3.1 IDENTIFICATION OF A SUBSTANDARD SHIP
3.1.1 In general, a ship is regarded as substandard if the hull,
machinery, equipment or operational safety and the protection of the environment is
substantially below the standards required by the relevant conventions or if the
crew is not in conformity with the safe manning document, owing to, inter alia:
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.1 the absence of principal equipment or arrangement required by
the conventions, taking into account paragraph 1.2.6;
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.2 non-compliance of equipment or arrangement with relevant
specifications of the conventions, taking into account paragraph 1.2.6;
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.3 substantial deterioration of the ship or its equipment;
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.4 insufficiency of operational proficiency, or unfamiliarity
with essential operational procedures by the crew; and
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.5 insufficiency of manning or insufficiency of certification of
seafarers.
3.1.2 If these evident factors as a whole or individually pose a danger
to the ship or persons on board or present an unreasonable threat of harm to the
marine environment if it were allowed to proceed to sea, it should be regarded as a
substandard ship. The PSCO should also take into account the guidelines in appendix
2.
3.2 SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION CONCERNING DEFICIENCIES
3.2.1 Information that a ship appears to be substandard could be
submitted to the appropriate authorities of the port State (see section 3.3) by a
member of the crew, a professional body, an association, a trade union or any other
individual with an interest in the safety of the ship, its crew and passengers, or
the protection of the marine environment.
3.2.2 This information should be submitted in writing to permit proper
documentation of the case and of the alleged deficiencies. If the information is
passed verbally, the filing of a written report should be required, identifying, for
the purposes of the port State's records, the individual or body providing the
information. The attending PSCO may collect this information and submit it as part
of the PSCO's report if the originator is unable to do so.
3.2.3 Information which may cause an investigation should be submitted
as early as possible, giving adequate time to the authorities to act as
necessary.
3.2.4 Each Party to the relevant convention should determine which
authorities should receive information on substandard ships and initiate action.
Measures should be taken to ensure that information submitted to the wrong
department is promptly passed on by such department to the appropriate authority for
action.
3.3 PORT STATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO ALLEGED SUBSTANDARD SHIPS
3.3.1 On receipt of information about an alleged substandard ship or
alleged pollution risk, the authorities should immediately investigate the matter
and take the action required by the circumstances in accordance with the preceding
sections.
3.3.2 Authorities which receive information about a substandard ship that
could give rise to detention should forthwith notify any maritime, consular and/or
diplomatic representatives of the flag State in the area of the ship and request
them to initiate or cooperate with investigations. Likewise, the RO which has issued
the relevant certificates on behalf of the flag State should be notified. These
provisions will not, however, relieve the authorities of the port State, being a
Party to a relevant convention, of the responsibility for taking appropriate action
in accordance with its powers under the relevant conventions.
3.3.3 If the port State receiving information is unable to take action
because there is insufficient time or no PSCOs can be made available before the ship
sails, the information should be passed to the authorities of the country of the
next appropriate port of call, to the flag State and also to the RO in that port,
where appropriate.
3.4 RESPONSIBILITIES OF PORT STATE TO TAKE REMEDIAL ACTION
If a PSCO determines that a ship can be regarded as substandard as
specified in section 3.1 and appendix 2, the port State should immediately ensure
that corrective action is taken to safeguard the safety of the ship and passengers
and/or crew and eliminate any threat of harm to the marine environment before
permitting the ship to sail.
3.5 GUIDANCE FOR THE DETENTION OF SHIPS
Notwithstanding the fact that it is impracticable to define a ship as
substandard solely by reference to a list of qualifying defects, guidance for the
detention of ships is given in appendix 2.
3.6 SUSPENSION OF INSPECTION
3.6.1 In exceptional circumstances where, as a result of a more detailed inspection,
the overall condition of a ship and its equipment, also taking into account the crew
conditions, is found to be obviously substandard, the PSCO may suspend an
inspection.
3.6.2 Prior to suspending an inspection, the PSCO should have recorded detainable
deficiencies in the areas set out in appendix 2, as appropriate.
3.6.3 The suspension of the inspection may continue until the responsible parties
have taken the steps necessary to ensure that the ship complies with the
requirements of the relevant instruments.
3.6.4 In cases where the ship is detained and an inspection is suspended, the port
State authority should notify the responsible parties without delay. The
notification should include information about the detention, and state that the
inspection is suspended until that authority has been informed that the ship
complies with all relevant requirements.
3.7 PROCEDURES FOR RECTIFICATION OF DEFICIENCIES AND RELEASE
3.7.1 The PSCO should endeavour to secure the rectification of all
deficiencies detected.
3.7.2 In the case of deficiencies which are clearly hazardous to safety
or the environment, the PSCO should, except as provided in paragraph 3.7.3, ensure
that the hazard is removed before the ship is allowed to proceed to sea. For this
purpose, appropriate action should be taken, which may include detention or a formal
prohibition of a ship to continue an operation due to established deficiencies
which, individually or together, would render the continued operation hazardous.
3.7.3 Where deficiencies which caused a detention, as referred to in paragraph 3.7.2,
cannot be remedied in the port of inspection, the port State authority may allow the
ship concerned to proceed to the nearest appropriate repair yard available, as
chosen by the master and agreed to by that authority, provided that the conditions
agreed between the port State authority and the flag State are complied with. Such
conditions will ensure that the ship should not sail until it can proceed without
risk to the safety of the passengers or crew, or risk to other ships, or without
presenting an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment. Such conditions
may include confirmation from the flag State that remedial action has been taken on
the ship in question. In such circumstances the port State authority should notify
the authority of the ship's next port of call, the parties mentioned in paragraph
4.1.4 and any other authority as appropriate. Notification to authorities should be
made in the form shown in appendix 14. The authority receiving such notification
should inform the notifying authority of action taken and may use the form shown in
appendix 15.
3.7.4 On the condition that all possible efforts have been made to rectify all other
deficiencies, except those referred to in paragraphs 3.7.2 and 3.7.3, the ship may
be allowed to proceed to a port where any such deficiencies can be rectified.
3.7.5 If a ship referred to in paragraph 3.7.3 proceeds to sea without complying with
the conditions agreed to by the authority of the port of inspection, that port State
authority should immediately alert the next port, if known, the flag State and all
other authorities it considers appropriate.
3.7.6 If a ship referred to in paragraph 3.7.3 does not call at the nominated repair
port, the port State authority of the repair port should immediately alert the flag
State and detaining port State, which may take appropriate action, and notify any
other authority it considers appropriate.