• 2010 October 23

    Paris MOU tightens screws, sets barriers


    The new inspection regime (NIR) of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control goes into effect from 1 January 2011. The NIR introduces a 100-percent mandatory inspection of vessels, imposes more stringent requirements than the previous one as well to vessels calling at ports in Europe, as to the relevant shipping companies and flags of states. According to some market participants, the introduction of the NIR is in fact a protectionist measure of the European Union.