The Directive 2009/16/EC on Port State Control: Establishing Common Criteria against Substandard Shipping

Paolo Malaguti

The Directive 2009/16/EC on Port State Control: Establishing Common Criteria against Substandard Shipping

Key words: Port State Control, flag state, pollution prevention, compliance of ships, inspections, substandard shipping

Abstract:
As provided by the Resolution IMO A.787 and A.882 Port State Control (PSC) represents the complex of control and inspection powers exercised by the state on foreign ships in the port to ensure the compliance with the safety standards and regulations by the relevant provisions of the international conventions. Recently the Directive 2009/16/ EC of the European Parliament has established new rules to prevent maritime accidents, with reference to environmental damage, to the protection of staff, passengers and others as well as to the identification of procedures to reduce the accidents’ consequences. In particular, the Directive has introduced a second line of defense against substandard shipping imposing that the monitoring of compliance with the international standards for safety, pollution prevention and on-board living and working conditions should also be ensured by the port state and not only by the ship’s flag state.

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