Lloyd’s Register publishes news releases designed to help owners and operators reduce the likelihood of their ships being subject to a port state control (PSC) detention. The third release in this series deals with MARPOL Annex I. Problems found with oil filtering equipment are accounting for an increasing number of the total number of deficiencies found on Lloyd’s Register classed ships which, in the majority of cases, leads to the vessel being detained.

Within this category, deficiencies in particular, were found relating to oil/water filtering equipment fitted with a bypass line, inoperative oil/water filtering equipment, defective 15 ppm (parts per million) alarm and failure to keep proper records in the ‘Oil Record Book’.

The following items also feature highly in the MARPOL Annex I category (the number of deficiencies found on Lloyd’s Register classed ships during 2002, is shown in parenthesis):

• Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) (49)
• Retention of oil on board (27)

Recent analysis shows that there is a continuing upward trend in the above items beingtargeted by PSC. These are high profile items that are easily accessed by PSC officers during inspections. Consequently, a continuous on-board overhaul and maintenance regime of the relevant equipment will help reduce the likelihood of deficiencies and detentions.