Measures implemented in July of 2003 are showing results and have made it increasingly difficult for “rust buckets” to operate in the region. For the 4th year in a row the detention rates have dropped indicating that the strategy of the Paris MOU on Port State Control is paying off. The meeting of Ministers of the Paris and Tokyo Memoranda in Vancouver at the end of 2004 has underlined the political determination to strengthen the “Circle of Responsibility”, in which all parties of the maritime industry are held  accountable for safer shipping.