Safety at sea: the Italian flag on the podium of the Paris Mou

The Italian flag remains at the top for reliability according to the Paris mou.

This is certified by the new performance list of flags and registers just adopted by the Committee of the Memorandum of Understanding signed for the first time by several European countries in 1982 to agree a system of verification of compliance, by foreign ships in port in those countries, international regulations on safety, pollution prevention and respect for the living conditions of workers.

The list divides the flags between white, gray and black, from the best performance to the worst based on an index derived from the inspection database, taking into account the last three years and a number of at least thirty inspections. The 2022 ranking has 39 white flags (the Italian flag is in second place for performance, behind the Danish), 18 gray and 9 black.

In 2019, before the Covid-pandemic, the total number of flag states on the list was 70, of which 41 in the “White List”, 16 in the “Gray List” and 13 in the “Black List”. The comparison with 2019 shows a shift of some flag States from the White List to the Grey List. The number of flag States in the “Black List” decreased by four units.

As regards the Registers, the Committee has closely monitored the performance of recognised organisations (RO), which act on behalf of flag States. To calculate the performance of RO, the same formula is used to calculate the ‘excess factor’ of flag States. A minimum of 60 inspections per RO is required before performance is taken into account for the list. In 2022, 32 RO were registered in the performance list. Compared to last year, the performance level of the RO is similar to that of the previous year, with only one RO with “low” performance. The Rina is firmly among the high performance registers, in fifth place.

From 1 July 2023, the new performance lists will be used to calculate the ship’s risk profile.

SOURCE: REDAZIONE SHIPPING ITALY 11/07/2023