The U.S. Coast Guard detained fewer foreign-flagged ships for environmental and safety-related deficiencies in 2016, with the number falling from 202 in 2015 to 103 — a five-year low.
That’s one of the positive findings in the 2016 Annual Report on Port State Control (PSC). The report provides statistics on the enforcement of regulations under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code on foreign flagged vessels trading in U.S. ports.
Less encouraging report news: The percentage of violations related to firefighting and fire protection systems rose for the third consecutive year.
“Once again, there were a significant number of required remote-operable fuel shutoff valves on various fuel and lube oil tanks disabled in the open position, which could not be operated from outside the space in the event of the fire,” the report stated. “Additionally, our (PSC officers) still find fire dampers inoperable and fire hoses that are damaged or dry rotted.” Inoperable main fire pumps were another concern.
This story is from the August 2017 edition of Professional Mariner.
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This story is from the August 2017 edition of Professional Mariner.
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