Flag State, Port State, Coastal State and Classification Societies

Read first: The IMO and How a Convention Becomes Law. This topic explains who checks that your ship meets those rules, and where each one’s power starts and stops.

Four Players, One Ship

In short: four bodies control a ship — the flag State, the classification society, the port State and the coastal State. Each has a different job and works in a different place.

• One government can play all three State roles. Malta is the flag State of a Maltese yacht, the port State for a Panamanian bulk carrier alongside in Valletta, and the coastal State for a ship passing 10 NM off Gozo.
• The main responsibility always stays with the flag State. Port State Control is the safety net that catches substandard ships (IMO).

The Flag State

In short: the flag State is the government of the country where the ship is registered. Its law goes with the ship wherever she sails.

• A ship has the nationality of the State whose flag she flies. There must be a genuine link between that State and the ship (UNCLOS Art. 91).
• A ship sails under one flag only. On the high seas she is under the exclusive jurisdiction of her flag State (UNCLOS Art. 92).
• Duties of the flag State (UNCLOS Art. 94):
  • keep a register of its ships and apply its national law to the ship, master, officers and crew (see Legal Systems and Maritime Law: Civil Law, Common Law, Tort and the Maltese Courts);
  • turn the international conventions (SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, COLREG) into national law and enforce them: safety, pollution prevention and security;
  • have its ships surveyed by qualified surveyors before registration and at intervals after, and issue the statutory certificates;
  • check manning, crew qualifications and working and living conditions under the MLC 2006 (see Hours of Rest, Fatigue and Safe Manning);
  • hold an inquiry into serious marine casualties involving its ships.
• Examples: the UK flag is run by the MCA, the Maltese flag by Transport Malta (Merchant Shipping Directorate). Marine accidents are investigated by an independent body: MAIB in the UK, MSIU in Malta.
• The flag State may delegate surveys and certificates to a Recognised Organisation (RO), usually a class society. It stays responsible for that work (SOLAS I/6).

Classification Societies

In short: a class society is a non-governmental organisation that writes technical rules for ships and checks, by survey, that every ship it classes keeps to them.

• What it does:
  • establishes, maintains and enforces technical standards (class rules) for the design, construction and operation of ships;
  • surveys the ship during construction and throughout her life;
  • issues the Certificate of Class.
• How: by survey and certification.
• Why owners keep class: insurers, charterers and banks normally want the ship in class.
• Certificate of Class vs statutory certificate:
  • Certificate of Class = the ship meets the society’s own rules (a private, commercial matter).
  • Statutory certificates (e.g. Safety Construction, Load Line, IOPP) = the ship meets the conventions. Issued by the flag State, or by the class society acting as RO on the flag State’s behalf.
• IACS — the International Association of Classification Societies: 12 member societies (ABS, Bureau Veritas, CCS, CRS, DNV, IRS, KR, Lloyd’s Register, ClassNK, PRS, RINA, Türk Loydu). Their rules cover more than 90 % of the world’s cargo-carrying tonnage. IACS is the main technical adviser to the IMO (IACS).
• Remember: a certificate is a verifiable document, not proof that the ship is seaworthy. But a missing or invalid certificate makes her unseaworthy.

Surveys: Initial, Annual, Intermediate, Renewal

In short: a ship is surveyed before service, then every year, once in the middle of the certificate’s life and at the end of it — plus extra surveys after damage or major changes.

Source: MCA MSIS 23 Part B Ch. 2; IMO A.1053(27) (HSSC survey guidelines).

• HSSC (Harmonised System of Survey and Certification), in force since February 2000, lines up the SOLAS, Load Line and MARPOL certificates on one common anniversary date. Most certificates run 5 years; the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate is the exception (renewed every 12 months, SOLAS I/14).
• The renewal survey may be done up to 3 months before expiry; the new certificate then runs on from the old expiry date.
• Hull: two inspections of the outside of the ship’s bottom in every 5-year period.
• Miss an annual, intermediate or periodical survey and the certificate ceases to be valid until that survey is done (IMO A.1053(27), para 5.6). Port State Control will spot it at once.
• Class can survey hull and machinery in two ways: special survey (everything opened up at once, usually at renewal) or continuous survey (items opened up in turn over the 5 years).

The Port State and Port State Control

In short: the port State is the authority of the port the ship is visiting. It checks that foreign ships meet the international conventions and can detain those that do not.

• Port State Control (PSC): inspection of foreign-flag ships in national ports to check that the ship, her equipment, crew and operation meet the conventions (IMO).
• Legal basis: the conventions themselves (e.g. SOLAS I/19). Valid certificates are normally accepted. With clear grounds that the ship does not substantially match them, the officer inspects further and can stop her sailing until it is safe. A port State should also stop an unseaworthy ship that threatens the marine environment, letting her go only to the nearest repair yard (UNCLOS Art. 219).
• Inspection types (Paris MoU):
  • Initial — certificates and documents, general condition and hygiene, earlier deficiencies put right.
  • More detailed — when there are clear grounds (missing or invalid certificates, deficiencies seen on board). May include operational checks such as drills.
  • Expanded — for High Risk Ships and some ship types over 12 years old (oil, chemical and gas tankers, bulk carriers, passenger ships, NLS tankers).
• Outcome: deficiencies to fix (before sailing or within a set time), or detention when serious. Ships detained again and again can be refused access (banned) from the region’s ports.
• Regional agreements share inspection results so a ship is not checked in every port. There are 9 regional MoUs plus the US Coast Guard regime (IMO): Paris, Tokyo, Viña del Mar, Caribbean, Abuja, Black Sea, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Riyadh.
• Paris MoU — Europe and the North Atlantic, in effect since 1 July 1982. 28 member administrations, including Malta and the UK (Russia suspended) (Paris MoU).
• Ship Risk Profile: every ship is High, Standard or Low Risk (type, age, flag, RO, company and detention history). Periodic inspection window: High 5–6 months, Standard 10–12 months, Low 24–36 months. Priority I = must be inspected (window expired or overriding factor); Priority II = may be inspected (Paris MoU).
• On the bridge: PSC boards in port. Have certificates, crew certificates, logbooks and rest-hour records ready, and expect to show a drill if they ask.

The Coastal State

In short: the coastal State (coastal authority) enforces its own laws in the sea zones off its coast, and can detain a ship that breaks them — even if she never enters port.

• Pollution: in the territorial sea, with clear grounds, the coastal State may inspect a passing ship and start proceedings, including detention. In the EEZ it may ask for her identity, port of registry and last and next port; it may inspect or detain only for a discharge causing or threatening major damage (UNCLOS Art. 220).
• On the bridge: a coastguard calls you 30 NM off the coast and asks for your identity and last and next port. That is the coastal State using its EEZ powers — answer clearly and log it.