The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU) held its 45th Committee meeting in Riga, Latvia, from 7 – 11 May 2012.

High importance was given to Concentrated Inspection Campaigns (CICs). A CIC on fire safety systems has been scheduled from September to November this year, a CIC on Propulsion and Auxiliary Machinery in 2013 and a CIC focussing on hours of work and rest in 2014. The campaigns will be carried out jointly with the Tokyo MoU.

The Committee recognised the need to focus on passenger ship safety and agreed to do so in the form of a Harmonized Verification Programme (HAVEP) on operational controls on passenger ships in 2013. The HAVEP will run for a period of twelve months, during which period PSCOs focus their attention on compliance with regulations concerning operational ermergency drills. The Committee noted that the detention rate of passenger ships increased in 2011 to 4,4% compared with 1,6% in 2010 and 2009.

Mr. Schiferli, the Secretary General, stated: “The HAVEP should provide valuable information on operational safety of passenger ships and results could be compared with a similar programme carried out earlier by the Paris MoU.”

Since the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) is expected to enter into force in 2013, the Committee agreed in principle on amendments to the Paris MoU text, introducing the MLC 2006 as a relevant instrument.

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