- Inspection and detention figures highlight scope and focus areas.
- Significant issues include missing SEAs and delayed wage payments.
- Bulk carriers and general cargo ships dominate the inspection list.
Between 1 September and 30 November 2024, the Black Sea MoU held a Concentrated Inspection Campaign, concentrating on Crew Wages and Seafarer Employment Agreements based on the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), also covering other financial security aspects arising from amendments of the said convention in 2014. This campaign has been coordinated through the member authorities that ratified the said convention of the MLC, 2006 of the member states of the Black Sea MoU, reports Safety4Sea.
Campaign Statistics
During the campaign, 635 inspections were performed on all kinds of ships. Of these, 553 inspections made use of the CIC questionnaire, so each ship was inspected only once within the campaign period. According to BSIS, 53 detentions were held during the CIC, out of which 45 detention cases were due to inspections including the CIC questionnaire.
Among the detained, four were related specifically to focus areas under CIC-crewing wages, seafarer employment, and the related agreements with this one of three major categories: the Maritime Labor Convention 2006. A detention topic-related rate, therefore was realised at 0.74 per cent.
Significant Defects Identified
The campaign revealed notable deficiencies in compliance with the MLC, 2006. The most significant issues were related to the absence of signed Seafarer Employment Agreements (SEA), which accounted for 42.2 per cent of the deficiencies identified. In addition, 24.4 per cent of deficiencies were associated with delays in wage or salary payments exceeding monthly intervals.
Flag State Analysis
A total of 44 different flag states were inspected during the CIC. The most inspected vessels were under Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands. Panama made up 25 per cent of all inspections carried out, followed by Liberia at 13.9 per cent, and the Marshall Islands at 7.1 per cent.
Detentions for deficiencies under CIC were registered on ships flying the flag of Belize, Cameroon, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Vanuatu, which signifies the worldwide nature of compliance issues in the maritime sector.
Inspections by Ship Type
Bulk carriers were the most common type of ship inspected during the CIC, accounting for 37.3 per cent of all inspections. General cargo and multi-purpose ships followed at 26.9 per cent, while oil tankers and oil/chemical tankers constituted 13.4 per cent and 12.5 per cent, respectively. These ship types together made up 90.1 per cent of all CIC inspections.
Age Analysis of Inspected Ships
The focus of the campaign was on the older vessels. From the total number of inspected vessels, 75 per cent were aged 25 years and above. No detentions were reported on vessels aged below 15 years. Inspections of new vessels aged 0 to 5 years did not report any non-compliance with the CIC requirements.
Future Actions
Further analysis of the campaign findings will be held at the 25th meeting of the Black Sea Port State Control Committee. This should be followed by a final comprehensive report delivered to the IMO.
RISK4SEA Announcement
RISK4SEA, the specialized platform for advanced analytics and KPIs in the maritime sector, also published its results, including the CIC Intensity Index on Crew Wages and Seafarer Employment Agreements. These findings give a worthwhile perspective on the results and impact of the campaign.
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Source: Safety4Sea
