Record keeping and labour conditions remain deficient in the Asia Pacific, according to the Tokyo MOU’s latest annual report.
The report, released on 12 May, noted that while port state detentions have gone down in the region over the past three years, inspections have shown that labour conditions still have room for improvement.
The total number of under-performing ships identified and the number of individual ships involved in 2014 has decreased by 40% and 30% respectively, compared with the numbers from 2012.
The Tokyo MOU, a regional body that establishes effective port state control (PSC), said the figures show its measures that target under-performing ships for the past four years are proving to be correct and effective.
The concentrated inspection campaign (CIC) on STCW Hours of Rest was carried out from 1 September to 30 November 2014.
During the three-month CIC period, a total of 8,182 PSC inspections were conducted by the member authorities, of which 6,392 were related to a CIC inspection.
There were a total of 206 detentions recorded during the CIC inspections, among which 16 or 7.8% of them were detained as the direct results of the CIC.
A total of 1,589 CIC related deficiencies were recorded. The most significant deficiencies found during the campaign were related to documentation and labour conditions, including records of seafarers daily hours of work/rest (997 or 63%), manning specified by the minimum safe manning document (241 or 15%), and shipboard working arrangements (232 or 15%).
The Tokyo MOU’s report said, “The overall results of the CIC demonstrate that considerable room for improvement exists in the areas of record keeping and labour conditions.”
The list of deficiencies showed 74 deficiencies were noted in the area of minimum requirements for seafarers; 363 deficiencies for employment conditions; 1,017 deficiencies in accommodation, recreational facilities, food, and catering; and 983 deficiencies in health protection, medical care, and social security.
Ships are detained when the condition of the ship or its crew does not correspond substantially with the applicable conventions.
Detentions ensure that the ship cannot sail until it can proceed to sea without presenting a danger to the ship or persons on board, or without presenting an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
