Sri Lanka to chair IORPSC

Sri Lanka has been selected for the Chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Region Port State Control Committee to next three year period, a press statement issued by the Ministry of Ports and Aviation said yesterday.

A memorandum of understanding on Port State Control in the Indian Ocean region was finalized on the basis of the first preparatory meeting in India in October 1997 and the second meeting in June 1998 in South Africa. The second meeting was attended by Australia, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Kenya, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Yemen.

Under the Memorandum each authority will establish and maintain an effective system of Port State Control. The ultimate goal is to identify and eliminate substandard ships from the region, the release said.

The Port State Control System, aims to verify whether foreign flagged vessels calling at a port of a State, comply with applicable international maritime conventions. When vessels are found not to be in substantial compliance with applicable laws or relevant convention requirements, the PSC system imposes actions to ensure they are brought into compliance. Ships to be inspected are selected on the basis of criteria outlined in the Memorandum and a nondiscriminatory policy is observed.

The previous committee was chaired by South Africa, Australia and India and last committee was held on South Africa from 13th to 16th August and states represented were Australia, India, Iran, Kenya, Mauritus, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Yemen. Abuja MoU, Equasis, ILO, IMO and USCG attended as observers Last Committee meeting was chaired by Sri Lanka representative Mr. A. R. M. Abeyratne Banda Deputy Director General, Merchant Shipping Division of the Ministry of Ports and Aviation, the release added.