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PORT STATE CONTROL
CHAPTER 13
INTRODUCTION
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All
ships engaged in commercial trading need to be registered in
a Country which identifies its owners. The Country of registration
is termed as the 'Flag State'. It is the duty of the Flag State
to ensure that a vessel entitled to fly its flag is safely constructed,
equipped and subsequently properly maintained & manned as
per relevant regulations based on International Conventions
developed by International Maritime Organization. For this purpose
the Flag state carries out surveys & Inspections on the
vessels under its Registry for issue of various statutory Certificates.
These Certificates are mandatory for the vessels, intended trading.
Many developed Maritime nations have adequate Maritime Administrative
infrastructure to undertake this task while many others who
lack this capability for various reasons, delegate authority
to recognized Classification Societies to carry out most of
such surveys & issue Certificates on their behalf.
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Ships
trade internationally and have to call at various ports all
over the world. many ships may not call at any of their home
ports for a considerable period and it is possible that during
a certain period of time Ship's Certificates may not have been
renewed or maintenance in general has suffered due to various
reasons. Therefore, it is imperative that ships must be inspected
at various ports to ensure compliance with rule requirements
as regards safety, maintenance, manning, etc. This control is
termed as Port State Control.
These
provisions provide for control procedures to be followed by the
contracting Governments with regard to foreign flag vessels visiting
their ports. The effective use of the provisions enable the State
Authorities in identifying Sub-Standard Ships and ensuring that
remedial measures are taken for the deficiencies identified by them.
Ships of the countries which are not party to the various International
Conventions can also be subjected to equivalent inspections to ensure
commensurate level of safety. The International Maritime Organization
(IMO) has adopted various Resolutions giving guidelines on such
inspections. The guidelines also provide that all possible efforts
should be made to avoid a ship being unduly detained or delayed.
However, wherever necessary Sub-Standard Ships are detained and
corrective action taken before allowing them to sail out to sea.
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In
order to implement effective Port State Control, 15 EEC countries
signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 1978 at Paris
which came into force in 1982. Similarly, 10 Latin American
countries signed an agreement in November 1992. Recently Asia
Pacific Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by 17 countries
of Asia Pacific. Thus practical all major maritime countries
are party to one agreement or the other for implementation of
Port State Control. There are proposals before the Government
of India that India should also join the Asia Pacific Memorandum
of Understanding on Port State Control or alternatively develop
Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in Indian
ocean region. India has taken initiative for the latter.
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it is not very simple to define a substandard ship solely by reference
to a list of qualifying defects. The Surveyor has to exercise
his professional judgment to determine whether the ship is to
be detained until the deficiencies are corrected or allowed to
sail with certain deficiencies which are not vital to the safety
of the ship, its crew or passengers, having regard to the particular
circumstances of the intended voyage. Parties may undertake an
inspection based on their initiative or at the request of, or
on the basis of information provided regarding a sub-standard
ship by another party, professional body, port authorities or
even a member of the crew of the ship. The Surveyor boards the
ship and after introduction to the Master proceeds to examine
the various certificates regarding their validity, annual endorsements
and any outstanding deficiencies or condition of class. The Surveyor
ensures, that various provisions stated in the IMO Conventions
regulations are maintained up-to-date and in case of any defect
he may not allow the ship to sail till the deficiencies are corrected.
In the event of a dispute, the onus of providing that undue delay
was not caused rests with the Port State is Administration. In
case an intervention by Port State is necessary and vessel is
detained due to serious deficiencies the Administration is required
inform the Embassy/Consulate of the Flag State and Classification
Society with which the vessel is classed. In due course this information
along with list of deficiencies is also to be conveyed to the
International Maritime Organization for further action. IMO in
turn scrutinizes the Information and forward the same to the concerned
Flag State for removing deficiencies in future. The report received
from the Maritime authorities around the world regarding Indian
vessels are checked by the Maritime Administration of the country
and suitable steps are taken up to improve the overall deficiency
of the ship in consultation with the respective shipping companies.
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