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  • PSC Introduction
PSC Introduction
01.About PSC
  • Port State Control
    • Outline
      • Port State Control (PSC) is a system of harmonized inspection procedures designed to target substandard ships with the main objective being their eventual elimination. Port States are entitled to control foreign ships visiting their own ports to ensure that any deficiencies found are rectified before they are allowed to sail.
      • It is well known that the responsibility for ensuring that ships comply with the provisions of the relevant instruments rests upon the owners, masters, recognized organization and the flag State Administrations.
      • However, the primary responsibility to safeguard against substandard ships lies with the flag States.
      • Regrettably, some flag States fail to fulfill their commitments contained in agreed international legal instruments and subsequently some ships are sailing in an unsafe condition, threatening lives as well as the marine environment. It is when flag States fail to meet their commitments that Port State comes into play.
      • To better understand PSC activities, maritime authorities have joined together in regional Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The Paris MOU is the model upon which other regions of the world base their PSC agreements. Starting with the Paris MOU, PSC became more organized and widespread and now there are various Memorandum of Understandings on Port States Control covering almost every part of the world. In 2022, there are nine regional agreements on PSC with the total of 145 member States and the USCG.
      • In recent years, the importance of PSC has been widely recognized by the shipping industry and there has been important movement in various regions toward establishing a harmonized method for the effective implementation of the control provisions. The following list is the Memorandum of Understanding on PSC in the world, to this date.
        • Paris MOU (Europe and North Atlantic region)
        • Tokyo MOU (Aisa-Pacific region)
        • Vina del Mar Agreement (Latin American region)
        • Caribbean MOU (Caribbean region)
        • Mediterranean MOU (Mediterrranean region)
        • Indian Ocean MOU (Indian Ocean region)
        • Abuja MOU (West and Central African region)
        • Black Sea MOU (Black Sea region)
        • Riyadh MOU (Middle East region
    • PSC at work
      • The responsibility for ensuring that ships comply with the provisions of the relevant instruments rests upon the owners, masters and the flag States. Some flag States fail to fulfill their commitments contained in agreed international legal instruments and subsequently some ships are sailing in an unsafe condition, threatening lives as well as the marine environment. Port State Control is a system of harmonized inspection procedures designed to target sub-standard ships with the main objective being their eventual elimination.
    • Co-operation between Flag state and Port State
      • Having recognized that the main responsibility lies with the flag State on the one hand and the inability for a variety of reasons of some of flag States to meet, entirely, their obligations under the conventions resulting in the existence of substandard ships it is imperative to develop close co-operation between flag States and port States. It is a fact that the most important largest Registries have become so due to the attraction of ships whose beneficial ownership belongs to traditional maritime countries which again, for a variety of reasons have chosen a particular port of regulation as oppose to others. It is in the best interest of all to develop an effective flag State/port State interface for the sake of safe shipping.
02.PSC Background
  • Background
      • After the casualty of M/T "ERIKA"- a 25 year old, 35,000dwt tanker which broke in two parts and eventually sank off the coast of Brittany on December 12 in 1999, the main criticism of PSC was that the established safety net of inspections by the flag State, port State, industry and classification society had failed.
      • Following the M/T "ERIKA" incident, there has been gradual trend among port Authorities to implement more rigorous PSC inspections to prevent environmental pollution and to maintain the safety of vessels. And as one of these tough measures, MOUs have developed new regimes such as strict target matrix, target system and Electronic Quality Shipping Information System (EQUASIS) in order to identify and eliminate sub-standard vessels.
      • Although an MOU plays an important role in preventing marine pollution, an MOU is not an international convention. However, agreement on Port State Control has certainly had an impact on international rule-making in the technical field. The ratification or amendment of conventions is usually a lengthy procedure and so MOUs have been established instead of a convention.
    • Aims of PSC
      • All countries have the right to inspect ships of foreign flags visiting their ports to ensure that they meet technical requirements regarding safety and marine pollution prevention standards. Thus Port State Control is intended as a tool for any country to:
        • control safety standards,
        • safeguard their own territory against hazards to safety
        • protect the environment, and keep substandard ships off their coast.
      • Following some disastrous groundings of tankers on European coastlines, the European coastal countries had a discussion about a regional organization which led to an agreement called the "MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON PORT STATE CONTROL".
        The agreement establishes rules for:
        • the training of inspectors,
        • inspections on a common scope,
        • general agreements on clear grounds for detaining a ship,
        • a database system to exchange information about inspected ships, the number of ships to be inspected per country in relation to the number of arriving ships.
    • Legal Background
      • The right to inspect ships by port states is laid down in following Conventions:
        • The International Convention on Load Lines 1966
        • The Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966
        • The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 as amended
        • The Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974
        • The Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974
        • The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto
        • The International Convention on Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended
        • The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972
        • The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969
        • The Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (ILO Convention No. 147)
        • The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)
        • The International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, 2001
        • The Protocol of 1992 to amend the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969 (CLC PROT 1992)
        • TThe International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (BWM 2004)
    • Qualification of PSC Officers
      • Resolution A.787(19), as amended, states that Port State Control Officers should be qualified as follows:
        • the PSCO shall be an experienced officer able to communicate in English language with the key crew
        • the PSCO shall be trained to have sufficient knowledge about the conventions and regulations relevant to the conduct of the Port State control
        • the PSCO checking operational requirements shall have seagoing experience in leading function onboard
        • the PSCO shall be trained by seminars to update his knowledge
03.PSC Procedure
  • Boarding Procedures
      • PSC Inspectors can board a ship without announcement to primarily check the ship's documents for completeness and validity.
      • If there are clear grounds to believe that the ship is substantially not conforming with the international conventions, the inspector will carry out an expanded inspection of the ship's condition and the required equipment.
      • The Master will receive an official inspection report consisting of Form A and B.
      • Form A lists the ship's details and the validity of the relevant certificates. Form B shows the list of deficiencies found (if any), with an action code which describes a timeframe for the rectification of each deficiency.
      • If clear grounds are established that the ship forms a hazard to safety and/or the environment, the PSCO has the right to detain the ship in port until the respective deficiencies have been rectified and resurveyed.
      • The PSC authority will either resurvey by own inspectors or ask for a survey report from the Classification surveyor to verify the rectification. In case of a detention the PSC authority has the right to present a bill about their inspection activities. Any detention has to be reported as soon as possible by the authority to the flag State and the classification society.
      • The data about the inspection and the given timeframe for rectification are entered in a computer system used by all members of a regional PSC agreement.
    • Action Codes
      • The given timeframe for rectification of each deficiency is commonly given in a coded form in the inspection report, called "action code".
      • [Tokyo MOU Action Codes]
        • 10 = deficiency rectified
        • 15 = rectify deficiency at next port
        • 16 = rectify deficiency within 14 days
        • 17 = rectify deficiency before departure
        • 18 = rectify deficiency within 3 months
        • 30 = detainable deficiency
        • 46 = rectify detainable deficiency at agreed repair port
        • 48 = as in the agreed flag state condition
        • 49 = as in the agreed rectification action plan(RAP)
        • 99 = others (specify in clear text)
    • Concentrated Inspection Campaigns
· Inquiry
  • Dept. Survey Team
  • TEL +82 70 8799 8212
  • FAX +82 70 8799 8219
  • E-mail psc@krs.co.kr