The Singapore Flag's Performance in the 3^rd Quarter of 2015

In the first three quarters of 2015, Singapore ships performed better under Port State Control (PSC) in the Tokyo MoU regime than in the Paris MoU regime.

• Tokyo MoU regime – the detention ratio of Singapore ships is 0.95% against the regime’s average of 3.85%.
• Paris MoU regime – the detention ratio of Singapore ships is 2.14% against the regime’s average of 3.19%.

The SRS performance under the Tokyo and Paris MoU regimes over the past six years are illustrated in Figure 1 and 2 below.

Tokyo MOU Detention Ratio

Paris MOU Detention Ratio

A significant number of Singapore ships are still being detained in Australia and the United States, representing more than 55% of Singapore ship detentions this year. The detentions were due to common detainable deficiencies, which will be highlighted in the next section. The breakdown of Singapore ship detentions by Port States is given in Figure 3 below.

PSC detention of Singapore ships by Port States - 3Q of 2015

Most Common Causes of Ship Detentions

From the analysis of Singapore ship detentions, the four most common categories of PSC detention deficiencies are ISM-related, Life Saving Appliances, Fire Safety and Pollution Prevention. These categories make up 70% of the total detention deficiencies. Under these four categories, the commonly recurring PSC detention deficiencies are summarised as follows:

• ISM-related:
  • Inappropriate voyage planning and use of inadequate or outdated nautical charts
  • Inadequate management and recording of seafarers’ hours of rest
  • Poor maintenance of safety and critical shipboard equipment
• Fire Safety:
  • Emergency fire pump unable to build up sufficient water pressure in the fire mains
  • Defective quick closing valve for fuel tank
• Life Saving Appliances:
  • Lifeboat and rescue boat engine unable to be started
  • Defective lifeboat and rescue boat launching arrangement
• Pollution Prevention:
  • Defective oily water separator and 15ppm alarm arrangements
  • Defective sewage treatment plant

The breakdown of all the PSC detention deficiencies found on Singapore ships in the first three quarters of 2015 are given in Figure 4 and 5 below.

Detention deficiencies by category - 3Q of 2015

Top 10 detention deficiencies - 3Q of 2015

Ship owners, companies and crews are strongly encouraged to pay close attention to the underlying causes of the common deficiencies that have been highlighted above and take necessary preventive actions. This should include ensuring their crew are provided with adequate procedures, work instructions and tools to carry out their work effectively, and the work are properly supervised by senior ship officers, especially for the inspection, testing and maintenance of safety and critical shipboard equipment (e.g. lifeboat engine, emergency fire pump, oily water separator, sewage treatment plant, emergency generator etc).

Case Study - Fire Safety on Ships

The SOLAS Convention requires ships to have safe design and fire safety systems to prevent, contain, control and suppress fire or explosion, and to reduce the risk to life and damage to the ship and cargo caused by fire. This includes:

• Dividing the ship into main vertical and horizontal zones by thermal and structural boundaries
• Restricted use of combustible materials
• Detection of fire in the zone of origin
• Containment and extinction of fire in the space of origin
• Safe means of escape and access for fire fighting
• Ready availability of fire-extinguishing appliances

To ensure the effectiveness of these fire safety measures, vital fire protection and fire-fighting systems and appliances must be properly and regularly inspected, tested and maintained in good working order and kept ready for immediate use at all times.

During Flag State Control (FSC) and Port State Control (PSC) inspections, close attention is paid to ensure the good working order and operational readiness of fire protection systems and appliances on board ships. Common deficiencies found during inspections include defective quick-closing devices for oil tanks, engine room ventilators, fire dampers, jacketed high-pressure fuel lines and insulation of engine exhaust pipes.