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Since the International Maritime Organisation's International Safety Management (ISM) Code became mandatory for ships on July 1, the Hong Kong Marine Department has detained three vessels for non-compliance.

 Marine Department senior surveyor So Ping-chi said two oil tankers were detained on July 2 and a chemical vessel was detained on Tuesday.

 'The main problems were that the vessels' equipment was not in order,' he said, 'or they were not well maintained.'  The detentions show that the port authority is serious about enforcing the new code, but there are industry concerns that regulations may not be implemented uniformly worldwide.

 All in-bound vessels now need to declare whether they possess a certified copy of the code's Document of Compliance and Safety Management Certificate. Vessels also must produce trading certificates at the port formalities office.

 Mr So said one of the oil tankers was detained because a member of its crew was not familiar with the ship's operations, a requirement under the new code.

 Despite this, the vessel had all the necessary certifications and documentations, he said.

 The Marine Department contacted the authorities, which certified the vessel, and obtained confirmation that proper action would be taken, Mr So said.

 The vessel had since been released, he said.

 The other vessels - an oil tanker and a chemical tanker - would remain in detention until their problems are rectified, he said.

 The two oil tankers are Singaporean-flagged, while the chemical tanker is Panamanian-flagged.

 Hong Kong, a member of the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), is taking part in an ISM Code-compliance campaign introduced by the agreement's port state committee.

 During the July and September campaign period, Tokyo MOU members are to carry out standard checks of ISM compliance during their port state inspections.

 According to a Lloyd's List report, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) detained two vessels.

 It detained the 65,799 deadweight tonne (dwt) bulk carrier Taisei, which had been ISM-compliant since October 1996. The second bulk carrier, the 16,557 dwt Cementco, was detained at the port of Gladstone.

 Separately, Amsa said 90 ships were detained in Australian ports because of safety and pollution violations in the first six months of this year.

 The ships, from among 1,409 inspected, were held until the problems were corrected.

 The highest number of detentions were Panamanian- and Liberian-flagged vessels, at 19 and 12 respectively, although they also were the highest number of ships inspected.

 Eleven out of 46 ships registered with the China Classification Society were refused permission to sail.

 Other high-detention rates were incurred by Bureau Veritas with four from 97 inspections, Lloyd's Register of Shipping at 16 from 292 and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai at 24 from 457.

 By ship type, dry-bulk carriers constituted the greatest number of detentions at 59 from 782 inspections, followed by general dry-cargo ships at nine from 91.



Vessels held as safety code comes in force