During the first month, seven ships were detained for MLC-related deficiencies. They were flagged by Cyprus (two), Liberia, the Netherlands, Panama (two) and Tanzania.
“We are working on the figures which will be published in our annual report,” says Paris MoU secretary general Richard Schiferli. “There is clearly a lot of interest from those involved in shipping as to what the results of MLC inspections are.”
While predictable issues such as the quality/quantity of food on board and documentation not being order have come up, he says a notable topic has been records of seafarers’ daily hours of work and rest not being in order.
“There are restrictions on the hours of work and rest. It used to be only the watchkeeping personnel, under STCW, but now it applies to every seafarer on board,” he says. “They can only work so many hours and must be compensated by so much rest.”
Most MLC issues can be rectified within a day, particularly failures in documentation, says Mr Schiferli. However, he says food can often be a fundamental problem. “They could buy food but then be back to the same situation within a few days. Usually when a ship has been detained, we will follow up on that so it gets priority checking a couple of months later.”
The Paris MoU drafted MLC guidelines for PSC officers and has organised a number of training seminars, working with the MCA.
Mr Schiferli believes that most ‘bone fide shipowners’ are by now well aware of what the MLC requires. “Even if the flag the ship is sailing under doesn’t sign up to the new international requirements, it doesn’t make any difference – you still have to comply.”