US flag drops to Paris MOU Grey List in 2017

Meanwhile, Poland and Korea made it to the White List, and Ukraine was the latest to be put on the Black List, joining 12 others including worst performer Congo, which had the worst performance record for the second year in a row in 2017.

A total of 73 flags are listed on all three of the Paris MOU’s lists. There are 40 on the White List, 20 on the Grey List and 13 on the Black List, from 42, 19 and 12 respectively in 2016.

The White List represents quality flags with a consistently low detention record, according to the Paris MOU. Meanwhile flags with an average performance show up on the Grey List.

Over the past three years 62 ships have been banned for multiple detentions and three ships were banned for “failing to call at an indicated repair yard”. Ten ships have been banned for a second time. And over the same period, the flags of Moldova, Tanzania and Togo have recorded the highest number of ships being banned.

The total number of flag states on the White List however remained almost unchanged, falling to 40 from 42 in 2016.

Out of the 17,916 inspections conducted last year, the percentage of detentions was also almost unchanged at 3.82% from 3.84% in 2016.

Read More: Ship detentions at Chinese ports soar

The five most frequently recorded deficiencies in 2017 were in the International Safety Management (ISM) Code (4.35%, 1,774), fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions (2.51%, 1024), nautical publications (2.28%, 929), charts (1.96%, 797) and voyage or passage plan (1.46%, 594).

The Paris MOU consists of 27 participating maritime administrations and covers the waters of the European coastal states and the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe, aiming to eliminate the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonized system of Port State Control.