Sam Chambers

Russia may well need to seek younger ships to shift its oil as many vintage tankers from the so-called dark fleet are becoming easy red flag targets for inspectors around the world.

There are more than 700 ships operating today in what data analytics firm brands the opaque fleet, carrying Russian, Venezuelan or Iranian oil.

Among shared characteristics making them easy to spot for port state control inspectors are their age, generally above 17 years old, as well as their choice of flag, insurer, and latterly their classification society choice.

Among the underperforming ships listed by the Tokyo MOU for April, for instance, are ships classed by little-known class societies including Asia Shipping Certification Services from landlocked Mongolia, a nation that is also flagging more and more of the dark fleet. Other class societies popping up on detained vessel lists include Dalian-headquartered Union Bureau of Shipping, Belize-based Novel Classification Society, Overseas Marine Certification Services from Panama, and Yantai-based Universal Maritime Bureau.

Singapore, a vital transit point for the world’s tanker trades, has detained 33 ships for failing safety inspections so far this year, the same as for the whole of the decade through 2019, according to figures carried by Bloomberg citing data from the Tokyo MOU. April saw nine detentions, the most for any month since at least 2010.

Singapore’s maritime bodies have been spooked by the explosion a month ago today of an uninsured 1997-built aframax tanker called Pablo in nearby Malaysian waters with three crewmembers dying. Malaysian authorities remain unsure what to do with the wreck one month on.

Splash reported earlier this week on China also stepping up detentions of vintage tonnage moving Russian oil while across Europe port state control inspectors are on high alert too.

“Although insufficient documentation and safety lapses are typical for vessels operating in opaque markets carrying Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan crude, the increasing number of tankers detained in Asian ports could mark a potential shift in the attitude towards ageing vessel operating in the grey fleet,” Maersk Broker noted in its latest weekly tanker report. “The simple fact is that a growing number of vessels that are transporting oil are insured, flagged, and classed with institutions and countries that do not provide anything like the same technical and regulatory oversight as we have come to expect whilst those providing the insurance cover lack the experience and quite possibly the financial capacity to deal with a major incident,” commented Mike Salthouse, a sanctions expert and head of external affairs at NorthStandard, a P&I club, in conversation with Splash last month.

German insurer Allianz released its annual ship casualty report this week in which it noted that vessels belonging to the dark fleet tend to be older ships, operating under flags of convenience with lower maintenance standards.

Reports indicate there were at least eight groundings, collisions or near misses involving tankers carrying sanctioned oil products in 2022 – the same number as in the previous three years, the Allianz report noted.

Inspectors from the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), seafarers' unions and French port authorities will be targeting ships flagged to the Cook Islands, Palau, Sierra Leone, and Togo for safety, maintenance and seafarer welfare inspections in the coming eight weeks.

The operation will take place across the Mediterranean Sea. It follows new analysis showing the four flag of convenience registries were responsible for 33 cases of crew abandonment over the past three years. These affecting more than a hundred seafarers, leaving many without pay, food, water, or a way to get home.

The ITF also needed to recover more than US$5.5 million in unpaid wages for seafarers from companies using these four flags.

European Port State Control enforcement agencies issued 5,203 deficiencies or detentions during the same period.

'Substandard shipping in the Mediterranean Sea is driving down seafarers' wages and conditions, its endangering the lives of crew and risking our environment,' ITF Inspectorate Coordinator Steve Trowsdale said.

'These flags take money from shipowners to register ships that other countries wouldn't touch. Many are old vessels and are poorly maintained by their owners. Many of these ships are dangerous and should not be trading.'

'These are now the worst flags operating in the Mediterranean Sea,' said Seddik Berrama, general secretary of Algeria's transport union FNTT and ITF vice president for the Arab World region.

'The world's major Port State Control agency groupings have said these flags are not quality. They have said they are high- or very-high risk. That is unacceptable for crew safety just as it is unacceptable for those of us who rely on a clean sea, like our port communities here in Algeria.'

'Our goal is to expose the substandard shipping examples that we see regularly in our ports. If we are able to spread word of the abuses experienced by crew onboard, which are too often ignored by these flags, then we will send a strong message that substandard shipping is unacceptable.'

Sam Chambers

Up to 1,000 ships flagged to the Cook Islands, Palau, Sierra Leone, and Togo will be targeted for safety, maintenance and seafarer welfare inspections across the Mediterranean Sea in the coming eight weeks by an army of inspectors from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), seafarers’ unions and port authorities.

“Substandard shipping in the Mediterranean Sea is driving down seafarers’ wages and conditions, it’s endangering the lives of crew and risking our environment,” said ITF inspectorate coordinator Steve Trowsdale.

“These flags take money from shipowners to register ships that other countries wouldn’t touch. Many are old vessels and are poorly maintained by their owners. Many of these ships are dangerous and should not be trading,” he said.

The blitz comes off the back of new analysis showing the four flags of convenience registries together accounted for more than 100 crew abandoned in the last two years, with millions of dollars wages not paid to crew by the flags’ shipowners that the ITF then had to recover on seafarers’ behalf.

The ITF inspectors’ efforts will be bolstered in France by the country’s Port State Control agencies, which are organised regionally.

