The flags of Palau and Vanuatu have been categorised in the Black List by the Paris MOU as a result of 23 and 31 ship detentions, respectively, over the last three years.
This is a move from last year where they were placed on the Grey List as a result of 9 ship Palau flagged detentions and 26 Vanuatu flagged ship detentions.
The 2016 Paris MOU White, Grey and Black Lists reflects the quality of flags based on detentions. All flags on the list have been inspected at least 30 times over a three year period. 123 Palau flagged ships were inspected, while Vanuatu had 277 flagged ships inspected.
The White List represents flags with a consistently low detention record and therefore of higher quality. The Grey List is for flags that have shown average performance and have room to improve, and the Black List is for flags that have higher detention records and have much room for improvement.
For 2016, the figures are as follows: 42 on the White List, 19 on the Grey List and 12 on the Black List, a total of 73 flags. In 2015 there were also 73 flags on the list with 43 on the White List, 19 on the Grey List and 11 on the Black List.
France, Ireland, Latvia, Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan are all on the White List and received no ship detentions. Kuwait received no ship detentions but remains on the Grey List with only 36 inspections carried out.
The Republic of Korea moved from the White List to Grey List with 2 detentions out of 90 inspections. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines moved from the Black List to the Grey List after dropping from 68 detentions between 2013-2015 to 50 between 2014-2016.
The list will take effect from July 1, 2017 and will be used for calculating the risk profile of ships and flags. Those on the Grey and Black Lists may be subjected to more stringent banning measures.
More information on the categorisation of flags can be found here.
The Paris MOU will release its 2016 report in July 2017. More information will be able to be found on the lists and what they mean for ships and flags.
Fathom-News
editor@fathom-mi.com
