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U.S. flag slips into Paris MOU’s “Gray List”

Written by Nick Blenkey
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JUNE 14, 2018 — From July 1, port state control agencies in 27 countries will be using updated data to decide which ships need the closest scrutiny. The Paris MoU Committee has approved the 2017 inspection results and adopted new performance lists for flags and Recognized Organizations (ROs).

The “White, Gray and Black (WGB) List” presents the full spectrum, from flags with a high performance to flags with a poor performance that are considered high or very high risk. It is based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a three-year rolling period for flags with at least 30 inspections in the period.

There are 73 flags on the latest list that will be used for the calculation of the Ship Risk Profile from next month, 40 on the “White List”, 20 on the “Gray List” and 13 on the “Black list”. In last year’s list the number of flags listed also 73 flags; 42 on the “White List”, 19 on the “Gray List” and 12 on the “Black List”.

The “White List” represents flags with a consistently high performance record. Compared to last year’s list, the number of flags on the “White List” has decreased by two. The Republic of Korea has moved back to the “White list” after one year on the “Gray List.” Poland has entered the “White List” as well. However, four flags —including the U.S._ have slipped down to the average performance “Gray List.”

This year there are 20 flags on the “Grey List.” Newly on the list are the U.S. (slipping to No. 43) , the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation and the United States of America, all of which were on the “White List” last year. From being a non-listed flag last year, Tuvalu is now on the “Gray List.” New on the “Black List” is Ukraine.

For several years the Paris MOU Committee has closely monitored the performance of Recognized Organizations (ROs) acting on behalf of flags. Most of these are classification societies. Some are not.

To calculate the performance of the ROs, the same formula to calculate the excess factor of the flags is used.

In this year’s listings, ABS appears as the best performing RO. At the other end of the spectrum, this year three ROs are in the very low performing position against none last year. Three ROs are in the low performing positions compared to four in the last year and 17 ROs are in the medium position of the list compared to 19 in the last year.

Download the lists HERE

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