Denmark Top Paris MoU White List Rankings

The latest White, Grey and Black List from Paris MoU on port state control show winners and losers across flag states and Recognised Organisations (ROs) from 2023 data.

The Paris MoU on port state control is a regional port state control regime that consists of 27 participating maritime authorities .

Denmark retained its top spot in the rankings, which are based on the number of inspections and detentions over 2021-2023, with 12 detentions from 1,250 inspections. The Netherlands takes second place, up from fourth in the previous year’s table.

Italy took second place in last year’s results but are fifth this year, while Greece tumbled from third in 2022 with 5 detentions from 617 inspections to 13th in 2023 with 11 detentions from 618 inspections.

White list flags are considered quality organisations, with average performers making the grey list. The lowest ranked flag states are put on the black list, which comes with extra reporting requirements in some jurisdictions and a higher likelihood of inspection.

The white list grew from 39 flags in 2022 to 42 in 2023, the grey list shrank by one to 17, and the black list expanded from nine flags to 12 in 2023. The increase in overall numbers reflects more organisations hitting the threshold of 30 inspections over a three year period. Jersey (UK) and Canada both joined the white list, Tunisia and Bangladesh joined the grey list, and Vietnam entered the table on the black list.

Cameroon remained dead last at the bottom of the black list, joined this year by Tanzania in the Very High Risk category. Belize, Palau, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan slipped from the grey list to black. Sierra Leone and Albania both rose from the black list in 2022 to grey in 2023.

Latvia fell from white to grey, while Saudi Arabia and Croatia made the move up from grey to white.

China Classification Society jumped up the Paris MoU table of Recognised Organisations (RO) in the latest data, overtaking RINA, Korean Register and Lloyd’s Register to take third on the table behind DNV and first place ABS.

Just 11 ROs reached Paris MoU’s High performance level in 2021-2023 compared to 14 in the 2020-2022 tables. Panama Maritime Documentation Services, Bulgarian Register of Shipping, and International Naval Surveys Bureau all slipped down to the Medium performance level.

Panama Shipping Registrar Inc. was joined by Hellas Naval Bureau of Shipping SMPC in the Low category.

The latest lists will be used from 1 July 2024 through 30 June, 2025.

The Paris MoU is guided by three pillars, which are
– Regulations from the IMO and ILO
– Instructions and circulars
– Conventions from the IMO and ILO

The Paris MoU regime aims to harmonize the port state control procedures for ships, including the inspection of ships, the issuance of certificates and the detention of ships .