|
11 Maltese-registered ships
detained in British ports
by Franco Aloisio
Eleven Maltese-registered ships were detained in British ports
last year, according to annual statistics released by the UK
Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and Malta is ranked sixth among
those countries whose vessels were detained in British ports.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency annually issues statistics
on the number of detentions by flag. In 2000, a total of 111
Malta-registered ships were inspected in British ports, of which
11 were detained. As a result 10 per cent of the inspected ships
were detained, 2.5 per cent less than in 1999.
The country with the highest detention rate was Turkey with
a staggering 40 per cent of its vessels held – out of 15
inspections carried out in British ports six Turkish-flagged
ships were detained.
Turkey was followed by Belize (36.4 per cent held), St Vincent
& Grenadines (15.9 per cent), Hong Kong (14.3 per cent),
Cyprus (9.5 per cent), Malta (10 per cent), Panama (9.4 per
cent), Greece (7.4 per cent) and Antigua & Barbuda (6.8
per cent). On average, 6.3 per cent of all ships were detained.
Hence Malta and all of the above-mentioned countries’ performance
was lower than average.
All of these countries are flag states targeted by the Paris
Memorandum of Understanding for priority inspection.
Countries which scored lower than the average were the Netherlands,
Denmark, Ireland, Singapore, Norway, Bahamas, Germany, Liberia
and Russia.
In all, there were 114 foreign flag states detained in the UK
in 2000. Commenting on this trend, the Chief Executive of the
British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Maurice Storey, said
the constant decline in the annual detention rate is a good
indication that the efforts to enforce high standards are proving
successful. “We will endeavour to maintain this trend and
continue to target potentially substandard vessels should they
enter UK ports,” he said.
|
