Inspenet, June 30, 2023.
The Panama Maritime Authority issued a statement mentioning that they are taking actions to return to the “white list”.
The Panama Maritime Administration (AMP) has announced its commitment to implement a series of measures to reduce the detentions of Panamanian-flagged vessels and thus be removed from the “grey list” of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MoU).
It should be remembered that the MoU makes an annual list classified the performance that the flags of the ships have had. This means that Panama ceased to be a first-level state for the safety of its ships, lowering its world position.
The position of the MoU with respect to vessels
The goal of the Paris MoU is to eliminate ships that do not meet maritime safety standards and prevent environmental pollution . This agreement classifies them into three lists: white, gray and black; which monitor their level of compliance and the number of arrests, which determines the risk represented by a vessel under a certain flag.
In this context, the Panama Maritime Administration (AMP) has affirmed its continued commitment to its fleet compliance despite the inclusion of the Panama Ship Registry in the gray list of the Paris MoU and is taking steps to reduce detentions of Panamanian-flagged vessels by port states.
Additionally, the maritime authority has pledged to attract newly built vessels, conduct due diligence, and accept vessels from companies with high standards to position Panama where it belongs.
In the last 4 years, Panama has managed to attract 1,548 new motor vessels and 50 million tons, which is of great importance for the sustainability of the Registry.
According to what has been discussed, the Panama Maritime Administration (AMP) has identified the age of the inherited fleet as one of the possible factors that have led to the inclusion of the Panamanian flag in the Gray list of the Paris MoU. Of the 374 arrests reported in the last three years, 104 vessels were found to be over 30 years old and 35 were found to be over 40 years old.
This situation represents a risk for the fleet due to the strictness of the inspections in the MoU. These vessels are subject to a special inspection regime and if they do not improve, they will be removed from the registry, according to the Panamanian entity.
In addition, there has been a trend of ships certified by Recognized Organizations that present a high number of reported detentions or deficiencies, despite having current technical certification on board, without previously notifying the General Directorate of Merchant Marine (Ship Registry). . In this sense, the AMP has audited these companies, some of which have been suspended and the revocation of their delegation of authority is not ruled out.
Likewise, a particular situation derived from the economic environment generated by the pandemic was pointed out, which would have caused some companies to declare bankruptcy and abandon both their vessels and their crews.
On the other hand, the maritime authority of Panama has observed that the inspections carried out by the authorized inspectors of the Flag State have not yielded the expected results. Cases have even been detected in which inspectors have not gone on board the vessels and have carried out remote inspections, acting independently and without the authorization of the AMP Merchant Marine Directorate.
Given this scenario, the Panama Ship Registry has implemented a series of actions to maintain its compliance standards. These measures include strengthening due diligence when rejecting ships that are over 30 years old, as well as extending the application of due diligence to companies.
“During the year 2023, a total of 20 ships have been rejected due to their history of arrests in the pre-registration process. Vessels that do not meet the established standards are sanctioned and cancelled. In that same year, one vessel was sanctioned for multiple arrests, while another 18 vessels are in the process of being canceled due to their history of arrests,” the AMP stressed.
“Poor performing Flag State Inspectors (ASI) are sanctioned and terminated. To date, 3 inspectors have been suspended for poor performance, while 14 others are in the process of being suspended and 9 have been removed from the list.” list of inspectors from the Flag State approved by the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine of the AMP,” he added.
It is important to mention that the debugging of the Registry fleet continues. Since 2021, a total of 216 ships have been removed from the register, as part of the ongoing purge process.
Finally, the Panama Ship Registry has approximately 8,500 vessels, being the country with the most registered ships in the world and has been inspected at least 45,000 times, reflecting an overall fleet compliance level of 96.17% and a detention rate of 3.83%.
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