Hong Kong, China attains impressive lead to International Maritime Organization Member State Audit Scheme
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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) carried out an audit on Hong Kong, China under the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) to take a look at the pertinent commitments satisfied by Hong Kong, China in relation to the obligatory IMO instruments. The just recently released outcomes revealed the impressive efficiency by Hong Kong, China in numerous audit locations.
A representative for the Transport and Logistics Bureau stated, “The IMSAS audit result affirms to Hong Kong, China’s dedication to exceed and beyond in satisfying our worldwide commitments. As an associate member of the IMO, we will continue to preserve our exceptional efficiency and combine our position as a prominent global maritime centre.
“One of the highlights of the audit results is that our shipping registry was commended by the IMO. The Hong Kong Shipping Registry ranks fourth in the world in terms of gross tonnage, and the fleet of Hong Kong-registered ships is renowned globally for its good quality. The consistently low detention rate of Hong Kong-registered ships under worldwide Port State Control inspections at 0.69 per cent is significantly lower than the global average of 3.30 per cent, reflecting our constant effort in maintaining and enhancing the safety, reliability and credibility of our fleet.”
The audit, which was performed from November 4 to 13, 2023, scrutinised Hong Kong, China in satisfying its flag, seaside and port commitments. The Audit Team valued that Hong Kong, China had well-documented treatments on satisfying its responsibilities connected to the obligatory IMO instruments, and carried out the pertinent requirements through regional legislation and assistance dissemination in a prompt way. The Marine Department (MD) likewise performed regular management examines in addition to internal and external audits for reliable application of those instruments.
The audit even more exposed a number of locations of favorable advancement and great practices of Hong Kong, China, which showed a drive to promote security awareness and a contamination avoidance culture amongst stakeholders in the maritime sector. Among the excellent practices is to make sure the compliance of ships flying the flag of Hong Kong, China with the obligatory IMO instruments by needing their routine and proper conclusion of pre-arrival lists. The MD likewise distributed beneficial details through such methods as holding routine conferences and workshops with stakeholders, and providing circulars and Merchant Shipping Information Notes to alert stakeholders of the most recent obligatory IMO requirements in a prompt way.
The efficiency of Hong Kong, China in this audit was impressive, outshining other IMO members examined. The audit just recognized 2 findings and one observation on locations where Hong Kong, China might enhance, consisting of the requirement to more adequately keep track of the interaction of obligatory info to the IMO and track the presence of federal government property surveyors at trainings. By contrast, approximately 16 findings and 2 observations were discovered per audit from 82 member audits carried out by the IMO from 2016 to 2022. Not long after the audit, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government proposed and did something about it, which were accepted by the IMO, to attend to the findings and observation.
The audit report has actually been released on the sites of the IMO and the MD (www.mardep.gov.hk/en/materials-and-publications/publications/reports/reports-of-marine-department/index.html).