Ukrainian Shipping Register activity within the frames of New inspection procedure for ships

On May 8-22, 2009, a meeting of representatives of 27 Paris Memorandum signatories and the European Union (EU) Commission was held in Reykjavik (Iceland). As a result of this meeting, the decision was taken to amend the procedure of the state control in ports in terms of simplifying the inspection procedure for low-risk vessels and strengthening the control over high-risk vessels.

The document became known as the “New inspection procedure” (NIP) and reflects all the requirements set out in the EU Directive 2009/16 on the control over ships by the port state. The EU Directive 2009/16 entered into force on June 17, 2009, along with other rules and directives of the third EU safety package. Since that date, the collection of information on the detention of vessels of all types, detention of vessels flying the flag of countries included into the grey list, performance indicators of shipping companies and performance indicators of recognized organizations have started. The initial application of this Directive commenced on January 1, 2011, and its comprehensive application started on June 17, 2012.

The NIP is based on the division of vessels into 3 risk categories: a high-risk vessel, a standard-risk vessel and a low-risk vessel, according to a set of criteria that comprise the type, age of the vessel, classification society, flag, company performance indicators, results of previous inspections, detentions, etc.

The NIP has significantly changed the existing system of ship control in European ports. The main idea of MNI is a procedure based on a risk assessment of each particular vessel. Vessels and shipping companies that have a high level of quality maritime safety management receive preferences in the form of a reduction in both the number and scope of inspections in ports, while vessels that have an increased risk of non-compliance with international maritime safety requirements are inspected more frequently and thoroughly.

For the first time, the ship risk assessment system includes qualitative indicators of shipping companies’ performance and the results of the flag state’s inspection as part of the International Maritime Organization’s voluntary audit system. When calculating the vessel risk assessment, the following are also taken into account: the rating of a recognized organization (classification society), the age of a vessel, the results of previous inspections, etc

The issue of reducing the number of ship’s detentions and, consequently, the risk level of vessels with the class of the Ukrainian Shipping Register is in the focus of constant attention of the national classification society. The Register ship survey rules define clearly the Register’s actions in case port state control inspectors detect any non-compliance of the ships with the requirements of international conventions. At the same time, the Shipping Register of Ukraine is guided by the following:

Vessels aged 20 years and older are accepted for a technical supervision only after a preliminary assessment of the technical condition of the vessel. The technical condition of a vessel and its elements shall comply with the Register Rules and the requirements of international conventions. In the process of preliminary assessment the analysis of vessel detentions and non-compliances issued during inspections in ports for the last three years is obligatory.
During any inspection, the attention of the ship’s crew and the shipowner is drawn primarily to non-conformities that may result in detention. In order to assist the shipowner in preventing the detention of the vessel, the Register’s inspectors provide recommendations in writing, set requirements with a deadline for their implementation and monitor the fact of fulfillment of the requirements.
After a vessel is detained, the Register’s inspectors conduct a mandatory extraordinary inspection of the vessel in line with the established form to confirm the complete elimination of the discrepancies identified by the port state control authorities. Such inspections are considered to be a task of paramount importance and are performed by the most qualified and experienced inspectors.
In case of recurrent detention of a vessel within a year, it is mandatory for the Register inspectors to inspect the vessel at the port of detention, or within 2 weeks after detention – to conduct an inspection in the scope of the annual (initiative) inspection. During such inspections, the Register inspector takes a decision on the expediency of confirming the conventional certificates and the ship’s class. If the shipowner fails to comply with the requirement to conduct a survey, the ship’s class is automatically suspended.
In case of ship’s detention for the third time within 24 months, the ship’s class is automatically suspended and the convention certificates are canceled. The class and validity of conventional certificates shall be renewed only after complete elimination of all nonconformities and on the basis of an unscheduled inspection of the vessel by the Register inspector. The Register informs the shipowner, the Maritime Administration and the secretariat of memoranda regarding the control of ships on the part of the port state on the termination of the ship’s class and cancellation of conventional certificates.
For the vessels which technical state is not maintained by a shipowner at the level required by the Register’s Rules and international conventions, a special mode of surveys is introduced in case of a recurrent detention of the vessel. In this case, more detailed and in-depth periodic surveys and active unscheduled surveys at the initiative of the Register are envisaged.
When conducting unscheduled inspections as a result of the detention of a vessel, it is mandatory to take photographs of the objects of supervision in order to document the elimination or non-elimination of the identified non-conformities.
When conducting safety management system (SMS) inspections, the company is required to comply with item 10.2 of the International Safety Management Code (ISM Code) regarding the vessel and her equipment maintenance. Particular attention shall be paid to the maintenance of life-saving and fire-fighting equipment.
Additional inspections of a vessel or a company for compliance with ISM requirements are carried out if requested by the port state or flag state control authorities at the company’s request.

Moreover, even prior to the application of the NIP, the Register developed an action plan to reduce the number of detentions of vessels with a class of the Ukrainian Shipping Register. In May 2010, a series of seminars and meetings with shipowners with the participation of representatives of the State Maritime Inspectorate of Ukraine and port authorities were held on the subject of “Detention of ships by PSC and measures to reduce the number of detentions”. The reasons ofasons of vessel detentions were analyzed, information on the new inspection procedure was provided, and ways of further cooperation between the Register and shipowners to reduce the number of detentions were discussed.

The Register supervises 223 vessels possessing conventional documents, with an average age of 29.3 years, including 113 vessels flying the flag of Ukraine, with an average age of 25.1 years. Despite a relatively high age of the vessels, the above-noted actions of the Register have achieved a certain positive result in reducing the number of detentions. Analyzing the Register’s performance in this area, we cite official data, namely, statistics on the activities of recognized organizations over the past five years according to the data published annually on the Paris memorandum website (performance indicators in the direction of growth – very low, low, medium, high).

Year	Vessel’s insprction number	Detentions	Excess factor	Activity indecesce	Ranking position
2007	441	19	1,81	Low	25
2008	560	21	1,57	Low	23
2009	664	19	0,94	Average	23
2010	720	16	0,62	Average	23
2011	771	15	0,47	Average	20

Thus, there is progress in reducing the number of detentions while increasing the number of inspections of vessels with the Register of Shipping class in the ports of the Paris Memorandum member countries. This is also confirmed by the following indicators: the excess factor, which has decreased almost four times and the ranking position of recognized organizations (classification societies), in five years the Register has risen from 25th to 20th place.

When the exceedance factor reaches a value of nil, the recognized organization is moved to the category of organizations with high performance. Despite the very high competition in the market of classification and conventional surveys of ships, the Shipping Register of Ukraine plans to come close to this indicator in the next 10 years and enter the top 16 classification societies in the rating of recognized organizations.