The 28th meeting of the Tokyo MOU Port State Control Committee held in Vladivostok
The Port State Control Committee, the governing body under the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia- Pacific Region (Tokyo MOU), held its Twenty -Eighth meeting in Vladivostok, the Russian Federation, from 18 to 21 September 2017, inviting Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary -General of IMO, to the opening ceremony.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Carlos Fanta, Rear Admiral (retired), Head of Port State Control Division, Directorate of Maritime Safety, Security and Operation, Directorate General of the Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine (DIRECTEMAR) of Chile.
The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Viktor Olersky, Deputy Minister, Ministr y of Transport of the Russian Federation. In his opening speech, Mr. Olersky stressed the key role played by port State control in supporting implementation and enforcement of IMO instruments. Then he reaffirmed the continuous support and contribution to the Tokyo MOU by the Russian Federation as one of the active member Authorities and the host of the Asia- Pacific Computerized Information System (APCIS). Finally, he encouraged the Tokyo MOU to develop plan of actions to realize the decisions made by the Third Joint Ministerial Conference of the Paris and Tokyo MOUs.
Mr. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of IMO, made a key note speech. During the speech, Mr. Lim pointed out the role of PSC in the long safety chain for international shipping. Mr. Lim also commended the strong support from PSC regime to the work of IMO to promote harmonization on PSC activities worldwide. He expressed appreciation to the Tokyo MOU for the extensive co-operation for IMO’s programme of technical co -operation activities. Lastly, he confirmed the commitment of IMO to continue helping build PSC capacity and enhance the ability of MOUs to deliver an increasingly comprehensive and effective service, and to both initiate and support moves to strengthen PSC nationally, regionally and globally.
Attendance of the meeting The twenty-eighth meeting of the Port State Control Committee was attended by the member Authorities of Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand and VietNam ; a co-operating member Authority of Panama; and observers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Macao (China), the Black Sea MOU, the Paris MOU, the Vi ña del Mar Agreement and IMO.
The member Authorities of Fiji and Vanuatu, observers of Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, the United States, the Indian Ocean MOU, the Riyadh MOU and ILO were unable to attend. Prior to the Committee meeting, the eleventh meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) was convened from 15 to 16 September 2017. The TWG meeting discussed matters relating to PSC technical procedures and guidelines, the Concentrated Inspection Campaigns, information system and information exchange, evaluation of work s done by intersessional technical groups and technical co- operation activities.
Decisions of the Committee The Committee considered the application for observer status by the Caribbean MOU. In accordance with provision of the Memorandum, the Committee unanimously agreed to accept the Caribbean MOU as an observer. The Committee reviewed the outcome of implementation of the new inspection regime (NIR). The Committee further considered and adopted amendments to NIR contained in Annex 2 to the Memorandum, including addition of 2 weighting Points each for Container ship and company with no inspection within previous 36 months.
The amendments will take effect on 1 February 2018. The Committee considered the Ministerial Declaration “Safeguard Responsible and Sustainable Shipping ” from the Third Joint Ministerial Conference of the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda on Port State Control, held in Vancouver, Canada, from 3 to 4 May 2017. The Ministerial Declaration, that was signed by the responsible Ministers, requests the member Authorities to take specific steps to reach their ultimate objective of eliminating substandard ships. The Committee established an intersessional working group to review the agreed- upon steps assigned by the Ministers and to consider and propose follow-up actions to be taken thereon.
The Committee considered and approved the final report of the CIC in 2016 on Cargo Securing Arrangements. The Committee reviewed and approved arrangements and preparations for the joint CIC with the Paris MOU on MARPOL Annex VI in 2018. The Committee considered possible topics for future CICs and agreed to carry out a CIC on Emergency Systems, including electrical systems and equipment covered by SOLAS Chapter II -1 in 2019. The Committee further agreed to make the proposal to the Paris MOU for carrying out it jointly.
The Committee considered and approved a number of revised or new guidelines for PSC Officers ; including guidelines on the ISM Code, guidelines on the Polar Code, guidelines on ECDIS, guidelines on BWM, guidelines on MARPOL Annexes IV and V, guidelines on seafarer certification and manning and guidelines on inspection of ships below convention size. The Committee noted with satisfaction effective and successful implementation of the technical co-operation programmes and expressed its appreciation to Authorities for their support and co-operation to the Secretariat for organization and coordination of the technical cooperation activities and to the Nippon Foundation for kindly providing the funds.
The twenty-ninth meeting of the Port State Control Committee will be held in Hangzhou, China in November 2018.
Tokyo MOU was concluded in December 1993 and came into operation in April 1994. At present, Tokyo MOU consists of 20 member Authorities: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, Vanuatu and VietNam. Panama adheres to the Tokyo MOU as co-operating member Authority. The Democratic People’ s Republic of Korea, Macao (China), Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, the United States Coast Guard, the International Maritime Organization, the International Labour Organization and the Secretariat s of the Paris, the Indian Ocean, the Black Sea, the Riyadh and the Caribbean (accepted at the current meeting ) Memoranda of Understanding on Port State Control and the Vi ña del Mar Agreement are associated with the Tokyo MOU as observers. The Secretariat of the Memorandum is located in Tokyo, Japan. The PSC database system, the Asia-Pacific Computerized Information System (APCIS), was established. The APCIS center is located in Moscow, under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.
Port State Control is a check on visiting foreign ships to verify their compliance with international rules on safety, security, marine environment protection and seafarers living and working conditions. It is a means of enforcing compliance in cases where the owner and flag State have failed in their responsibility to implement or ensure compliance. The port State can require defects to be put right, and detain the ship for this purpose if necessary. It is therefore also a port State’s defense against visi ting substandard shipping.
