The United States Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance has released its 2022 annual report over US port state controls. The aim of the report is to “provide the global maritime industry key statistics and compliance trends in relation to compliance with U.S. and international regulations, such as the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), and the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS).”

A few key findings discussed in the report:

• In 2022, the Coast Guard conducted 8,706 SOLAS safety exams with a total of 78 detentions.
• The annual detention rate increased from 0.73 percent to 0.89 percent.
• The three-year rolling average detention ratio decreased from 0.87 percent to 0.80 percent.
• Data this year shows the number of detentions related to fire safety increased while those related to lifesaving systems decreased over last year.
• The number of recognized organizations that were associated with detentions increased from seven in 2021 to eight in 2022.

Vessel Arrivals, Exams, and Detentions

In 2022, a total of 11,235 individual vessels, from 78 different flag administrations, made 80,280 port calls to the U.S., and 8,706 PSC exams were conducted. As we strive to put the global pandemic behind us, these exam numbers increased over the 2021 total of 8,663 and have now surpassed the 2019 prepandemic total of 8,622. The total number of ships detained in 2022 for environmental protection, safety, and security related deficiencies increased from 63 to 78.

Flag Administration Performance
Flag Administration performance for 2022 dropped slightly with the overall annual detention rate increasing from 0.73% to 0.89%. However, the three-year rolling detention ratio decreased slightly from 0.87% to 0.80%. Belgium, Mexico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Tanzania, Panama, Portugal, and Vanuatu were removed from the Targeted Flag List this year.

Detention and Association Appeals
In 2022, the Coast Guard received a total of twenty-three appeals. Nine appeals challenged the overall merits of the detention. Of those merit appeals, two were granted, seven were denied. In addition to receiving appeals contesting the overall merits of a detention, we also receive appeals requesting the removal of a party’s association to a detention. For those parties appealing their association with a detention, fourteen were received. Of those, eight were granted, five were denied and one was still under adjudication at the time of this report.

QUALSHIP 21 and E-Zero Programs
The QS21 program ended calendar year 2022 with an impressive 4,431 vessels enrolled. In 2021, we welcomed five additional flag administrations into the program with one losing their QS21 eligibility. For 2022, seven flag administrations lost their eligibility while four new flags became eligible. We would like to welcome the flag administrations of Belgium, Panama, Portugal, and Vanuatu for becoming QS21 eligible this year. The full list of QS21 flag administrations is located in Chapter 2 of this report.

The E-Zero program focuses on environmental stewardship and worldwide compliance with international environmental conventions. At the close of 2022, 306 ships were awarded the
E-Zero designation.

Source: Maritime Cyrpus

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	Issue 84 of Robban Assafina (March/ April 2023)