Definition
Port state control lets the country a ship visits check what her flag is supposed to guarantee: certificates, crew, equipment and condition against SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, the MLC and the load line convention. Inspectors may record deficiencies to be rectified, and detain the ship when they are serious enough to make her unsafe to sail.
States cooperate in regional memoranda of understanding. The Paris MoU, operating since 1 July 1982, has 28 member states and selects ships by risk profile; the Tokyo MOU, covering Asia-Pacific, was signed on 1 December 1993 and took effect on 1 April 1994. The Gulf's regime is the Riyadh MoU, signed in June 2004, whose members are the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, with its secretariat in Oman.[1,2,3]
Many detainable deficiencies are supply items: expired pyrotechnics, missing fire-fighters' outfits, defective lifejacket lights, out-of-date charts and publications. A pre-arrival check of the safety inventory — and a supplier who can deliver at the port before the inspector boards — is cheap insurance against a detention.
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Sources
- [1] Paris MoU — Organisation — https://parismou.org/about-us/organisation
- [2] Tokyo MOU — About — https://www.tokyo-mou.org/about/
- [3] Riyadh MoU on Port State Control in the Gulf Region — https://www.riyadhmou.org/
A working definition for buyers, not legal advice — the contract, the convention text and your club or class have the last word.