PSC Concentrated Inspection Campaign starting on 1 September

The PSC’s joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) starts on 1 September. The PSC regimes will maintain their focus on crew certification and competencies, as they have done for more than two years now during the COVID-19 pandemic. This PSC news summarizes the upcoming CIC campaign.

Relevant for ship owners and managers.

Every year, the PSC regimes focus on a specific area for a three-month period. This CIC is commonly initiated by the Paris and Tokyo MoUs and will be joined by the majority of other PSC regimes. 

In addition to the regular PSC inspection items, a separate questionnaire will be used by the Port State Control Officers (PSCOs). This questionnaire will be published by the PSC regimes in early-August to allow owners and crews to be prepared. Once the questionnaire is published, we will issue an additional news.

Finally, we often observe that deficiencies in STCW certification and other operational requirements are likely to trigger an ISM-related deficiency, because they are affecting the Safety Management System (SMS).

Paris and Tokyo MoUs’ CIC on STCW

Already some years ago, the Paris and Tokyo MoUs agreed to carry out a CIC on STCW lasting three months, from 1 September until 30 November 2022. Nearly all other PSC regimes – such as the Black Sea, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Riyadh, and Vina del Mar MoUs – have agreed to join this campaign. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the inspection numbers have returned to normal in most PSC areas, except in some countries or ports, for example China.

As always, the upcoming CIC will be included in routine PSC inspections, and every PSCO will be provided with a common additional checklist with focus items related to this year’s topic.

The basis for the CIC in 2022 is laid down in IMO Res. A.1155(32) “Procedures for Port State Control, 2021”, with very detailed instructions provided in Appendix 11 “Guidelines for Port State Control Officers on certification of seafarers, manning and hours of rest”.

We anticipate that the CIC will not be limited to certification or document control due to several fake crew certificates and lack of competence of seafarers regarding their certification in the past. Therefore, DNV’s view is that one part of the CIC will focus on the evaluation of competences of the Master, officers and crew when performing duties and during emergency scenarios. These are explained in detail in Appendix 7 of Res. A.1155(32) “Guidelines for control of operational requirements”. This appendix was completely revised and published in the beginning of 2022. It covers a huge variety of operational inspection areas – from efficient communication between crew members, and assessing navigational controls such as ECDIS, to voyage planning or safe navigation, and witnessing emergency drills.

DNV will offer a complementary online session for our customers on 16 August. Invitations and a link for the webinar will be published in due course.

Other CICs: Paris MoU launches Polar Code inspection campaign

The Polar Code inspection campaign is only carried out by the Paris MoU and in addition to the regular CIC on STCW (1 September to 30 November). It is scheduled for two different time frames:

• 13 June – 1 July 2022
• 1 August – 19 August 2022

The inspection campaign is based on an additional checklist which was published by the Paris MoU on 3 June 2022. The press release, including the questionnaire, can be found at this link. Additional questions to DNV related to this CIC for ships sailing in polar waters should be addressed via (DATE) in Veracity.

Whilst we at this point have no information about any other CIC planned for this year by other MoUs, such as the USCG, we would like to point out that there might be additional local inspection campaigns on short notice.

Recommendations

• Check if all crew members’ certificates of competence are at hand and valid
• Check if the Muster List is up-to-date and crew members are familiar with their assigned duties
• Keep hours of rest updated
• Evaluate the effectiveness of familiarization for the Master and officers in charge
• Familiarize the crew with their duties and with the additional checklist when published
• Consider joining the online session on 16 August with DNV experts

References

• Decision of the Tokyo MoU PSC Committee: TOKYO MOU SECRETARIAT (tokyo-mou.org)
• IMO Res. A.1155(32): Procedures for Port State Control, 2021
• Appendix 11: Guidelines for Port State Control Officers on Certification of Seafarers, Manning and Hours of Rest
• Appendix 7: Guidelines for Control of Operational Requirements
• Press release from the Paris MoU on the Polar Code CIC: Paris MOU -polar-code-inspection-campaign
• Further information on PSC at DNV’s PSC webpage

Contact

• For customers:
  DATE - Direct Access to Technical Experts via My Services on Veracity.
• Otherwise:
  Use our office locator to find the nearest DNV office.