Charterers, insurers, vetting companies and class societies will find their safety risk-assessment models without critical information after the Paris MOU decided to pull its bulk data feed from January.
The feed covers 18,000 vessel inspections per year.
Port state control (PSC) data is an important element of the pricing models of insurers and the chartering decisions of the major traders and operators.
Under the current system, automated risk-assessment tools used in the industry are fed with the Paris Memorandum of Understanding PSC bulk data via third-party information providers such as IHS Markit. But from next year, the Paris MOU data will be available only from its website on a ship-by-ship basis.
It is understood several of its 27 European member states became concerned about the commercial application of the data by some end-users.
The Paris MOU accounts for around 20% of global PSC inspections and there are fears its decision could be copied by the Tokyo MOU, which deals with about 40%.
Maritime risk-assessment company Windward fears that the decision could have a big impact.
Its analysis shows that risk models that use PSC data regularly outperform those that do not, and that PSC performance is a key indicator of risk.
Windward estimates the probability of a quality vessel that has not been inspected by PSC having an accident is 1.5%. That figure quadruples if a ship is inspected just once and one deficiency is found.
“Small details can indicate big problems in the future,” chief executive Ami Daniel said. “This decision poses a serious threat to maritime safety and security, and we call for it to be reversed before it is too late.”
Windward is worried that the decision will lead to inaccurate pricing in the insurance market and high-risk ships being selected in the charter markets.
Windward insists its own work will not be affected, as it has developed a unique dynamic data system and operational profiles to determine risk.
Rahul Khanna, head of marine risk consulting at Allianz, said the insurance industry needs the data, and the move appears to go against the trend towards increased transparency.
“The insurance industry relies on having access to data openly through platforms,” he said. “If it is not available, then it could affect our ability to conduct proper risk assessment.”
Another sector that could be affected is the classification societies, which use PSC to benchmark their own safety performance.
Robert Ashdown, secretary general of the International Association of Classification Societies, said he had contacted the Paris MOU to clarify whether his members would no longer have access to the data.
RightShip, the industry’s leading dry bulk and tanker vetting company, said it was having to adjust the algorithms of its automated vetting system, Qi.
Chief executive Martin Crawford-Brunt said he respected the decision.
However, although he said the Qi system could be adapted to work without the bulk data, the process would become less efficient. “If we can’t analyse the data, then we can’t improve,” Crawford-Brunt added.
Luc Smulders, the recently appointed secretary general of the Paris MOU, did not respond to requests for comment before TradeWinds went to press.
