Four foreign ships under detention in the UK during April 2007

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY News Release (149/07) issued by The Government
News Network on 1 June 2007
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced today that four foreign
ships were under detention in UK ports during April 2007 after failing Port
State Control (PSC) safety inspection.

Latest monthly figures show that there were four new detentions of foreign
flagged ships in UK ports during April 2007. The overall rate of detentions
compared with inspections carried out over the last twelve months is 4.9%
a slight increase on March's twelve month rate.

During the month of April, 96 Port State Control inspections were carried
out in the UK. A total of 23 vessels had no deficiencies raised against
them, 44 had between one and five deficiencies, 19 had between six and ten
deficiencies, 10 had between eleven and twenty deficiencies. There were no
vessels inspected that had more than twenty deficiencies.

Out of the detained vessels three were registered with flag states listed on
the Paris MOU white list and one was registered with a state on the grey list.

Vessels detained in April included:

* a 4,649GT Panamanian flagged general cargo vessel was detained in
Grimbsy. The vessel was detained because it sustained collision damage
and failed to report the damage to the vessels flag State or Classification
Society. In addition the Master and Chief Engineers Certificates of Equivalent
Competency were not as required. The vessel remained detained at the end of
the month.
* a 27,535GT Greek flagged bulk carrier was detained in Redcar for 4 days. The
vessel was detained with serious corrosion to the forward ventilator and
air pipes. A total of 12 deficiencies were found and a major non conformity
was raised against the vessels ISM Safety Management system for failure to
maintain the records of maintenance correctly.

Note to Editors

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson's Inquiry into
the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping and in compliance with
the EU Directive on Port State Control (95/21/EC as amended), the Maritime
and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes full details of the foreign flagged
vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by
surveyors from the MCA. Where a ship is found to be deficient or lacks the
required documentation, MCA surveyors can take a range of actions leading to
detention in serious cases. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port
state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State
Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held
centrally in an electronic database known as SIReNaC. This allows the ships
of flags with poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Detained ships have to satisfy surveyors that remedial work has been
carried out before they are allowed to leave port.

4. When applicable the list includes those passenger craft prevented from
operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for
the safe operation of regular Ro-Ro ferry and high speed passenger craft
services (1999/35/EU).

Notes on the list of detentions

Full details of the ship
The accompanying detention list shows ship's name, the flag state and the
ship's International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging
throughout the ship's life and uniquely identifies it.

Company
The company shown in the vessel's Safety Management Certificate or the party
otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time
of inspection.

Classification Society
The list shows the Classification Society responsible for classing the
ship and not necessarily the party issuing and/or carrying out surveys for
certificates relevant to the defect found.

Defects
The list gives a summary of the main grounds for detention and includes
information where the ship has been released to sail to another port for
repairs.

SHIPS DETAINED IN APRIL 2007

Date & Place of detention: 15/04/2007 - Grimsby
Vessel Name: LEONIS (General Cargo Vessel)
GT: 4,649
IMO No: 9335707
Flag: Panama
Company: Marper Sam
Classification Society: Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)
Recognised Organisation: Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)
Summary: 6 deficiencies in total, (2 detainable) detained following a
collision, vessel holed in way of the port bow. No evidence available on
board that the vessels' class and flag state have been advised about the
vessels collision and subsequent damage. Master & Chief Engineers' CECs not
as required. The vessel is still detained as at 17/05/2007

Date & Place of detention: 18/04/2007 - Liverpool
Vessel Name: ST PAUL (Bulk Carrier)
GT: 25,197
IMO No: 9044281
Flag: Liberia
Company: Staff Centre Management Ltd.
Classification Society: Russian Maritime Register (RMRS)
Recognised Organisation: Russian Maritime Register (RMRS)
Summary: 6 deficiencies in total, (1 detainable) detained for 3 days with
the port lifeboat davit brake being inoperative, the vessel was released
on 20/04/2007

Date & Place of detention: 20/04/2007 - Redcar
Vessel Name: EMERALD (Bulk Carrier)
GT: 27,535
IMO No: 8316223
Flag: Greece
Company: Nereus Shipping SA
Classification Society: Lloyds Register (LR)
Recognised Organisation: Lloyds Register (LR) and American Bureau of
Shipping (ABS)
Summary: 12 deficiencies in total, (3 detainable) detained for 4 days for
ISM major non-conformity - Records of maintenance of Ship and Equipment
not accurate, ventilator forward No 3 hatch and various air pipes corroded
through and inappropriately repaired. The vessel was released on 23/04/2007.

Date & Place of detention: 24/04/2007 - Silvertown
Vessel Name: ARETOUSA (Bulk Carrier)
GT: 14,382
IMO No: 7602596
Flag: Malta
Company: Tide Line Inc
Classification Society: Bureau Veritas (BV)
Recognised Organisation: Lloyds Register (LR)
Summary: 11 deficiencies in total, (2 detainable) detained for 3 days for
both banks of GMDSS batteries reserve source of energy, inoperative. MF/HF
Radio installation and main antenna disconnected. The vessel was released
on 26/04/2007.

Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency