WRITTEN QUESTION E-2213/98

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(16 July 1998)

Subject: Port State Control

1. Can the Commission please inform me whether the number of port state Directors is adequate for the task set down in the Directive on Port State Control?

2. What is being done by Member States to ensure that when necessary more inspectors are appointed?

3. What legal powers does the Commission have to require that the number of inspectors is adequate in Member States?

4. What is the reason for the difference in the number of inspectors among Member States?

5. What is the general total employment cost of a graduate, qualified inspector, in ecus?

6. In what flag states are detained ships most usually registered? What are the 8 most usual flag states where detained ships are registered?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(14 September 1998)

1. Under Article 17 of Council Directive 95/21/EC of 19 June 1995 concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control)(1), Member States are obliged to supply information concerning the number of inspectors to the Commission within three months following the entry into force of the Directive, and thereafter by 1 October once every three calendar years.

2. The information provided to the Commission in September 1995, pursuant to this Article, only reflects the situation existing when the Directive was adopted. The Commission will be in a position to assess whether the number of inspectors is adequate for the task set down in the Directive after 1 October 1998, on the basis of information provided by the Member States.

The appointment of new inspectors, as and when necessary, is not within the legal authority of the Commission. Procedures exist in each Member State that allow for the recruitment of inspectors who fulfil the qualification criteria specified in Annex VII to Directive 95/21/EC.

3. There are no provisions in Directive 95/21/EC obliging Member States to recruit a minimum number of inspectors. However, there is a general obligation under Article 4 for Member States to maintain appropriate national maritime administrations, which implies an adequate number of inspectors to fulfil the obligations laid down in the Directive. In fulfilling its duty to monitor the implementation of the Directive, the Commission may therefore start infringement procedures against Member States which have failed to comply with this requirement.

4. The difference in the number of inspectors between Member States is due to several factors which are particularly related to the volume and nature of traffic in ports and the internal organization of the maritime administration. It also depends on whether the inspectors are dedicated full time to Port State Control inspections or, as is normally the case, are also engaged in other tasks, such as Flag State inspections, surveys on board fishing vessels, assessment of port reception facilities, etc.

5. The Commission does not have precise information on the total employment cost of a qualified Port State Control inspector at its disposal. Generally speaking, the inspectors are public officials employed by the maritime administrations and their employment cost varies from Member State to Member State in the same manner as the employment costs of other public officers.

6. Every year, a catalogue is established within the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MOU) listing those flag States in which ships that are most frequently detained are registered. This rolling list, which covers a three-year period, includes flag States whose detention percentage exceeds the average percentage of detention in the Paris MOU region. The following eight flag States top the list of flags with detention percentages exceeding the 3 - year rolling average percentage (period 1995-1997) to be targeted as priority cases for inspection: Honduras, Belize, Syrian Arab Republic, Romania, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt.

(1) OJ L 157, 7.7.1995.