　【ニューヨーク＝水野哲也】武器の運送に関わったとして国連安全保障理事会の制裁を受けた北朝鮮の貨物船運航会社が、本来は船を運航できないのに、制裁発動後、船名や運航会社名を変えて運航を続け、制裁を逃れていたことが２５日、読売新聞が入手した国連北朝鮮制裁委員会の専門家パネル報告書で明らかになった。

　英国の北朝鮮大使館職員が手続きしており、外交官も関与した制裁逃れの実態が明らかになった。

　この会社は「オーシャン・マリタイム・マネジメント・カンパニー（ＯＭＭ）」。同社は、キューバで分解された戦闘機やミサイル部品を積み込み、パナマ運河を通過しようとして２０１３年７月に拿捕だほされた貨物船を運航。北朝鮮への武器の輸出や移動を禁じた安保理決議に違反したとして、昨年７月、資産凍結などの制裁が発動され、貨物船を運航できなくなった。

　ところが、報告書によると、制裁発動直後、同社が運航していた１４隻のうち１３隻の船名が次々と変わり、所有会社や運航会社名も変更されて引き続き運航されていた。国際海事機関（ＩＭＯ）に対し、新たな名前や会社名を届ける手続きはロンドンの北朝鮮大使館職員が行っていたという。

　北朝鮮の大手海運会社が国連安全保障理事会の制裁を受けた昨夏以降、自らが運航に関与した貨物船の船名や所有会社を次々と変更していたことが、２５日わかった。対北朝鮮制裁の実施状況を監視する安保理の専門家パネルは、船名などの変更が制裁逃れの手段になっているとみて、制裁の強化を勧告している。
　北朝鮮は、一連の核実験やミサイル発射を受けた安保理決議で、大量破壊兵器関連の物資技術や通常兵器の輸出入禁止、ぜいたく品の禁止、団体・個人の資産凍結など広範な制裁を受けている。
　専門家パネルは今回、これまでの調査結果を報告書にまとめ、北朝鮮の海運会社オーシャン・マリタイム・マネジメント社（ＯＭＭ社）を取り上げた。同社は、戦闘機を大量の砂糖袋の下に積んだ状態でパナマ政府に拿捕（だほ）された貨物船「清川江（チョンチョンガン）」の運航に関わったとして、昨年７月に安保理の下部組織「北朝鮮制裁委員会」から資産凍結などの制裁対象にされていた。

カンボジア船籍船の問題についてカンボジア政府は責任がなく、韓国の船舶登録会社に責任があると発言する。国際条約を守るのは船主の責任と責任回避する船舶登録会社。

(The ISROC then states that it is a ship owner’s “Own Obligations and Duties” to comply with international laws, thus absolving the South Korean company of responsibility for illegal actions by ships flying the Cambodian flag provided by the company.)

カンボジア政府及び韓国の船舶登録会社は国際条約を守るのは船主の責務であると発言している。誰も責任を取らないのだから、サブ・スタンダード船の隻数が世界でナンバー1になるのだろう。改善する姿勢が見られなければカンボジア船籍船を入港禁止にしても良いだろう。ヨーロッパではArticle 16に従い、入港停止にされたカンボジア船籍船が存在する。

M/V "AMAL"IMO 7040994 (PARIS MOU)

On 3rd January 2014 the M/V "AMAL" with IMO number 7040994 has been banned. The ship was detained in port of Patra (Greece) on 3 January 2014. This was the third detention in the Paris MoU region within the last 36 months. The ship flies the flag of Cambodia, which is black on the current Paris MoU WGB list. As this is the first refusal of access order the period of the refusal of access will be 3 months.

M/V "INA"IMO 7419377 (PARIS MOU)

On 19th December 2013 the M/V "INA" with IMO number 7419377 has been banned. The ship was detained in port of Varna (Bulgaria) on 17 December 2013. This was the third detention in the Paris MoU region within the last 36 months. The ship flies the flag of Togo, which is black on the current Paris MoU WGB list. As this is the first refusal of access order the period of the refusal of access will be 3 months.

Q. What is the minimum duration of ban?

メンテナンス不良など３割の外国船が検査強化の対象
日本、韓国、オーストラリア等アジア太平洋地域18か国は、入港する外国船の検査について、メンテナンス不良の外国船などを対象に検査を強化することとしました。 19日までチリのビナデルマルで開催された地域協力の委員会で検討を行ったもので、域内を航行する外国船が増加する中、18か国の検査履歴からメンテナンス不良の外国船を割り出し、 欠陥を抱えるリスクの高い約３割の外国船を優先して繰返し検査する方針です。
「年間約２万５千件の外国船検査の内、約５千件は日本が実施しており、これを行う外国船舶監督官を今年度全国で142 名予定と するなど取組み強化を行っています。」平成24年4月20日　（国土交通省のＨＰより）
★ 開けない人はここをクリック"

　　『多維新聞社』２３日付けの報道によると、中国海事局は先日初めて４８隻の重点追跡船舶「ブラックリスト」を発表した。南京海事局は所属海事所に対し、当該船舶が南京港に到着した場合、追跡検査を徹底的に行い、検査率１００％を確保するよう指令を出した。中国海事局「重点追跡船舶監督検査管理規定」によると、「ブラックリスト」に載った船舶が全国の１つの港にでも入った場合、現地の海事機関は厳格な船舶安全検査を行うように指導している。

　　『人民網』２３日付けの報道によると、中国海事局は国際的な通航慣例を参考に、今年５月に「重点追跡船舶監督検査管理規定」を公布し、検査で５つの大きい問題が見つかった中国籍２００トン以上の海洋船舶と５０トン以上の内陸河川船舶に対して、追跡と協力検査を行うことにした。

　　またこの規定では、３分の１以上の船舶が重点追跡リストに入った運輸会社について、その会社が所有する全ての船舶を、全てブラックリストに載せることになっている。

　　海事局関係者は、「ブラックリスト」発表の目的は、運輸関連会社と船舶業主の安全意識を高め、安全管理を強化し、欠陥を埋め、事故の隠蔽をなくし、水上交通安全を確保することにあるという。「ブラックリスト」制度は運輸会社に管理を強化させる第一歩で、同時に対応管理法規を成立させ運輸会社に対する管理に法的後ろ盾を設けた形だ。