Port State Control

Port State Control (PSC) is the inspection of foreign ships in national ports to verify that the condition of the ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international regulations, and that ships are manned and operated in compliance with these instruments; thereby ensuring maritime safety and security and preventing pollution.

PSC inspections are intended to be a backup to flag State implementation, a “second line of defence” against substandard shipping. Experience has shown that these inspections can be extremely effective. The Organization adopted resolution A.682(17) on Regional co-operation in the control of ships and discharges promoting the conclusion of nine regional agreements on PSC.

Many IMO conventions contain provisions enabling governments to inspect foreign ships that visit their ports to ensure that they meet IMO standards to which the port State is a Party, taking into account the concept of no-more favourable treatment. Where deficiencies are identified, ships may be delayed or detained until the necessary corrective actions are taken and may be subject to targeting for future inspections.

For ships travelling to different countries in the same region, a regional coordinated inspection that focuses on substandard ships and avoids multiple inspections can be more efficient and cost effective to member States, as well as providing a level playing field to ports of the region. The harmonization of PSC inspections aims at ensuring that as many substandard ships as possible are inspected, and at preventing ships from being subjected to multiple inspections. The primary responsibility for ensuring a ship's standards rests with the flag State.

When a PSC Officer (PSCO) inspects a foreign ship, any such inspection should be limited to verifying that there are valid certificates and other relevant documentation on board.

If the PSCO identifies clear grounds for believing that the condition of the ship or its equipment does not correspond substantially with the particulars of the certificates, or that the master or crew are not familiar with essential shipboard procedures, a more detailed inspection should be carried out. When exercising control, all possible efforts should be made to avoid a ship being unduly detained or delayed.  

Procedures for Port State Control 

The Organization has always recognized that efforts by port States have greatly contributed to enhance maritime safety and security, and prevention of marine pollution. The Organization adopted resolution A.1206(34) on Procedures for Port State Control, 2025 (following successive revocation of resolutions A.1185(33), A.1155(32), A.1138(31), A.1052(27), A.882(21), A.787(19), A.742(18), A.597(15) and A.466(XII)) to provide basic guidance on the conduct of PSC inspections in support of the control provisions contained in relevant conventions and the IMO Instruments Implementation Code (III Code) (resolution A.1070(28)). Procedures for PSC afford consistency in the conduct of these inspections, the identification of deficiencies of a ship, its equipment, or its crew, and the application of PSC procedures.

Following the continuous updating of the Procedures for PSC carried out by the Correspondence and Working Groups on Measures to Harmonize Port State Control (PSC) Activities and Procedures Worldwide, an Assembly resolution is adopted every two years with the updated version of the Procedures for PSC. 

For more details, please refer to the Procedures for Port State Control, 2025 (resolution A.1206(34))

Legal Framework of Port State Control

Article 218 (1), Enforcement by port States, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states: “When a vessel is voluntarily within a port or at an off-shore terminal of a State, that State may undertake investigations and, where the evidence so warrants, institute proceedings in respect of any discharge from the vessel outside the internal waters, territorial sea or exclusive economic zone of that State in violation of applicable international rules and standards established through the competent international organization or general diplomatic conference.” 

Article 219, Measures relating to seaworthiness of vessels to avoid pollution stipulates that: “States which, upon request or on their own initiative, have ascertained that a vessel within one of their ports or at one of their off-shore terminals is in violation of applicable international rules and standards relating to seaworthiness of vessels and thereby threatens damage to the marine environment shall, as far as practicable, take administrative measures to prevent the vessel from sailing. Such States may permit the vessel to proceed only to the nearest appropriate repair yard and, upon removal of the causes of the violation, shall permit the vessel to continue immediately.”

The requirements on control procedures to be followed by a Party of the relevant provisions with regard to foreign ships visiting their ports are contained in IMO conventions: SOLAS 1974 regulations I/19, IX/6.2, XI-1/4 and XI-2/9, as modified by SOLAS PROT 1988; article 5 and 6, regulation 11 of Annex I, regulation 16.9 of Annex II, regulation 9 of Annex III, regulation 14 of Annex IV, regulation 9 of Annex V and regulation 10 of Annex VI of MARPOL; article X of STCW 1978; article 12 of TONNAGE 1969, article 11 of AFS 2001 and article 9 of BWM 2004. Effective use of these provisions by the authorities of port States can identify deficiencies on board foreign ships, which may render them substandard, and ensure that remedial actions are taken.

