Document ID: 31995L0021

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)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 84 (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with Article 189c of the Treaty (3),
Whereas the Community is seriously concerned about shipping casualties and pollution of the seas and coastlines of the Member States;
Whereas the Community is equally concerned about on-board living and working conditions;
Whereas the Council, at its meeting on 25 January 1993, adopted conclusions that urged the Community and the Member States to ensure more effective application and enforcement of adequate international maritime safety and environment protection standards and to implement the new measures when adopted;
Whereas, in its resolution of 8 June 1993 on a common policy on safe seas (4), the Council urged the Commission to submit as soon as possible to the Council suggestions for specific action and formal proposals concerning criteria for the inspection of ships, including the harmonization of detention rules, and including the possibility of publication of the results of the inspections and refusal of access to Community ports;
Whereas safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions may be effectively enhanced through a drastic reduction of substandard ships from Community waters, by strictly applying international Conventions, codes and resolutions;
Whereas monitoring the compliance of ships with the international standards for safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions should rest primarily with the flag State; whereas, however, there is a serious failure on the part of an increasing number of flag States to implement and enforce international standards; whereas henceforth the monitoring of compliance with the international standards for safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions has also to be ensured by the port State;
Whereas a harmonized approach to the effective enforcement of these international standards by the Member States in respect of ships sailing in the waters under their jurisdiction and using their ports will avoid distortions of competition;
Whereas a framework in Community law for harmonizing inspection procedures is fundamental to ensuring the homogeneous application of the principles of shipping safety and prevention of pollution which lie at the heart of Community transport and environment policies;
Whereas pollution of the seas is by nature a trans-boundary phenomenon; whereas, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the development of the means of taking preventive action in this field as regards the seas adjacent to the Member States is best done at Community level, since Member States cannot take adequate and effective action in isolation;
Whereas the adoption of a Council Directive is the appropriate procedure for laying down the legal framework and the harmonized rules and criteria for port State control;
Whereas advantage should be taken of the experience gained during the operation of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Port State Control (PSC), signed in Paris on 26 January 1982;
Whereas the inspection by each Member State of at least 25 % of the number of individual foreign ships which enter its ports in a given year in practice means that a large number of ships operating within the Community area at any given time have undergone an inspection;
Whereas further efforts should be made to develop a better targeting system;
Whereas the rules and procedures for port-State inspections, including criteria for the detention of ships, must be harmonized to ensure consistent effectiveness in all ports, which would also drastically reduce the selective use of certain ports of destination to avoid the net of proper control;
Whereas the casualty, detention and deficiency statistics published in the Commission's communication entitled 'A common policy on safe seas' and in the annual report of the MOU show that certain categories of ships need to be subject to an expanded inspection;
Whereas non-compliance with the provisions of the relevant Conventions must be rectified; whereas ships which are required to take corrective action must, where the deficiencies in compliance are clearly hazardous to safety, health or the environment, be detained until such time as the non-compliance has been rectified;
Whereas a right of appeal should be made available against decisions for detention taken by the competent authorities, in order to prevent unreasonable decisions which are liable to cause undue detention and delay;
Whereas the facilities in the port of inspection may be such that the competent authority will be obliged to authorize the ship to proceed to an appropriate repair yard, provided that the conditions for the transfer are complied with; whereas non-complying ships would continue to pose a threat to safety, health or the environment and to enjoy commercial advantages by not being upgraded in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Conventions and should therefore be refused access to all ports in the Community;
Whereas there are circumstances where a ship which has been refused access to ports within the Community has to be granted permission to enter; whereas under such circumstances the ship should only be permitted access to a specific port if all precautions are taken to ensure it safe entry;
Whereas, given the complexity of the requirements of the Conventions as regards a ship's construction, equipment and manning, the severe consequences of the decisions taken by the inspectors, and the necessity for the inspectors to take completely impartial decisions, inspections must be carried out only by inspectors who are duly authorized public service employees or other such persons, and highly knowledgeable and experienced;
