13 FOREIGN SHIPS UNDER DETENTION IN THE UK DURING APRIL

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have announced that thirteen foreign ships were under detention in UK ports during April 2001 after failing port state control safety inspection.

Latest monthly figures show that 6 foreign ships were detained in UK ports during April 2001 along with 7 other ships still under detention from previous months. The overall rate of detentions is 6.7% compared with inspections carried out over the last 12 months. This is an increase of 0.2% from the 12-month rate to March. The ships detained included: -

- A Swedish flagged General Cargo Vessel still under detention at Shoreham. There were no certificates on board the vessel and the servicing of essential life saving equipment had not been carried out. The vessel was wholly ill equipped to proceed on its intended voyage to French Guyana.

- A Maltese flagged bulk carrier that was detained for three days at Belfast. The oily water separator was non-operational and the lifeboat quick release hooks had seized. The breathing apparatus was leaking and not operationally ready.

Surveyors from the MCA undertake inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports. Where a ship is found to be deficient or lacks the required documentation, MCA surveyors can take a range of actions leading to detention in serious cases. 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 SIReNaC. This allows the ships of flags with poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.