C5.3.c. What is port State control (PSC)?

The term “port State control” (PSC) arises from arrangements among countries in a region to work together and cooperate with respect to carrying out port State control (inspections) to ensure that ships flying the flags of other countries coming into their ports meet international standards. As noted on the website of the earliest of these regional arrangements:

… the Paris MOU, is an administrative agreement between the maritime authorities of twenty-four European countries and Canada. In 1978 the “Hague Memorandum” between a number of maritime authorities in Western Europe was developed. It dealt mainly with enforcement of shipboard living and working conditions, as required by ILO Convention No. 147. However, just as the Memorandum was about to come into effect, in March 1978, a massive oil spill occurred off the coast of Brittany (France), as a result of the grounding of the supertanker “Amoco Cadiz”. This incident caused a strong political and public outcry in Europe for far more stringent regulations with regard to the safety of shipping. This pressure resulted in a more comprehensive memorandum which covered:
■ safety of life at sea;
■ prevention of pollution by ships;
■ living and working conditions on board ships.
Subsequently, a new Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control was signed in January 1982 by fourteen European countries at a Ministerial Conference held in Paris, France. It entered into operation on 1 July 1982. Since that date, the Paris Memorandum has been amended several times to accommodate new safety and marine environment requirements stemming from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and requirements related to working and living conditions of seafarers.
The organization expanded to twenty-seven member States over the past years ⁷⁴ .

As noted by the IMO ⁷⁵ :

These inspections were originally intended to be a back up to flag State implementation, but experience has shown that they can be extremely effective, especially if organized on a regional basis. A ship going to a port in one country will normally visit other countries in the region before embarking on its return voyage and it is to everybody’s advantage if inspections can be closely coordinated. This ensures that as many ships as possible are inspected but at the same time prevents ships being delayed by unnecessary inspections. The primary responsibility for ships’ standards rests with the flag State – but port State control provides a “safety net” to catch substandard ships. IMO has encouraged the establishment of regional port State control organizations and agreements on port State control – Memoranda of Understanding or MOUs – have been signed covering all of the world’s oceans: Europe and the north Atlantic (Paris MOU); Asia and the Pacific (Tokyo MOU); Latin America (Acuerdo de Viña del Mar); Caribbean (Caribbean MOU); West and Central Africa (Abuja MOU); the Black Sea region (Black Sea MOU); the Mediterranean (Mediterranean MOU); the Indian Ocean (Indian Ocean MOU); and the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC MoU (Riyadh MoU)).

In a general observation, adopted in 2014, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendation ⁷⁶ “noted with interest the recent public report issued by the secretariat of a regional port State control Memorandum of Understanding, with respect to the number of inspections of ships, by port State control officers, for compliance with the requirements of the MLC, 2006. That report included a list of deficiencies that had been identified on board ships, as well as reporting a significant number of detentions of ships for MLC, 2006 – related matters in this first year following entry into force of the Convention. The Committee notes that this shipboard-level system, involving both flag State inspections and inspections of foreign ships entering ports of ratifying Members, is important and supports, on an ongoing basis, and in a concrete manner, the cyclical national-level examination of the application of Conventions under the ILO’s supervisory system.”.

---

Port State responsibilities