# Paris MoU adopts new Port State Control Inspection System.



## shamrock (May 16, 2009)

Full press release can be found on this link...

http://www.parismou.org/ParisMOU/Whats+New/News/News+Detail/xp/selectedcontentitem.2899/default.aspx


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## Cap'n Pete (Feb 27, 2006)

The problem with PSC inspections is "who inspects the inspectors". As master, I have no fear of experienced ex masters and chief engineers who undertake ship inspections on behalf of Port State Control. However, many PSC inspectors these days have never been to sea and would be absolutely lost without their checklists. 

This new type of PSC inspection, includes a lot to do with the ILO convention. This has absolutely nothing to do with the seaworthiness of the ship, but is more a charter of workers rights. Workers rights should be under the control of unions such as the ITF, not Port State Inspectors. I am the master of the ship and reasonsible for the ship's safety and that of it's crew. I play no part in setting the seafarers wages, or their terms and conditions of service, or anything else. I'm as much an employee as they are and I get extremely angry when PSC inspectors start accusing me of a host of crimes I can do little about.


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## James_C (Feb 17, 2005)

Cap'n Pete said:


> The problem with PSC inspections is "who inspects the inspectors". As master, I have no fear of experienced ex masters and chief engineers who undertake ship inspections on behalf of Port State Control. However, many PSC inspectors these days have never been to sea and would be absolutely lost without their checklists.
> This new type of PSC inspection, includes a lot to do with the ILO convention. This has absolutely nothing to do with the seaworthiness of the ship, but is more a charter of workers rights. Workers rights should be under the control of unions such as the ITF, not Port State Inspectors. I am the master of the ship and reasonsible for the ship's safety and that of it's crew. I play no part in setting the seafarers wages, or their terms and conditions of service, or anything else. I'm as much an employee as they are and I get extremely angry when PSC inspectors start accusing me of a host of crimes I can do little about.


Two trips ago whilst alongside in Galveston (there's a story behind that in itself), we got 'done' by the USCG.
Two lads, neither of them could have been over 20, being the usual outwardly rude and curt everyone, but also to the Old Man - who'd been at sea 40 years. When on occasion something came up that didn't fit in with their inspection pro forma, they would be jumping up and down etc. Trying to explain just why was a non starter, as they were quite obviously not Seamen in any sense of the word, indeed it appeared that they must have only recently graduated from the USCG indoctrination centre. They got fed up after a while and thankfully the US Air Force told them where to go (we were loading an Airforce cargo).


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## ROBERT HENDERSON (Apr 11, 2008)

CAP'N PETE
It isn't always satisfactory with ex masters. I was Master of a small coastal edible oil tanker, when we had Port State Control inspection in an Irish port, the Gentleman concerned introduce himself as Captain So & So . After finding the ships papers, charts and the compass book all up to date, nothing untoward with the life saving and safety equipment, he pounced on a valve on a two inch line that was padlocked. Immediately he accused me of putting the fire line out of action, after I had a tongue lashing of this pompous ass, I told him that went he inspected a tanker of any size or description it would be best to trace the lines out.
The fact was that the fire line was under the flying bridge and painted signal red. The line he questioned was painted yellow, ran from the main discharge line along the deck to the forward cofferdam, with a branch off with two valve separation for discharging into lorries. It was kept padlocked in case a crew member inadvertently opened it while the main cargo pumps were operating. When I had explained this to him, he left the ship and didn't have the good grace to apologise.

Regards Robert


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## Iain B (Apr 28, 2007)

Cap'n Pete

A lot of people in the commercial side of the business, including insurers use PSC data as an important part of risk review. Being old school it really bothers me how some otherwise sensible people put so much store in sophisticated date based on unknown parameters. Some times it appears that the more sophisticated and complicated it looks, or the fancier the web site - the better the value of the data. 

The value of PSC data is only as good as the performance of the individual inspectors. Rubbish in = Rubbish out. 

The comments in this thread only reinforce the message from the front line, that is increasingly critical of PSC and the deteriorating standards of inspectors and inspection regimes. 

Unfortunately nature hates a va*** and data that is in the public domain (when it is hard to find anything else) becomes valuable. People and organisations want to use it because there is so little other data available.

Accountability and transparancy is what we need, not more sophisticated systems that interpret the results of dubious inspections.

I enjoy SN not only for the 'back in the day / swinging the lamp' exchanges, but the input from the those closely involved. 

Iain


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## greektoon (Oct 17, 2008)

I was on a small tanker recently and the last PSC inspection report included in the list of deficiencies "NO CARGO SECURING MANUAL ON BOARD" (Jester)


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## James_C (Feb 17, 2005)

On another visit to the States in 2003, we had two deficiencies. 
One was that only the bottom and top steps on external stairways had the black/yellow high vis marks, apparently they all should have them (says who?), another was that neither of the radars had a fixed notice on them proclaiming that only the water log should be used for speed input!
(Smoke)


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## Cap'n Pete (Feb 27, 2006)

My own "interesting story" about USCG inspections was when I was in Seattle. We had two old Sperry Gyro compasses which were housed in a radio room abaft the wheelhouse. The very new female officer was accompanied by two old hands who were doing nothing to make her job any easier. You might remember the old Sperry gyro - it looked a bit like R2D2 in Star Wars. The officer wanted to check that the ship had a gyro and that it was available for navigating the ship. I showed the gyro, so she ticked the first box. Then she looked at the gyro and noticed that the gyro room was not part of the bridge; perplexed, she asked me if the gyro compasses were fitted with wheels so they could be moved into the wheelhouse. Of course, her senior ratings fell over laughing.

On another occasion, I was in Mobile taking a USCG officer on his tour of inspection of the deck. We had a nasty crack in the maindeck bulkhead which was scheduled to be repaired that day. The officer saw the crack and then looked down at his list; clearly, he did not know what to do because he knew the crack was dangerous but "cracks" did not appear on his checklist. Eventually, he just shrugged and moved on.


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## greektoon (Oct 17, 2008)

Jokes aside, I would also emphasise that whatever one thinks of the system and its defects, it has no doubt had some positive effect with regard to improvements in ship safety. I am also equally sure that there are plenty of professionals working for PSC. Just wanted to get this in context.


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