Two passenger ships were detained in the UK in May after falling foul of Port State Control (PSC) inspections, latest disclosures show.
The 70,300-gt Ambience (built 1991) was detained in the port of Tilbury on 26 May 2022, according to the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA).
PSC inspectors found 20 deficiencies aboard the Bahamas-flagged cruise ship, with two serious enough to warrant detention.
Ballast, fuel and other tankers were described as “not as required”, while the report also found that unspecified oil filtering equipment was “inoperative”.
The vessel, which is classed by Lloyd’s Register, was released one day later, the MCA confirmed.
The Ambience is operated by UK-based cruise line start-up Ambassador Cruise Line and is best known as the former Pacific Dawn.
The ship underwent extensive engineering and refit at the Viktor Lenac Shipyard in Croatia in early April but was subjected to significant delays.
The ship’s maiden voyage to Hamburg, originally planned for 6th April, was re-scheduled to depart on 20th April, and its first two sailings to the Norwegian Fjords were subsequently cancelled.
May also saw the detention of the ro-ro passenger ship Ocean Atlantic (built 1986) in the Scottish town of Greenock.
PSC inspectors uncovered 52 deficiencies aboard the Portuguese-flagged vessel, of which eight were said to be "grounds for detention".
An unspecified fixed fire extinguishing installations, steering gear and oil filtering equipment were all found to be inoperative during the inspection on 22 May 2022.
The crew were found to have a “lack of knowledge” of abandon ship drills, while firefighting equipment and appliances were found to be “not as required”.
The Bureau Veritas-classed vessel was released on 31 May after nine days under detention, the MCA said.
