During August, there were nine new detentions of a foreign flagged vessel in a UK port.

In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports under the Paris MOU regime each month.

The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, deficiencies may be raised. Depending on the inspection findings, the vessel may be liable for detention in these cases.

Notes on the list of detentions:

Full details of the ship:
The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number which does not change throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.

Company:
The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the operation of the ship at the time of inspection.

Classification society:
The list shows the classification society responsible for classification of the ship only.

Recognised organisation:
Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the flag state.

White (WL), grey (GL) and black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of the flag State.

Deficiencies:

The deficiencies listed are those marked as Grounds for Detention. Further details of other deficiencies can be provided on request.
Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)