Port State Control Regimes 

Currently, there are nine PSC regimes, comprising eight regional Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), and one Agreement on port State control covering specific regions:

 The United States Coast Guard maintains its own PSC regime.

Some member countries belong to more than one PSC regime. All regional PSC regimes have acquired observer status at IMO as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Their representatives attend IMO meetings and, in particular, introduce information on their annual activities in the form of documents submitted to the Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III Sub-Committee - formerly the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI)). The information provided can support the assessment of the fitness of and compliance with IMO standards, and the IMO rule-making process.

A typical organizational structure of a regional PSC regime has three components: the Port State Control Committee, the Secretariat, and the database or information system. Each regional PSC regime holds a Committee meeting annually with its member Authorities, co-operating member Authorities, and observer organizations. IMO is an observer organization to all regional PSC regimes. Several technical cooperation activities are implemented in cooperation with PSC regimes in the context of outreach partnership. In this context, IMO organizes relevant activities in cooperation with PSC regimes, and also sponsors the participation of PSCOs from developing PSC regimes at training courses organized by the Tokyo and Paris MoUs.

The Organization has recently updated electronic data exchange agreements with PSC regimes so that the regional information system can provide relevant inspection data to the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) PSC module on behalf of the Member States.

IMO is also a member of the Editorial Board and an observer of the Supervisory Committee of the Equasis (Electronic Quality Shipping Information System) that compiles PSC data.

Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III) and Measures to Harmonize PSC Activities and Procedures Worldwide 

The III Sub-Committee usually establishes, as per its agenda, the Correspondence and Working Groups on Measures to Harmonize Port State Control (PSC) Activities and Procedures Worldwide.   

The Groups are tasked to develop and update PSC procedures and guidelines with a view to harmonizing PSC activities globally. They also consider and discuss issues raised in the context of PSC activities, such as implementation of IMO instruments and amendments thereto, concentrated inspection campaigns, PSC data management and information exchange, statistics and analysis of PSC activities and data, and PSCO training activities. For more details about progress of the Groups, please refer to relevant documents under the III Sub-Committee on IMODOCS.

IMO Workshop for PSC MoU/Agreement Secretaries and Database Managers (PSCWS)

In order to further harmonize PSC activities, the Organization convenes, usually every two years, workshops for PSC MoU/Agreement Secretaries and Database Managers (PSC Workshops), in the form of open meetings. The eighth PSC Workshop (PSCWS) was held from 14 to 16 November 2023 at IMO Headquarters. Workshops have been funded under the IMO Technical Cooperation Programme and, more recently by the Voyage Together Trust Fund. The aim is to provide support to developing regional PSC regimes and establish a platform for cooperation and sharing experience. PSCWS successfully encourage harmonization and coordination of PSC activities and development of practical recommendations that have triggered further examination by the Organization's relevant Committees and Sub-Committees. The reports of the workshops are available on IMODOCS under "meeting documents/others/PSCWS". 

Reporting

Parties to a relevant convention, when they have exercised control giving rise to a ship's detention, should report to the Organization in accordance with SOLAS 1974 regulation I/19, article 11 of MARPOL, or article X(3) of STCW 1978. On receiving a report on detention, the flag State should, as soon as possible, report to the Organization on remedial action taken in respect of the detention.

The fulfilment of reporting requirements on PSC-related matters should be carried out electronically by PSC regimes, on behalf of the Member States and flag States through the GISIS module on PSC.

In the context of reporting on alleged deficiencies related to the provisions of MARPOL (article 6), summary reports and analysis of mandatory reports are circulated regularly, including information collected under part 4 of MEPC.1/Circ.318 on the total number of ships boarded by PSC. The reports are available on IMODOCS - see MEPC.1/Circ.920 for 2023 report.