World leading Panama on merchant marine  “white list” for 10 years

Panama, which leads the world merchant fleet with 8,289 flagged ships, remains on the “white list” of compliance with international merchant marine regulations of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MOU), the government reported on Wednesday.

The  Paris MOU is an organization  created by the European bloc that inspects t vessels before arriving at the ports of that continent to verify that they have the security measures, and its objective is to eliminate the operation of deficient vessels through a harmonized system of control of the governing State of the port.

According to the MOU annual report, Panama ships were inspected by the Port State, and authorities in foreign ports to verify that they comply with international standards established by the industry.

“The measurement included inspections and arrests from 2017-2019 to flags with at least 30 inspections during that period,” said an official statement, which stated that Panama has remained on the MOU’s white list for 10 consecutive years. .

In the framework of the supervision by the port State, nine MOUs have been signed, including the one for Paris (Europe and the North Atlantic) and the one for Tokyo (Asia and the Pacific).

Earlier this year, the Tokyo MOU’s 2019 Annual Report also confirmed that Panama remains on the white list of this memorandum of understanding.

At the end of the first semester of 2020, the Panamanian fleet has a compliance percentage of 97% in relation to the Paris and Tokyo MOUs.

During this time framem aome  5,287 inspections were carried out on Panamanian ships, 62% less compared to the same cycle in 2019; In addition, there is a decrease of 46% compared to last year in terms of the number of arrests.

The most frequent causes of arrests of ships of the Panamanian fleet in European ports are due to deficiencies in firefighting equipment and devices, maintenance of the vessel, structural parts and safety equipment, according to official reports.

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) said  that one of the factors that has influenced the decrease in detained ships is the effort of the personnel of its General Directorate of Merchant Marine (DGMM), in charge of the Ship Registry, with “favorable actions and collaborating with the parties involved, providing the assistance and guidance required to maintain compliance with our fleet. “

In the first six months of 2020 despite the pandemic, Panama added 469 new ships registering  13.6 million tons of registration (a growth of 0.7% million tons)