Whereas pilots and port authorities may be able to provide useful information on the deficiencies of such ships and crews;
Whereas cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States and other authorities or organizations is necessary to ensure an effective follow-up with regard to ships with deficiencies which have been permitted to proceed and for the exchange of information about ships in port;
Whereas the information system called Sirenac E established under the MOU provides a large amount of the additional information needed for the application of this Directive;
Whereas publication of information concerning ships which do not comply with international standards on safety, health and protection of the marine environment, may be an effective deterrent discouraging shippers to use such ships, and an incentive to their owners to take corrective action without being compelled to do so;
Whereas all costs of inspecting ships which warrant detention should be borne by the owner or the operator;
Whereas for the purposes of implementing this Directive use should be made of the Committee set up pursuant to Article 12 of Council Directive 93/75/EEC of 13 September 1993 concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods (1) in order to assist the Commission with the task of adapting Member States' inspection obligations on the basis of experience gained, taking into account developments in the MOU, and also adopting the Annexes as necessary in the light of amendments to the Conventions, Protocols, codes and resolutions of relevant international bodies and to the MOU,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Purpose
The purpose of this Directive is to help drastically to reduce substandard shipping in the waters under the jurisdiction of Member States by:
- increasing compliance with international and relevant Community legislation on maritime safety, protection of the marine environment and living and working conditions on board ships of all flags,
- establishing common criteria for control of ships by the port State and harmonizing procedures on inspection and detention, taking proper account of the commitments made by the maritime authorities of the Member States under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (MOU).
Article 2
Definitions
For the purpose of this Directive including its Annexes:
1. 'Conventions' means:
- the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (LL 66),
- the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (Solas 74),
- the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, and the 1978 Protocol relating thereto (Marpol 73/78),
- the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STEW 78),
- the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (Colreg 72),
- the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 and
- the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (ILO No 147),
together with the Protocols and amendments to these Conventions and related codes of mandatory status, in force at the date of adoption of this Directive.
2. 'MOU' means the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, signed in Paris on 26 January 1982, as it stands at the date of adoption of this Directive.
3. 'Ship' means any seagoing vessel to which one or more of the Conventions apply, flying a flag other than that of the port State.
4. 'Off-shore installation' means a fixed or floating platform operating on or over the continental shelf of a Member State.
5. 'Inspector' means a public-sector employee or other person, duly authorized by the competent authority of a Member State to carry out port-State control inspections, and responsible to that competent authority.
6. 'Inspection' means a visit on board a ship in order to check both the validity of the relevant certificates and other documents and the condition of the ship, its equipment and crew, as well as the living and working conditions of the crew.
7. 'More detailed inspection' means an inspection where the ship, its equipment and crew as a whole or, as appropriate, parts thereof are subjected, in the circumstances specified in Article 6 (3), to an in-depth inspection covering the ship's construction, equipment, manning, living and working conditions and compliance with on-board operational procedures.
8. 'Expanded inspection' means an inspection as specified in Article 7.
9. 'Detention' means the formal prohibition of a ship to proceed to sea due to established deficiencies which, individually or together, make the ship unseaworthy.
10. 'Stoppage of an operation' means a formal prohibition of a ship to continue an operation due to established deficiencies which, individually or together, would render the continued operation hazardous.
Article 3
Scope
1. This Directive applies to any ship and its crew:
- calling at a port of a Member State or at an off-shore installation, or
- anchored off such a port or such an installation.
Nothing in this Article shall affect the rights of intervention available to a Member State under the relevant international Conventions.
2. In case of ships of a gross tonnage below 500, Member States shall apply those requirements of a relevant Convention which are applicable and shall, to the extent that a Convention does not apply, take such action as may be necessary to ensure that the ships concerned are not clearly hazardous to safety, health or the environment. In their application of this paragraph, Member States shall be guided by Annex 1 to the MOU.
3. When inspecting a ship flying the flag of a State which is not a party to a Convention, Member States shall ensure that the treatment given to such ship and its crew is no more favourable than that given to a ship flying the flag of a State which is a party to that Convention.
