Who boards a ship to carry out port State control?

A Port State Control Officer (PSCO) carries out port State control. The PSCO is a properly qualified person, authorized to carry out port State control inspections in accordance with the Paris MoU, by the Maritime Authority of the port State and acts under its responsibility. All PSCO’ s carry an identity card, issued by their maritime authorities.

Various training courses and Seminars for PSCO’s are organized by national Maritime Authorities, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the Secretariat of the Paris MoU on PSC.

This is to ensure effective and harmonized inspection procedures, which are followed throughout the Paris MoU region.

A Code of Good Practice provides guidelines regarding the standards of integrity, professionalism and transparency that the Paris MoU expects of all PSCO's.