Port State Control is of particular importance to the BS MOU member Authorities due to the role of shipping in region’s trade, the sensitivity of the Black Sea basin and its coastline to nvironmental damage. PSC inspections are conducted to ensure that foreign ships visiting the Black Sea ports are seaworthy, do not pose a pollution risk, provide a healthy and safe environment and comply with relevant international regulations and within the scope of the member Authorities’ national governing laws and regulations.
This PSC Annual report covers the period between 1st January and 31st December 2019. During this period the BS MOU member Authorities conducted a total of 6,036 inspections, representing slight 0.02 per cent increase as compared with 5,214 initial inspections in 2018. The regional inspection rate is 75.31% which is 7.26 per cent decease as compared with 2018. A total of 212 detentions were warranted to ships found with serious deficiencies. This represents a detention percentage of 3.51% which is 0.25 per cent decrease as compared with 278 detentions in 2018.
From 1st September 2019 to 30th November 2019, the BS MOU carried out a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Emergency Systems and Procedures throughout the region. This campaign involved all member States of the BS MOU to the Emergency Systems and Procedures, and was conducted in conjunction with the Tokyo MOU and Paris MOU and other MOUs. The campaign was conducted under the campaign coordination of the Republic of Turkey. Paris and Tokyo MOUs guidelines and questionnaire were used.
During the campaign, a total of 781 inspections were carried out with the CIC questionnaire involving 781 individual ships. Of this quantity 55 ships were detained without detentions were being within the CIC scope.
A total of 139 questionnaires had at least a non-compliance to any of the requirements, resulting 17.8 per cent of CIC inspections. The overall average per cent of non-conformities was 6.6 which means that “unsatisfactory” answer was given to a question on 6.6 % of occasions.
From 1st September 2019 to 30th November 2019, the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region (BS MOU) carried out a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Emergency Systems and Procedures. This campaign was conducted in conjunction with the Tokyo and Paris MOUs as well as other MOUs shows following preliminary results
During the CIC period a total of 1,530 inspections were carried out involving ships. Of these inspections 1,175 inspections were performed using the CIC questionnaire. The data from BSIS indicates that 17 ships were detained for issues related to the CIC (a detention rate of 1.6%).
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