THE AUSTRALIAN Maritime Safety Authority detained 159 ships entering Australian waters last year, according to the latest annual data in AMSA’s Port State Control Australia 2021 Report.
Last years’ detention figures were an improvement on those of 2020, having decreased from 179 detentions that year.
Detention and deficiency rates per inspection reportedly remained low in 2021, at 5.6% and 2.2% respectively compared to 2020 rates of 5.9% and 2.1% respectively.
AMSA said the most frequent cause of detention since 2010 relates to relates to ineffective implementation of the safety management system as required by the International Safety Management (ISM) Code.
Trends reported in 2021 suggest maintenance issues are not being addressed by the ship’s safety management system as implemented onboard.
In 2021 the number of ISM detainable deficiencies decreased to 53 (occurring in 1.9% of port state control inspections) compared to 76 in 2020 (occurring in 2.5% of inspections).
According to AMSA, deficiencies were in part influenced by difficulties operators have experienced with conducting shore-based maintenance with pandemic-related restrictions in place.
Operators also reported difficulty in superintendents not being able to visit their ships due to COVID-19 restrictions, which affected their ability to conduct on-board SMS audits.
AMSA said the annual report highlighted the positive effect a consistent, zero-tolerance approach can have on the quality of foreign ships entering Australian waters.
The regulator said it is widely reputed for having one of the most stringent inspection regimes in the world.
AMSA executive director of operations Michael Drake said ships that fail to meet international standards represent an unacceptable risk to the safety of seafarers, marine environments and coastal communities.
“Our mission is to ensure safe ship operations and combat marine pollution from shipping,” Mr Drake said.
“We achieve that by taking a zero-tolerance approach during our inspections and by working collaboratively with our regional partners through intelligence sharing, concentrated inspection campaigns and awareness raising with industry.
“These combined efforts have a positive influence on the quality of ships that enter our waters – it is a deterrent to the owners and operators of sub-standard ships which is why we continue to see low detention and deficiency rates.”
Mr Drake said the 2021 inspection regime findings also helped refine AMSA’s compliance focus areas for the year ahead, outlined in its National Compliance Plan for 2022-23.
“We’ve identified trends in recent years relating to detainable deficiencies for ineffective implementation of safety management systems, fire safety and water/weather tight integrity, and we will be sharpening our compliance focus on these areas for the coming year,” he said.
