CARIBBEAN MOU CIC FOR 2017 WILL BE ON LIFE SAVING APPLIANCES

Launch of Concentrated Inspection Campaign on Life Saving Appliances beginning 1st September 2017 by Caribbean MOU on Port State Control

The 17 Member States and 1 Associate Member State of the Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding (CMOU) on Port State Control will launch its fifth Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) with the purpose of ensuring that effective procedures and measures are in place to safeguard the seafarers who are serving on board ships by checking all aspects of compliance with respect to Life Saving Appliances during a PSC Inspection. This inspection campaign will be held for three months, commencing from September 1st, 2017 and ending on November 30th, 2017.

The CIC is designed to:

Ensure that there is compliance with the requirements of the SOLAS Convention, the CCSS Code, the SCV code and the LSA Code as applicable.
Ensure that the Master, Officers and Crew are familiar with relevant equipment and have received training in carrying out their duties.
Raise safety awareness among the crew serving on board.
In practice, the CIC will mean that during a regular port State control inspection conducted under the targeting matrix criteria within the CMOU region, the inspections will target aspects of compliance with respect to life saving appliances and with the provisions of SOLAS Chapter III as well as the LSA Code. In addition, the CIC will include these checks for vessels certified under the Safety of Commercial Vessels (SCV) Code, the Caribbean Cargo Ship Safety (CCSS) Code as well as those non-conventional certified commercial vessels trading internationally.

For this purpose, PSCO’s will apply a questionnaire listing several items to be covered during the Concentrated Inspection Campaign. When deficiencies are found, actions by the port State may vary from recording a deficiency and instructing the master to rectify it within a certain period to detaining the ship until serious deficiencies have been rectified.

In the case of detention, publication in the monthly detention lists of the CMOU website will take place. It is expected that the CMOU will carry out approximately 200 inspections during the CIC.
The results of the campaign will be analysed and findings will be presented to the governing body of the CMOU for submission to the relevant IMO sub-committees.