Promotion of Iranian Merchant Fleet to the White List of Tokyo MOU

According to the 2007 Annual Report of the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Tokyo MOU), the Iranian fleet was promoted by four steps in the ranking and entered the White List of this MOU by the end of 2007. The report shows that in the 3-year period up to 2007, a total of 175 Iranian flagged vessels underwent PSC inspections in the ports of the above MOU region and only 5 vessels of the above number were deficient enough to be detained.

It must be noted that as a result of measures taken by the Ports and Shipping Organization as the maritime administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as shipping companies, classification societies and under close cooperation with FSC officers and the crew of the vessels, only one Iranian vessel was detained in the above region in 2007.

Inspecting all flagged vessels before leaving the country, preventing deficient vessels from sailing until all deficiencies have been rectified and holding regular technical meetings with shipowners, shipping companies and classification societies with the aim of identifying the roots and causes of deficiencies and assessing the conditions of the Iranian merchant fleet are the major factors leading to this international achievement.

The Ports and Shipping Organization congratulates this achievement to all maritime executives and officials of the country, especially the dear seafarers.

19 April.2008

Promotion of Iranian Merchant Fleet to the White List

of Paris MOU

Under continuous efforts of the Flag State Control Directorate General of the Ports and Shipping Organization as the maritime administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in cooperation with other maritime bodies and shipping companies, Iran was promoted from the Grey List of the Paris MOU to the White List regarding 2006. Inspecting 100% of the Iranian flagged vessels, preventing Iranian flagged vessels with deficiencies from leaving the port before rectifying the deficiencies, holding meetings with shipping companies and classification societies, as well as promoting the technical knowledge of the Port State Control Officers have been some of the measures taken by this Directorate General in this regard.

At its 40th meeting last month, the Paris MOU Committee approved the 2006 inspection results and adopted a new flag State performance list, which will take effect from 1 July 2007. The “Black List” for 2006 contains 16 flags States, two fewer than last year.

 The 2006 “White List” includes 37 flag States, three more than last year. A “hard core” of flag States remain on the “Black List”.  Most of the flags that were considered “very high risk” in 2005 have retained this ranking. The poorest performing flags are still Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Albania, and Bolivia. Some countries like Taiwan, Turkey, Algeria and the Ukraine have moved from the “Black List” to the “Grey List” and will hopefully manage to further enhance this improvement. Belize and Morocco moved back to the “Black List”.

The “White List” represents those quality flags with a consistently low detention record. The United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland are placed highest in terms of performance.  Azerbaijan has moved down from the “White List” to the “Grey List”. New on the “White List” are Estonia, Switzerland and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Flag States with an average performance are shown on the “Grey List”. Their appearance on this list may act as an incentive to improve and move to the “White List”. At the same time flag States at the lower end of the “Grey List” should be careful not to neglect control over their ships and risk ending up on the “Black List” next year. A flag’s ranking is taken into account when targeting ships for inspection and ships flying flags listed on the “Black list” are liable for banning from the region after multiple detentions. Moreover, cargo-owners will be reluctant to use such vessels due to the possibility of delay in transportation of the cargo.

The shortening “Black list” and growing “White List” suggests there is a movement towards quality flags.

From: www.parismou.org                                                             6 June.2007

Port State Control

Port State control (PSC) inspection of vessels is the most effective method to identify sub-standard vessels. In this regard, the Ports and Shipping Organization (PSO) has commenced a serious effort to guarantee safety of navigation and protect the marine environment in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Due to the measures taken in precise implementation of port State control and prevention sub-standard vessels from operating, foreign shipping companies and agencies have realized the importance of PSC inspections in the Iranian ports, and send their vessels to these ports only when they comply with the conditions and standards specified in international conventions.

Under the agreements in the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding (IOMOU), the Parties undertake to implement the provisions of the following conventions relevant to safety of navigation and marine environment protection regarding the vessels entering the regional waters and ports:

-         International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 1974);

-         International Convention on Collision Regulation (Colreg 1972);

-         International Convention on Loadline 1966;

-         International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships 1969;

-         International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-Keeping for Seafarers (STCW 78);

-         International Convention on Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78);

In order to enforce strict policies on port State control in the ports with the aim of implementing national regulations and maritime conventions on guaranteeing safety for vessels, the Iranian PSC centers have inspected a total 602 foreign vessels by considering their documents, certificates, and technical and safety conditions, in the first 9 months of the year 1384 (April-December 2005). Out of the above total, 99 vessels had serious safety and technical deficiencies and were detained, while 328 vessels had technical deficiencies which were rectified in the port of inspection or were agreed to be rectified in the next port.

1 - Regional and International Activities

1-1 Active participation in all the IOMOU activities

-         Participating in the 8^th meeting in Maldives and mentioning Iran’s viewpoints regarding port State control;

-         Expanding regional cooperations in dealing with sub-standard vessels;

-         Exchanging PSC inspection reports and vessels’ information with the Parties;

-         Utilizing the IOCIS software;

-         Participating in the Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Fire Fighting Appliances (FFA) in the IOMOU region, with Iran chairing the working group.

1-2 Relation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)

-         Receiving documents and information regarding IMO committees, and having active participation in the Flag State Implementation Committee (FSI) and its meetings;

-         Exchanging information on port State control;

-         Communication of recent IMO ratifications and strategies to PSC officers in ports to be utilized.

1-3 Forwarding the detention reports of foreign vessels to their flag States

2 - Enforcing the sovereign policies of the Organization regarding controlling and monitoring precise implementation of national regulations and international conventions

2-1 Active presence of PSC officers in all the Iranian ports;

2-2 Port State control inspection of vessels in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran;

2-3 Consulting the information of classification societies’ websites, in order to consider the conditions of the vessel before deployments of inspectors.

3 - Training and promotion of technical knowledge

3-1 Holding two PSC training conferences in Tehran and Bandar Abbas;

3-2  Holding the theoretical course on tankers, level I;

3-3  Following the holding of the theoretical course on tankers, level II in Bandar Imam Khomeini;

3-4 Following the dispatchment of PSC officers to the AMSA workshop in Australia;

3-5  Following the dispatchment of PSC officers to oil tankers;

3-6  Following the holding of the ILO training course through the appropriate authorities.

Port State Control of Vessels (PSC) in 2007

According to international conventions, port States are allowed to conduct safety and technical inspections on vessels visiting their ports with the aim of guaranteeing safety of navigation and marine environment protection and thus prevent sub-standard vessels from entering the ports and waters under their jurisdiction. Figures show that PSC inspections carried out in the Iranian ports have exceeded the 10 % specified by the Indian Ocean MOU.

The major activities in this regard are:

• Active participation in the Tenth Annual Meeting of IOMOU and submission of proposals;
• Dispatching a PSCO from BIK to a Tokyo MOU training seminar;
• Forwarding all detention reports to the maritime administrations of flag States;
• Using IOCIS system to forward all inspection reports;
• Identifying sub-standard and banned foreign vessels and informing the ports;
• Announcing the names of banned vessels to flag States, Classification Societies, and shipping companies;
• Preparing and establishing the Target Factor;
• Preparing a checklist of actions to be done by inspectors before boarding vessels;
• Receiving and distributing maritime publications, conventions and the latest amendments thereto to the ports;
• Preparing a PSC cooperation plan and memorandum of understanding with the Russian Federation in the Caspian Sea;
• Conducting a CIC on ISM requirements simultaneously with IOMOU, Tokyo MOU and Paris MOU member States;
• Meeting with Azeri maritime officials in order to consider the conditions of Azeri vessels and pave the way for an MOU on port State control.