Batumi, Georgia – Representatives of the Port State Control Committee, the governing body under the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region (BS MoU), met in-person presence in Batumi, Georgia, for the twenty-fourth session from 26 to 28 March 2024. Those who were unable to attend were given the opportunity to participate online.
The meeting was chaired by Captain Cosmin Laurențiu Dumitrache, General Director of the Romanian Naval Authority.
Director of the Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia, Mr. Aleksi Akhvlediani delivered a welcome speech and officially declared the opening of the meeting. In his opening speech, Mr. Akhvlediani first welcomed all delegates to Batumi and emphasized the importance of collaboration among member states to ensure navigation safety in the Black Sea region. Mr. Akhvlediani highlighted the crucial role of port state control in maritime safety and environmental protection globally, with particular significance in the Black Sea and underscored Georgia's commitment to fulfilling its international obligations and improving transport connectivity, focusing on port infrastructure development and digitalization initiatives. The opening speech was concluded by expressing gratitude to the organizing committee and wishing for a productive meeting.
The twenty-fourth meeting of the Port State Control Committee was attended by all the 6 member Authorities of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Türkiye and Ukraine and observers of Moldova, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Abuja MoU, the Indian Ocean MoU, the Tokyo MoU and the Viňa del Mar Agreement attended to the meeting. Observers of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Caribbean MoU, the Paris MoU, the Riyadh MoU, USCG and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution were unable to attend.
From 1 September 2023 to 30 November 2023, the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region (BS MoU) carried out a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Fire Safety.
The campaign involved all member Authorities of the BS MoU and was conducted under the campaign coordination of the Maritime Administration of Türkiye. This campaign was conducted with the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda, as well as other regional PSC Regimes, utilizing the Guidelines and Questionnaires of the Paris and Tokyo Memorandums. The campaign shows the following preliminary results.
The member Authorities of the Memorandum of Understanding on PSC in the Black Sea Region (BS MoU) will conduct a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Fire Safety.
The three-month campaign will start on September 1st, 2023 and end on November 30th, 2023 under the coordination of the Maritime Administration of Türkiye. The campaign shall be conducted simultaneously with the Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU and some other regional PSC regimes.
We are pleased to present the twenty-second issue of the Annual Report on Port State Control in the Black Sea region which is published under the auspices of the Port State Control Committee of the Black Sea MoU.
Port State Control is of particular importance to the BS MoU member Authorities due to the role of shipping in the region’s trade, the sensitivity of the Black Sea basin and its coastline to environmental damage. PSC inspections are conducted to ensure that foreign ships visiting the Black Sea ports are seaworthy, do not pose a pollution risk, provide a healthy and safe environment and comply with relevant international regulations and within the scope of the member Authorities’ national governing laws and regulations.
This PSC Annual report covers the period between 1st January and 31st December 2022, a year that was definitely a challenging year. Although the Covid-19, Pandemic continued to affect countries in the Black Sea Region, maritime trade bounced back and reached slightly below pre-Covid-19 levels.
From 1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022, the Black Sea MoU carried out a Concentrated
Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW)
throughout the region. This campaign involved all member States of the BS MoU and was conducted
in conjunction with the Paris and the Tokyo Memoranda, and other Regional PSC regimes. The
campaign was conducted under the campaign coordination of the Bulgarian Maritime Administration.
Guidelines and Questionnaires of the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda were used
During the campaign, a total of 1,329 inspections were carried out for 1,258
individual ships. 1,140 of them were carried out with the CIC questionnaire. During the CIC, 47 ships
were detained in total. Of this quantity, 10 of the detentions are the result of inspections without CIC
Questionnaires and 5 of these 37 ships were detained under the CIC scope.
A total of 95 questionnaires had at least one non-compliance to any of the requirements, resulting
in 8.33 per cent of CIC inspections. The overall average per cent of nonconformities was 1.19 which
means that the “unsatisfactory” answer was given to any question under this CIC.
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