Panama Ship Registry boosts flag inspection programme

The measures are designed to ensure compliance with safety, security, and environmental standards.

A series of actions aim at making the Panamanian fleet part of the US Coast Guard's QUALSHIP 21 program, where, at the end of July, the Registry has an average compliance rate of 98.97% for the last 3 years.

Those measures include flag inspection mechanism for vessels arriving at U.S. ports, based on risk factor; special inspection for vessels arriving at US ports whose history makes them candidates for a Port State Inspection (PSC) by the USCG; pre-arrival checklist for Panama-flagged vessels arriving at US ports to find weak elements that may be grounds for detention through PSC inspections by the US Coast Guard. In addition, all Panama-flagged vessels transiting or visiting Panamanian ports prior to arrival in the United States may be subject to a special Security Screening Inspection (SSA), to avoid possible detention in the region.

The Register has also reinforced some mechanisms to improve the fleet performance in the different regions supervised by the Port State control

that will detect and act against vessels detained multiple times and impose sanctions to Recognised Organisations (RO) and / or ships, who have shown serious faults affecting the image of the Panamanian registry.

Vessels arriving in Australian ports will be submitted to pre-arrival checklist, to avoid detention, through Port State Control Inspections by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority; annual flag inspection for vessels operating in the Paris MoU and for those over 20 years of age every six months.

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