Paris MOU: New Inspection Regime

Published Jan 12, 2011 9:03 AM by The Maritime Executive

In May 2009 the principles of the New Inspection Regime (NIR) were adopted by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding at its 42nd Committee meeting. The NIR will replace the existing PSC regime on 1 January 2011.

With the introduction of the NIR quality ships will be rewarded with less inspections. High-risk ships will be subject to more in-depth and more frequent inspections.

A fair share scheme is introduced in which each member contributes to the overall full coverage according to the number individual ships it receives.

The NIR will be accompanied by a new inspection system, THETIS, which will replace the existing Sirenac Database. A new element in Thetis will be the recording of Port call information. Port call information is important for the planning of inspections and resources by the Member States.

The targeting of ships is based on a Ship Risk Profile. By using this profile ships are categorised as high, standard or low risk ships, as follows:

• High Risk Ships (HRS) will be subject to an inspection interval of 6 months;
• Standard Risk Ships (SRS) will be rewarded with an inspection range between 10 - 12 months;
• Low Risk Ships (LRS) will be rewarded with an inspection interval between 24 - 36 months of the last inspection.