Ships continue to experience instances of port state control interventions, and sometimes hefty fines, allegedly because the validity of their electronic statutory and class certificates cannot be verified during onboard inspections.
The practice of issuing signed paper certificates to document compliance with maritime rules and regulations may be nearing its end. Recognising that paper certificates are subject to loss or damage and can be impractical to send to globally-trading ships, most major flag administrations, and classification societies, now facilitate the use of electronic certificates. The process has also been formalized through IMO documents, such as the “Guidelines for the use of electronic certificates” (FAL.5/Circ.39) and the harmonised “Procedures for port state control”, and in accordance with the latter, port state control officers (PSCOs) are requested to note that: Continue reading “Problems verifying electronic statutory and class certificates”
The 2022 edition of the Leading Maritime Cities (LMC) report was launched at an event hosted by the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF).
The UK maritime regulator, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), has issued and distributed the following new documentation over the past few weeks.
The carriage of bagged rice cargo is a potentially hazardous undertaking, with claims potentially running to millions of dollars when problems arise, says the 