4. Fishing vessels, ships of war, naval auxiliaries, wooden ships of a primitive build, government ships used for non-commercial purposes and pleasure yachts not engaged in trade shall be excluded from the scope of this Directive.
Article 4
Inspection body
Member States shall maintain appropriate national maritime administrations, hereinafter called 'competent authorities', for the inspection of ships and shall take whatever measures are appropriate to ensure that their competent authorities perform their duties as laid down in this Directive.
Article 5
Inspection commitments
1. The competent authority of each Member Sate shall carry out an annual total number of inspections corresponding to at least 25 % of the number of individual ships which entered its ports during a representative calendar year.
2. In selecting ships for inspection the competent authority shall give priority to the ships referred to in Annex I.
3. Member States shall refrain from inspecting ships which have been inspected by any Member State within the previous six months, provided that:
- the ship is not listed in Annex I, and
- no deficiencies have been reported, following a previous inspection, and
- no clear grounds exist for carrying out an inspection.
4. The provisions of paragraph 3 shall not apply to any of the operational controls specifically provided for in the Conventions.
5. The Member States and the Commission shall cooperate in seeking to develop priorities and practices which will enable ships likely to be defective to be targeted more effectively.
Any consequent amendment of this Article, except to the figure of 25 % in paragraph 1, shall be made under the provisions of Article 19.
Article 6
Inspection procedure
1. The competent authority shall ensure that the inspector shall as a minimum:
(a) check the certificates and documents listed in Annex II, to the extent applicable;
(b) satisfy himself of the overall condition of the ship, including the engine room and accommodation and including hygienic conditions.
2. The inspector may examine all relevant certificates and documents, other than those listed in Annex II, which are required to be carried on board in accordance with the Conventions.
3. Whenever there are clear grounds for believing, after the inspection referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, that the condition of a ship or of its equipment or crew does not substantially meet the relevant requirements of a Convention, a more detailed inspection shall be carried out, including further checking of compliance with on-board operational requirements.
'Clear grounds' exist when the inspector finds evidence which in his professional judgement warrants a more detailed inspection of the ship, its equipment or its crew.
Examples of 'clear grounds' are set out in Annex III.
4. The relevant procedures and guidelines for the control of ships specified in Annex IV shall also be observed.
Article 7
Expanded inspection of certain ships
1. Where there are clear grounds for a detailed inspection of a ship belonging to the categories listed in Annex V, Member States shall ensure that an expanded inspection is carried out.
2. Annex V, section B, contains non-mandatory guidelines for expanded inspection.
3. The ships referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to an expanded inspection by any of the competent authorities of the Member States only once during a period of 12 months. However, these ships may be subject to the inspection provided for in Article 6 (1) and (2).
4. In the case of passenger ships operating on a regular schedule in or out of a port in a Member State, an expanded inspection of each ship shall be carried out by the competent authority of that Member State. When a passenger ship operates such a schedule between ports in Member States, one of the States between which the ship is operating shall undertake the expanded inspection.
Article 8
Report of inspection to the master
1. On completion of an inspection, a more detailed inspection, or an expanded inspection, the master of the ship shall be provided by the inspector with a document in the form specified in Annex 3 to the MOU, giving the results of the inspection and details of any decisions taken by the inspector, and of corrective action to be taken by the master, owner or operator.
2. In the case of deficiencies warranting the detention of a ship, the document to be given to the master in accordance with paragraph 1 shall include information about the future publication of the detention order in accordance with the provisions of this Directive.
Article 9
Rectification and detention
1. The competent authority shall be satisfied that any deficiencies confirmed or revealed by the inspection referred to in Articles 6 and 7 are or will be rectified in accordance with the Conventions.
2. In the case of deficiencies which are clearly hazardous to safety, health or the environment, the competent authority of the port State where the ship is being inspected shall ensure that the ship is detained, or the operation in the course of which the deficiencies have been revealed is stopped. The detention order or stoppage of an operation shall not be lifted until the hazard is removed or until such authority establishes that the ship can, subject to any necessary conditions, proceed to sea or the operation be resumed without risk to the safety and health of passengers or crew, or risk to other ships, or without there being an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment.
