Tokyo MOU Secretariat released Annual Report on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region 2024. The Annual Report is available only in digital version from this year onwards.
In 2024, member Authorities of the Tokyo MOU conducted 32,054 inspections, which is four times the number of inspections undertaken three decades ago. Although it is good to note that the detention rate has decreased 0.6 percentage points in 2024, continuous attention and emphasis needs to be paid as the level of detentions is still higher than that of the pre-pandemic period and almost the same level as that of ten years before. Furthermore, in 2024, the number of under-performing ships are nearly double that of the previous year, which indicates the condition of ships in the region is becoming worse. An analysis of recorded deficiencies/detentions has not revealed any specific area as the primary cause of this situation of non-compliance. We urge all stakeholders to re-evaluate their operational practices and
ensure adherence to the requirements of the international maritime instruments. Serious concerns have been raised by the Tokyo MOU for the attention of stakeholders with regard to the cases of improper conduct of certain flag States and recognized organizations (ROs), such as extending the validity of certificates in violation of limitations imposed by the relevant conventions, accepting and/or approving unjustified equivalent arrangements and the conduct of remote surveys that were not in line with the IMO guidelines and ineffective from a safety and environmental protection point of view.
Few important finding from the report are
- In 2024, 32,054 inspections, involving 18,655 individual ships, were carried out on ships registered under 107 flags
- In 2024, 1,189 ships registered under 67 flags were detained due to serious deficiencies having been found onboard. The detention rate of ships inspected was 3.71%.
- A total of 77,526 deficiencies were recorded in 2024.