- The inspection rate of regulated Australian vessels (RAVs) remains consistent at 95 per year.
- AMSA plans to provide greater focus on these operational deficiencies in the future, particularly on Australian-flagged ships.
- The average age of container ships continues to increase to an average of 15 years old in 2022, from an average age of 10 years old in 2013.
An analysis of inspection data for 2022 has revealed deficiencies and detentions of Australian domestic commercial vessels (DCVs) for failures in planned maintenance and cargo securing remain high, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said recently.
DCV detentions
AMSA noted a 182 per cent increase in the number of detentions of DCVs, from 22 in 2021 to 62 in 2022.
The inspection rate of regulated Australian vessels (RAVs) remains consistent at 95 per year. The number of detainable deficiencies identified on RAVs fell by 43 per cent, from seven in 2021 to four in 2022.
A total of 1,181 bulk carriers were inspected with 3,446 deficiencies issued resulting in 76 detentions. The detention rate for bulk carriers increased to 6.4 per cent from 6.1 per cent in 2021.
Containerships poor performance
AMSA said that containerships continue to perform poorly, being in the top five detained ship types for three years, and accounting for nearly 15 percent of arrivals in 2022.
The IMO defines a deficiency as “a condition found not to be in compliance with the requirements of the relevant convention”. Serious deficiencies contribute to the ship being substandard or unseaworthy.
Bulk carrier deficiencies
AMSA will issue a ship with a deficiency if it is determined, or reasonably suspected, that the condition of a ship, its equipment, or performance of its crew does not comply with the requirements of relevant international conventions.
If the number of deficiencies is considered in isolation, the majority of deficiencies were issued to bulk carriers.
However, AMSA said this is not surprising given bulk carriers accounted for 54 per cent of ship arrivals and 49 per cent of all inspections.
Deficiencies per category
General cargo ships are the poorest performing ships, with a detention rate of 11.9 per cent, and the rate of deficiencies per inspection by category are higher than average for all categories.
Container ships were the next poorest performing ship type, with a detention rate of 8.3 percent and the rate of deficiencies per inspection by category are higher than average for all categories.
The average age of container ships continues to increase to an average of 15 years old in 2022, from an average age of 10 years old in 2013.
AMSA continues to have a strong focus on cargo securing and the safe carriage of cargoes, and this is reflected in the deficiencies issued to container ships.
Marine safety inspectors
Marine safety inspectors will issue a DCV with a deficiency if they reasonably believe that a condition on the DCV is in contravention of the National Law Act 2012, including associated regulations and standards. Deficiencies that are assessed as having a high risk to safety of persons or the environment will likely lead to further compliance action.
The most common deficiencies on DCVs were identified in life saving appliances (24 per cent of all deficiencies), followed by safety management systems (SMS) (21 per cent of all deficiencies) and fire safety (16 per cent of all deficiencies). These three deficiency categories account for over 60 per cent of all deficiencies issued to DCVs.
Highest DCV deficiency rates
The highest deficiency rates (deficiencies per inspection) for DCVs were identified in passenger vessels (3.67) and fishing vessels (3.66) followed by non-passenger (2.93) and hire and drive (2.56).
Additional focus was placed on passenger vessels during 2022 due to a focused inspection campaign on passenger safety procedures.
Fishing vessels had the highest share of detainable deficiencies recorded (47.7 per cent) followed by passenger vessels (32.9), non-passenger (18.1) and hire and drive (1.3).
A comparison of the flag state control to port state control data shows that Australian-flagged RAVs have performed better than foreign-flagged ships in all deficiency rates per category, except in operational deficiencies, where RAVs were more than twice that of foreign flagged ships (RAV deficiency rate is 0.9 and PSC is 0.4).
AMSA plans to provide greater focus on these operational deficiencies in the future, particularly on Australian-flagged ships.
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Source: Baird Maritime