3. When exercising his professional judgment as to whether or not a ship should be detained, the inspector shall apply the criteria set out in Annex VI.
4. In exceptional circumstances, where the overall condition of a ship is obviously substandard, the competent authority may suspend the inspection of that ship until the responsible parties have taken the steps necessary to ensure that it complies with the relevant requirements of the Conventions.
5. In the event that the inspections referred to in Articles 6 and 7 give rise to detention, the competent authority shall immediately inform, in writing, the administration of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly (hereinafter called 'flag administration') or the Consul or, in his absence, the nearest diplomatic representative of the State, of all the circumstances in which intervention was deemed necessary. In addition, nominated surveyors or recognized organizations responsible for the issue of the ship's certificates shall also be notified where relevant.
6. The provisions of this Directive shall be without prejudice to the additional requirements of the Conventions concerning notification and reporting procedures related to port State control.
7. When exercising port State control under this Directive, all possible efforts shall be made to avoid a ship being unduly detained or delayed. If a ship is unduly detained or delayed, the owner or operator shall be entitled to compensation for any loss or damage suffered. In any instance of alleged undue detention or delay the burden of proof shall lie with the owner or operator of the ship.
Article 10
Right of appeal
1. The owner or the operator of a ship or his representative in the Member State shall have a right of appeal against a detention decision taken by the competent authority. An appeal shall not cause the detention to be suspended.
2. Member States shall establish and maintain appropriate procedures for this purpose in accordance with their national legislation.
3. The competent authority shall properly inform the master of a ship referred to in paragraph 1 of the right of appeal.
Article 11
Follow-up to inspections and detention
1. Where deficiencies as referred to in Article 9 (2) cannot be rectified in the port of inspection, the competent authority of that Member State may allow the ship concerned to proceed to the nearest appropriate repair yard available, as chosen by the master and the authorities concerned, provided that the conditions determined by the competent authority of the flag State and agreed by that Member State are complied with. Such conditions shall ensure that the ship can proceed without risk to the safety and health of passengers or crew, or risk to other ships, or without there being an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment.
2. In the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authority of the Member State in the port of inspection shall notify the competent authority of the State where the repair yard is situated, the parties mentioned in Article 9 (5) and any other authority as appropriate of all the conditions for the voyage.
3. The notification of the parties referred to in paragraph 2 shall be in accordance with Annex 2 to the MOU.
The competent authority of a Member State receiving such notification shall inform the notifying authority of the action taken.
4. Member States shall take measures to ensure that ships referred to in paragraph 1 which proceed to sea:
(i) without complying with the conditions determined by the competent authority of any Member State in the port of inspection; or
(ii) which refuse to comply with the applicable requirements of the Conventions by not calling into the indicated repair yard;
shall be refused access to any port within the Community, until the owner or operator has provided evidence to the satisfaction of the competent authority of the Member State where the ship was found defective that the ship fully complies with all applicable requirements of the Conventions.
5. In the circumstances referred to in paragraph 4 (i), the competent authority of the Member State where the ship was found defective shall immediately alert the competent authorities of all the other Member States.
In the circumstances referred to in paragraph 4 (ii), the competent authority of the Member State in which the repair yard lies shall immediately alert the competent authorities of all the other Member States.
Before denying entry, the Member State may request consultations with the flag administration of the ship concerned.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 4, access to a specific port may be permitted by the relevant authority of that port State in the event of force majeure or overriding safety considerations, or to reduce or minimize the risk of pollution or to have deficiencies rectified, provided adequate measures to the satisfaction of the competent authority of such Member State have been implemented by the owner, the operator or the master of the ship to ensure safe entry.
Article 12
Professional profile of inspectors
1. The inspections shall be carried out only by inspectors who fulfil the qualification criteria specified in Annex VII.
2. When the required professional expertise cannot be provided by the competent authority of the port State, the inspector of that competent authority may be assisted by any person with the required expertise.
