Two vessels have been banned for a year after failing repeated port-state-control checks in Europe.

The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) said the 2,100-dwt cargoship Rafaelo I (built 1985) was detained in December at the port of Ravenna in Italy.

This was the fourth detention in the Paris MOU region within the last 36 months.

The ship flies the flag of Albania, which is black on the current Paris MoU list that measures registry performance.

The vessel, which is operated by Rafaelo 2002 JSC of Albania, has been refused further access to any port and anchorage in the Paris MOU region, except for its own flag country.

The exclusion is for a year because the Rafaelo I was banned in January 2020 for three months. That came after it racked up three detentions in little over a year, including two other detentions in Ravenna.

The latest 10-day detention saw inspectors log 31 deficiencies, including missing equipment for cargo operations, crew certificates not as required, missing records of rest for crew and inoperative emergency lighting and firefighting means of control.

Lifebuoys absent

There were also missing lifebuoys and no voyage plan.

The detention last January involved missing or inadequate crew certificates, as well as missing records of rest, a lack of training in fire drills, and a faulty fire pump.

Other grounds for detention included blocked means of escape and damaged cargo and other hatchways, as well as a deficient AIS system.

Meanwhile, the 1,200-dwt livestock carrier Etab (built 1966), operated by Lebanon's Adco Sal, was held at Port Rasa in Croatia last month.

Eight deficiencies

Inspectors logged eight deficiencies as it was held for four days.

Grounds for detention included overloading, as well as a missing passage plan and charts.

That ship was also barred for a year, due to a previous ban.

The detention was its third in the Paris MoU region within the last 36 months.

The ship flies the flag of Comoros, which is also black on the current Paris MoU list.