Refers to: Owners/Managers/Operators, PHRS Surveyors/Representatives
Action Date: Immediate
The purpose of subject newsletter is to inform all interested parties about PMA’s recommendations for Panama Flagged vessels on maintaining the utmost vigilance and increased security conditions aboard when necessary, in order to protect the vessel and crew during transiting from some high risk areas such as:
- the Gulf of Oman, Straits of Hormuz, and those near Fujairah, UAE (MMN-01/2021)
- the Gulf of Guinea (transiting from Lagos to the creek of the Niger Delta) (MMN-02/2021)
- the Gulf Of Mexico - Bay Of Campeche – Tabasco (MMN-12/2020)
The Best Management Practices (BMP5) to deter piracy and enhance maritime security in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
February 3rd, 2021 - PHRS Head Office
Refers to: Owners/Managers/Operators, PHRS Surveyors/ Representatives
Action Date: 01 Jan. 2021
From 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom (UK) has finished its transition period to withdraw from the European Union (EU), commonly known as Brexit. According to the relevant information made available from the UK Government, the requirements of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation 1257/2013 (EU SRR) have been retained in UK domestic legislation, and now referred to as the UK Ship Recycling Regulation (UK SRR).
Consequently, the requirements for the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) for compliance as from January 1, 2021 for ships of 500GT and over calling at a port or anchorage of the UK are formed as follows:
| Flag of vessel | Calling into UK ports | Calling into EU |
| EU flagged | IHM Inventory Certificate (IC) issued on behalf of Flag | |
| Third country (non-EU / non-UK) | IHM SoC issued on behalf of Flag | |
The EU SRR applies in the European Economic Area (EEA), EU countries plus Iceland and Norway.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
January 18th, 2021 - PHRS Head Office
NL 252/21 | Comoros Maritime Administration - Inventory of Hazardous Material (IHM) for ships calling EU Ports
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of Comoros flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 01 Jan. 2021
The purpose of subject newsletter is to inform all interested parties for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No.1257/2013 on Ship Recycling (EU SRR) to ships calling at a port or anchorage of any country of the European Union (EU), on or after 1 January 2021, and provide relevant instructions on issuing a Statement of Compliance (SoC) for an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM).
The Circular can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
January 8th, 2021 - PHRS Head Office
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of CI flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 01 Jan. 2021
The transition period following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) ends on 31 December 2020.
The purpose of subject newsletter is to inform all interested parties that from 1 January 2021, the UK will be treated by EU law as a third country (i.e. not an EU Member State). This means Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from Maritime Transport will no longer apply to the UK.
Regulation (EU) 2015/757 requires shipowners to record CO2 emissions of all ships over 5,000 GT during their voyages from their last port of call to an EU port and from an EU port to their next port of call, as well as within EU ports.
Consequences of UK withdrawal
Based on the European Commission (EC) notice to stakeholders on the withdrawal of the UK and EU rules on the monitoring and verification of CO2 emissions from maritime transport, attached, shipowners should be aware that the following will no longer fall under the monitoring and reporting requirements of Regulation (EU) 2015/757:
• CO2 emissions of ships within ports under the jurisdiction of the UK; or
• CO2 emissions from voyages from a port of the UK to the port of another third country, and vice-versa.
CO2 emissions records verification
Shipowners should note that CO2 emissions records collected during 2020 will continue to be verified as they have been previously, with emissions within UK ports and emissions from voyages between the UK and other third countries included in the 2020 record-keeping requirements.
UK MRV Scheme
Likely UK will be moving to its own Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) scheme under domestic legislation following the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and will be putting in place transitional arrangements for vessels calling at the UK in 2021. This UK transitional approach is currently being finalised.
Maritime Cook Islands will notify in due course all interested parties of any further development on the matter.
The Maritime Circular 244/2020 can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
January 7th, 2021 - PHRS Head Office
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of CI flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 30 Dec. 2020
Maritime Cook Islands would like to give the widest circulation possible to the referenced IMO Resolution and Circulars that are aimed at providing guidance and best practices to facilitate crew change during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In particular, managers and operators are invited to take note of the Protocols contained in MSC Circular 1636, and to comply with them so far as practicable when performing crew change.
Furthermore, Maritime Cook Islands would draw the attention of all interested parties to the list of National Focal Points on crew change and repatriation of seafarers contained in IMO MSC.7 Circular 1 / Rev.19.
The Maritime Circular 243/2020 can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
January 5th, 2021 - PHRS Head Office
NL 249/20 | MCI - Cyber security to be included in Companies’ SMS from 1st January 2021
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of CI flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 01 Jan. 2021
The International Maritime Organization has approved Resolution MSC.428 (98) regarding the Maritime Cyber Risk Management to be included in Companies’ Safety Management Systems within the first annual verification of the DOC after 1st January 2021.
The Resolution recalls the MSC-FAL.1/Circ.3 on the Guideline on maritime cyber risk management, which provides high-level recommendations for maritime cyber risk management that can be incorporated into existing risk management processes and are complementary to the safety and security management practices established by the IMO.
Maritime Cook Islands recommends all DOC holders to revise their SMS taking into account the IMO Guidelines assessing their SMS’s effectiveness for handling cyber security and develop appropriate measures.
The Maritime Circular 242/2020 can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
December 28th, 2020 - PHRS Head Office
NL 248/20 | SLMARAD - Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) for ships calling at EU ports or anchorage areas (MC-45)
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of Sierra Leone flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 31 Dec. 2020
The purpose of subject newsletter is to inform all interested parties for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No.1257/2013 on ship recycling (hereinafter “the Regulation “or “EU SRR“), to ships calling at a port or anchorage of any country of the European Union (EU) and provide relevant guidelines for the development and maintenance of Inventories of Hazardous Materials (hereinafter “IHM”).