3. The inspectors carrying out port State control and the persons assisting them shall have no commercial interest either in the port of inspection or in the ships inspected, nor shall the inspectors be employed by or undertake work on behalf of non-governmental organizations which issue statutory and classification certificates or which carry out the surveys necessary for the issue of those certificates to ships.
4. Each inspector shall carry a personal document in the form of an identity card issued by his competent authority in accordance with the national legislation, indicating that the inspector is authorized to carry out inspections.
A common model for such an identity card shall be established in accordance with the procedure in Article 19.
Article 13
Reports from pilots and port authorities
1. Pilots of Member States, engaged in berthing or unberthing ships or engaged on ships bound for a port within a Member State, shall immediately inform the competent authority of the port State or the coastal State, as appropriate, whenever they learn in the course of their normal duties that there are deficiencies which may prejudice the safe navigation of the ship, or which may pose a threat of harm to the marine environment.
2. If port authorities, when exercising their normal duties, learn that a ship within their port has deficiencies which may prejudice the safety of the ship or poses an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment, such authority shall immediately inform the competent authority of the port State concerned.
Article 14
Cooperation
1. Each Member State shall make provision for cooperation between its competent authority, its port authorities and other relevant authorities or commercial organizations to ensure that its competent authority can obtain all relevant information on ships calling at its ports.
2. Member States shall maintain provisions for the exchange of information and cooperation between their competent authority and the competent authorities of all other Member States and maintain the established operational link between their competent authority, the Commission and the Sirenac E information system set up in St Malo, France.
3. The information referred to in paragraph 2 shall be that specified in Annex 4 to the MOU, and that required to comply with Article 15 of this Directive.
Article 15
Publication of detentions
Each competent authority shall as a minimum publish quarterly information concerning ships detained during the previous three-month period and which have been detained more than once during the past 24 months. The information published shall include the following:
- name of the ship,
- name of the shipowner or the operator of the ship,
- IMO number,
- flag State,
- the classification society, where relevant, and, if applicable, any other Party which has issued certificates to such ship in accordance with the Conventions on behalf of the flag State,
- reason for detention,
- port and date of detention.
Article 16
Reimbursement of costs
1. Should the inspections referred to in Articles 6 and 7 confirm or reveal deficiencies in relation to the requirements of a Convention warranting the detention of a ship, all costs relating to the inspections in any normal accounting period shall be covered by the shipowner or the operator or by his representative in the port State.
2. All costs relating to inspections carried out by the competent authority of a Member State under the provisions of Article 11 (4) shall be charged to the owner or operator of the ship.
3. The detention shall not be lifted until full payment has been made or a sufficient guarantee has been given for the reimbursement of the costs.
Article 17
Data to monitor implementation
1. Member States shall supply the following information to the Commission and the MOU Secretariat:
- number of inspectors working on their behalf on port State inspection in accordance with this Directive. For authorities where inspectors perform port-State inspections on a part-time basis only, the total must be converted into a number of full-time employed inspectors,
- number of individual ships entering their ports in a representative calendar year within the previous five-year period.
2. The information listed in paragraph 1 shall be forwarded within three months following the entry into force of this Directive and thereafter by 1 October once every three calendar years.
Article 18
Regulatory Committee
The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee set up pursuant to Article 12 of Directive 93/75/EEC in accordance with the procedure laid down in that Article.
Article 19
Amendment procedure
This Directive may be amended in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18, in order to:
(a) adapt the inspection and publication obligations of Member States mentioned in Article 5 (except the figure of 25 % referred to in paragraph 1 thereof), and in Articles 6, 7 and 15 on the basis of the experience gained from implementation of this Directive and taking into account developments in the MOU;
(b) adapt the Annexes in order to take into account amendments which have entered into force to the Conventions, Protocols, codes and resolutions of relevant international organizations and to the MOU.
Article 20
Implementation
1. Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to implement this Directive not later than 30 June 1996 and shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
2. When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by Member States.
3. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the provisions of national law which they have adopted in the field governed by this Directive.
Article 21
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication.
Article 22
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Luxembourg, 19 June 1995.

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