Port States Target 10,000 Ships in Stability Inspection Campaign

Shipping authorities will be launched a concentrated inspection campaign this fall focusing on crew familiarity with stability and compliance with stability regulations. The authorities did not specify the reasoning behind launching the campaign and if it was in any way related to the spate of containerships that lost boxes overboard, but they said the expected approximately 10,000 inspections would be carried out in conjunction with regular Port State Control inspections between September 1 and November 30, 2021.

The member authorities of the Tokyo and the Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control have jointly agreed to launch the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Stability. Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) will use a pre-defined questionnaire to assess that information and equipment provided on board complies with the relevant conventions, that the master and officers are familiar with operations relating to stability and that equipment is properly maintained and functioning.

The organizations said that the focus of the inspections would be to confirm that the ship’s crew are familiar with assessing the actual stability condition on completion of cargo operations before departure of the ship and during all stages of the voyage. They hope to create awareness among the ship’s crew and owners about the importance of calculating the actual stability condition of the ship on completion of cargo operations and before departure from port. They will also seek to verify that the ship complies with intact stability requirements (and damage stability requirements, if applicable) under the relevant IMO instruments.

If deficiencies are found during the inspections, actions by the port state may vary from recording a deficiency and instructing the master to rectify it within a certain period of time to detaining the ship until the serious deficiencies have been rectified. Each ship will only be inspected once during the campaign focusing on stability.

The organizations said that the results of the campaign will be analyzed and findings will be presented to the governing bodies of both MoUs for submission to the IMO. They hope to raise awareness among the crews over the importance of adhering to stability in general and taking the proper steps before departure and while at sea.

PUBLISHED JUL 23, 2021 5:20 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE