1 Ships required to hold a Certificate
1.1 On boarding and after introducing themself to the master or
responsible ship's officer, the port State control officer (PSCO) should examine the
Certificate of Fitness (COF) or NLS Certificate and Cargo Record Book (CRB). The CRB
may be presented in an electronic format. A declaration from the Administration
should be viewed in order to accept this electronic record book. If a declaration
cannot be provided, a hard copy record book will need to be presented for
examination.
1.2 The Certificate includes information on the type of ship, the dates
of surveys and a list of the products which the ship is certified to carry.
1.3 As a preliminary check, the Certificate's validity should be
confirmed by verifying that the Certificate is properly completed and signed and
that required surveys have been performed. In reviewing the Certificate, particular
attention should be given to verifying that only those noxious liquid substances
which are listed on the Certificate are carried and that these substances are in
tanks approved for their carriage.
1.4 The CRB should be inspected to ensure that the records are up to
date. The PSCO should check whether the ship left the previous port(s) with residues
of noxious liquid substances on board which could not be discharged into the sea.
The book could also have relevant entries from the appropriate authorities in the
previous ports. If the examination reveals that the ship was permitted to sail from
its last unloading port under certain conditions, the PSCO should ascertain that
such conditions have been or will be adhered to. If the PSCO discovers an
operational violation in this respect, the flag State should be informed by means of
a deficiency report.
1.5 If the Certificate is valid and the PSCO's general impressions and
visual observations on board confirm a good standard of maintenance, the PSCO
should, provided that the CRB entries do not show any operational violations,
confine the inspection to reported deficiencies, if any.
1.6 If, however, the PSCO's general impressions or observations on board
show clear grounds for believing that the condition of the ship, its equipment, or
its cargo and slops handling operations do not correspond substantially with the
particulars of the Certificate, the PSCO should proceed to a more detailed
inspection:
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.1 Initially this requires an examination of the ship's approved
Procedures and Arrangements Manual (P and A Manual).
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.2 The more detailed inspection should include the cargo and
pump-room areas of the ship and should begin with forming a general
impression of the layout of the tanks, the cargoes carried, pumping and
stripping conditions and cargo.
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.3 Next, a closer examination of the ship's equipment as shown in
the P and A Manual may take place. This examination should also confirm that
no unapproved modifications have been made to the ship and its
equipment.
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.4 Should any doubt arise as to the maintenance or the condition
of the ship or its equipment, further examination and testing may be
conducted as may be necessary. In this respect reference is made to the
Survey Guidelines under the Harmonized System of Survey and
Certification, 2021 (resolution A.1156(32)), as may be amended.
1.7 The PSCO should bear in mind that a ship may be equipped over and
above the requirements of MARPOL Annex
II. If such equipment is malfunctioning the flag State should be
informed. This alone, however, should not cause a ship to be detained unless the
malfunction presents an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment.
2 Ships of non-Parties to the Convention
2.1 As this category of ship is not provided with a COF or NLS
Certificate as required by MARPOL Annex
II, the PSCO should be satisfied with regard to the construction and
equipment standards relevant to the ship on the basis of the requirements set out in
MARPOL Annex II and the Standards for Procedures and
Arrangements.
2.2 In all other respects, the PSCO should be guided by the procedures
for ships referred to in section 1 above (i.e. ships required to hold a
Certificate).
2.3 If the ship has some form of certification other than the required
Certificate, the PSCO may take the form and content of this document into account in
the evaluation of that ship. Such a form of certification, however, is only of value
to the PSCO if the ship has been provided with a P and A Manual.
3 Control
In exercising the control functions, the PSCO should use professional
judgement to determine whether to detain the ship until any noted deficiencies are
rectified or to allow it to sail with certain deficiencies which do not pose an
unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment. In doing this, the PSCO
should be guided by the principle that the requirements contained in MARPOL Annex
II, in respect of construction and equipment and the operation of ships,
are essential for the protection of the marine environment and that departure from
these requirements could constitute an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine
environment.