The Maritime Circular n.45 can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
December 23rd, 2020 - PHRS Head Office
NL 247/20 | PMA - Amendments to the code of the MLC 2006 - Seafarers’ employment agreements / Wages / Entitlement
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of Panamanian flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 26 Dec. 2020
The purpose of subject newsletter is to inform all interested parties about the minimum requirements that shall be contained in the employment agreements of seafarers rendering services on board Panamanian flagged vessels engaged in international navigation and other provisions relating to the seafarers' employment agreement and wages in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 2.1 and Standard A2.1 of the MLC, 2006, as amended.
For further information regarding the MMC-262, click here.
The MMN-20/2020 can be found here, in full detail.
The text of the amendments adopted on 27 April 2018, is available here.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
December 22nd, 2020 - PHRS Head Office
NL 246/20 | Amendments to MARPOL Annex II & IBC Code
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers/ Operators, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 01 Jan. 2021
Amendments to MARPOL Annex II and IBC Code, adopted by IMO Resolutions MEPC.318(74) and MSC.460(101) respectively will enter into force on 1 January 2021.
The new amendments, adopted by IMO Resolution MEPC.315(74) - Cargo residues and tank washings of persistent floating products - have newly defined persistent floating products ("persistent floater(s)") and impose stricter prewash requirements.
A prewash procedure shall be applied in certain areas (e.g. North West European waters) for substances that are persistent floaters with a viscosity equal to or greater than 50 mPa.s at 20°C and/or with a melting point ≥0°C (substances that are identified by '16.2.7' in column 'o' of Chapter 17 of the amended IBC Code).
The new amendments to the IBC Code, adopted by IMO Resolution MEPC.460(101), will also enter into force on 1 January 2021.
According to these amendments, the criteria for assigning carriage requirements for all products have been changed and therefore, the range of products a ship is certified to carry will change after 1 January 2021. These amendments may result in change of ship type, tank type and other carriage requirements for some cargoes, e.g. some products currently categorized as non-toxic cargoes become toxic cargoes.
The amendments apply to all (new and existing) Chemical Tankers holding IBC Code Certificate of Fitness or Noxious Liquid Substances Certificate and also affects offshore supply vessels with Certificates of Fitness in accordance with ‘LHNS Guidelines’ (IMO Res. A.673(16)) or ‘OSV Chemical Code’ (IMO Res. A.1122(30)).
Subsequently to the new amendments,
• The format of the IBC Code Certificate of Fitness and Noxious Liquid Substances Certificate is affected also. New certificates complying with these amendments must be on board from 1 January 2021. The revised certificates will be issued by PHRS as soon as possible ahead of limit dates. These will have the same expiry date as the existing certificates and will supersede them on 1 January 2021.
• The format of the Procedures and Arrangements (P&A) Manual (refer to Appendix IV of MARPOL Annex II) is affected also. Therefore, P&A Manuals on board all applicable ships (Chemical Tankers) have to be amended, as described in MEPC.315(74), before 1 January 2021. Re-approval of P&A Manuals is not required. The amended pages of the existing manuals can be verified and stamped on board, by the attending PHRS Surveyor at the next survey onboard although it is highly recommended the amendments to the P&A Manuals to be submitted to PHRS office for verification and endorsement as soon as possible to avoid implications with the Port State Authorities.
The Amendments to MARPOL Annex II can be found here.
The Amendments to IBC code can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
December 21st, 2020 - PHRS Head Office
Refers to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of Panamanian flagged vessels, PHRS Surveyors / Representatives
Action Date: 01 Jan. 2021
As already circulated from PhRS, European Union Regulation (EU) No 1257-2013 (EU SRR) on the Inventory of Hazardous Materials, Regulation will enter to force on January 1, 2021 and concerns the implementation of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the HKC, 2009), mainly, its regulation 5 - Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM), to ships calling at a port or anchorage of any country of the European Union (EU), on or after January 1, 2021, as well as the issuance of the Statement of Compliance on Inventory of Hazardous Materials and Part I of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials.
Panama flag has published clarification on the application of the MMC-386 “Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) for ships calling at EU ports”.
As it is known, the IHM must be prepared by visual checking and sampling on board by the Hazmat Expert, nevertheless and considering the current international scenario, it couldn’t be made on site according the provisions of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 and EU SRR; whereby, this Administration has adopted measures aligned to the Guidelines issued by the EU (please refer to PhRS Newsletter NL 240/20 which is available here).
Pursuant to the EU guidelines and by virtue of MMC-386, a Conditional Statement of Compliance (SoC) on IHM, may be issued only in cases of semi-completed IHM (the IHM was prepared remotely without any onboard sampling by the Hazmat Expert), due to impossibility to get to the ship, because of the International restrictions imposed by many countries because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For those cases where the Hazmat Expert confirm unavailability for boarding the ship and confirm that the IHM has been prepared remotely, the Recognized organization (RO) acting on behalf of the Flag will request an authorization from Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) to issue a Conditional SoC on IHM, pending to be completed on board by the Hazmat Expert, valid for a period no longer than 90 days.
Under no circumstances the validity of the Conditional SoC granted, will exceed June 30, 2021 and it will be subject to fees stated in our MMC-324.
The Commission Notice Guidelines can be found here, in full detail.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information you may need on the above.
December 14th, 2020 - PHRS Head Office