FAS: “SHIP OF THE YEAR 2014” – Distinction from the flag
The Faroese Maritime Authority acknowledges that demands to ship’s officers and crew from authorities, cargo owners and owners, in addition to the fierce surveillance by port state controls on board on merchant ships, are on the verge of becoming overwhelming.
In modern shipping it really takes the right people in the right place – with dedication and full concentration – to meet the challenges!
The primary objective of the flag state’s assistance and support to seafarers and the land-based organisation is the successful performance by ships in order to build and retain the reputation of the flag.
While sending out reminders as well as admonitions, when due, the FMA has for some time sent individual notes of congratulation and praise to management companies and the respective ship when zero results have been obtained during More Detailed and Expanded PSC inspections under the Paris MoU. The FMA will continue to include the Initial inspections in this feedback. With time, however, we expect such Initial inspections to be passed with zero deficiencies as a main rule, if the owners/managers are serious in their fight for contracts in the shipping market.
In this picture the FMA would like to instigate a new way of praising Faroese flagged ships with outstanding results in the form of a selection of a
Ship of the Year
The best performing ship is identified on the following criteria:
• The PSC performance over the last 3-year period (same as PSC period for the flag state), where the ship’s number of zero-inspections are rewarded as follows:
- Expanded – 3 points
- MDI – 2 points
- Initial – 1 point
• Other special / mandatory certifications or upgrade of the vessel’s SMS that may have taken place – e.g. this period represented by the MLC in 2013, in which case zero observations and the lowest number of observations counts positively.
• Class records, i.e. in the event that two ships have the same score in the above, then the absence of overdue items in class records may play a deciding role.
A lot of the responsibility is of course placed on board. Masters will be required to keep a vigilant eye on the ship’s and crew certificates as well maintaining a tough self-inspection regime to maintain the ship ready for outside inspection at any time.
But the responsible manager will also know that in order for the ship to sail smoothly, the shorebased support is of great importance. We know that:
- the ship will not manage 0-inspection results during PSC, unless adequately supported by the shore-based technical team and the DPA,
- the ship will not manage a good certification process and the subsequent successful result (e.g. under the MLC), unless adequately supported by the manning dep., DPA and HSEQ, and
- the ship cannot avoid overdue items, unless the shore-based organisation does their part.
On this basis we are happy to announce that the FMA for the year of 2014 has selected
MV Norröna
– the Ship of the Year –
MV Tananger
– in the second place –
and
MV Haukur
-in the third place –
The main distinction between number one and the other two is the high number of inspections with zero deficiencies, where MV Norröna comes out with the highest number in the Paris MoU throughout this 3-year period.MV Tananger and MV Haukur come in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Hence, they also present themselves as reputable challengers and future contenders to the title.
From the FMA:
Appreciation and heartfelt congratulations to all three ships!
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