Every year, PSC regimes determine a specific focus area during regular inspections. This year’s Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC), running from 1 September to 30 November, will be carried out on the topic of fire safety.
Relevant for ship owners and managers.
1. CIC – fire safety
This year, the Paris and Tokyo MoUs agreed to run a CIC on the topic of fire safety. The majority of PSC MoUs have confirmed their participation in this year’s CIC.
The CIC will be carried out between 1 September and 30 November and will be covered by an additional questionnaire during routine port state inspections.
The additional questionnaire, highlighting the fire safety focus areas this time around, is usually published in early August. Once the final questionnaire is published, we will issue an additional Technical and Regulatory News. Furthermore, we will offer a “smart-up” webinar on 16 August 2023 (Link to application).
Traditionally, deficiencies in the fire safety section are among the most common of all detainable deficiencies, which is underlined by the fact that a third of DNV’s Top 18 detainable deficiencies (refer to News on Top 18) relate to the topic of fire safety:
- Fire dampers
- Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions
- Fire detection systems
- Fixed fire-extinguishing installations
- Means of control (opening, pumps) in machinery spaces
- Evaluation of crew performance (fire drills)
We would like to point out that the CIC is, of course, not limited to DNV’s Top 18 items. Below, you will find a graph showing the ratio between detainable and non-detainable deficiencies regarding fire safety during port state control inspections, from the Paris MoU:
To assist with the preparation for a port state control inspection, the PSC Planner provides a checklist based on previous deficiencies of the specific ship, a list of the most common deficiencies raised in the specific port, and DNV’s Top 18 deficiencies.
While this is under no circumstances the full scope of a PSC inspection, it can help identify focus area.
From the end of August to December, the PSC Planner will also include the questionnaire for the 2023 CIC for easy reference and preparation by the crew and the vessel’s management.
2. Actions on the CIC 2023 by the authorities
In response to this year’s CIC, the flag states of Panama and Turkey have already implemented actions to prepare their registered vessels.
Since March 2023, flag state inspectors from the Panama Maritime Authority have been using an additional CIC checklist to determine the level of compliance regarding fire safety and ISM to prepare for this year’s campaign.
For more detailed information, please review the “Additional Checklist for Annual Safety Inspection”. (Download below)
To prepare for the upcoming CIC, the Turkish flag has advised their Authorized Organizations to assist in their efforts. Between 15 June and 30 November 2023, a CIC checklist is to be completed during every survey carried out by Authorized Organizations onboard Turkish-flagged vessels.
According to our information, the Turkish port state control has already started checking vessels according to the CIC checklist since 15 June. (Download below)
Recommendations
Owners/managers should make sure their crews are informed about the planned CIC and which items are expected to be important. Special attention should be paid to these items during maintenance, to ensure a proper condition of the vessel.
As deficiencies in fire safety can often be traced to shortcomings in the implementation of the Safety Management System (SMS), the efficient use of the SMS should be emphasized.
We also highly recommend joining the webinar on the topic, offered on 16 August – register here.
We also recommend using DNV’s PSC Planner to prepare for expected PSC inspections. The checklists created within the tool show focus areas, based on previous deficiencies of the vessel, port-specific focus areas, the DNV Top 18 items and the CIC questions, when applicable.
References
- DNV port state control services: Port state control (PSC) services (dnv.com)
- Paris MoU Annual Report: 2022 Paris MoU Annual Report “Port State Control; 40 years of harmonisation" | Paris MoU
- Registration for CIC Smart-up Webinar: WEBINAR, 16 August 2023: Port State Control – prepare for the CIC on fire safety starting September (dnv.com)
Contact
- For customers:
DATE - Direct Access to Technical Experts via My Services on Veracity. - Otherwise:
Use our office locator to find the nearest DNV office.
