The Tokyo MoU reported that ship detentions in the Asia Pacific region were at their lowest in decades. But bad ships are getting even worse as the number of detainable deficiencies per ship increase.
In its annual report, Tokyo MoU, which surveys port state control information in multiple Asia-Pacific countries, reported 941 detentions in 2017.
"This is the lowest number and the first time less than 1,000 during the past two decades," the group said.
The detention rate of ships inspected was also lower at 3% versus 3.4% for 2016.
But Tokyo MoU also noted that the "average number of deficiencies per detention has been increasing in the last three years."
"This may be interpreted as a trend that conditions of some substandard ships are becoming worse," Tokyo MOU said. The group added that it will need to further enhance and strengthen measures on inspection of under-performing and substandard ships.
The Fiji flag state was newly added to the list of blacklisted flags on the Tokyo MoU. The Tokyo MoU held off on reporting Fiji's detention statistics due to several ships of unknown flag signing up for the country's registry.
But port state controls detained 11 Fiji-flagged ships last year for a detention ratio of close to 50%. Tanzanian-flagged ships saw 29 detentions for a rate of 16% of vessels inspected, while North Korea-flagged vessels saw 9 detentions for a rate of 15%.
