Ireland's safety checks on foreign ships have exceeded EU requirements for the first time, according to the Minister for the Marine, Mr Dermot Ahern.
The European Commission has threatened to take Ireland and France to court for failing to inspect at least 25 per cent of ships using their respective ports annually. The Minister said he now hopes that this court action will be dropped as a result of the improved performance rate.
Figure for inspections show 400 vessels were examined last year - representing a check rate of 30 per cent which is five per cent above that sought by the EU.
In 2001, Irish authorities had inspected 21 per cent of foreign ships docking, while France had looked at only 9.6 per cent. In the year 2000, only 14.6 per cent of total foreign ships landing here had been inspected.
The EU directive on port state control aims to eliminate substandard ships in Community waters. The directive agrees common criteria for inspecting ships which use a port of the Community. Member states have been under particular pressure to meet the directive in the wake of the Prestige sinking and subsequent pollution of the Spanish and French coasts.
The Minister said yesterday that nine additional staff had been hired by the Maritime Safety Directorate. In the six weeks up to the middle of last month 50 inspections had been carried out, resulting in the detention of five ships.
Another surveyor will be appointed shortly, the Minister said, and improved information technology and communications would be established to streamline the inspections.
"Port state control continues to be a very effective measure in encouraging full compliance with international safety standards," the Minister said. "I have asked the Maritime Safety Directorate to continue to give this work a priority.
"The Maritime Safety Directorate is currently targeting a minimum of 35 ships per month to ensure that the goal of 400 inspections will be comfortably achieved during the year 2003."
