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 on 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 the lives as well as the marine environment. It is when flag states fail to meet their commitments that port State comes into play.

For the effective understanding of PSC activities, maritime Authorities have joined the regional Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as a member. The Paris MOU is the model upon which other regions of the world base their agreements on PSC. Starting with the Paris MOU, PSC became more organized and widespread and now there are various Memorandum of Understanding on Port States control covering almost every part of the world. At present, there are eight regional agreements on PSC with the total of 123 members states.

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 followings are the Memorandum of Understanding on PSC in the world to this date.

• Paris MOU (Europe and North Atlantic region)
• Tokyo MOU (Aisa-Pacific region)
• Acuerdo de Vina del Mar (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)

PSC at work

It is known that 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 the lives as well as the marine environment.Port State control is a system of harmonized inspection procedures designed to target sub-standards 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 interfaces for the sake of safe shipping.