Compliance with flag state requirements

KEY POINTS

Scope

The directive applies to the administration of the Member State whose flag a ship flies, in respect of ships subject to certification and engaged in any type of international voyages, covering ships certified under the relevant International Maritime Organization (IMO) conventions:

• it covers ships or craft requiring statutory IMO certificates;
• it applies to the competent national authorities and recognised organisations involved in certification;
• it complements EU maritime safety legislation listed in Regulation (EC) No 2099/2002 and Directive 1999/63/EC (see summary).

Checks before a ship begins operating

Member States must verify that any newly registered ship complies with all international safety and environmental rules, which includes the following steps:

• examining the ship’s safety records, including its inspection and survey history, using, where available, national inspection reports or electronic certificates stored in the Member State’s database or the EU ship information database;
• contacting the previous flag state, where necessary, to clarify unresolved deficiencies or safety issues;
• supplying another flag state, upon request, with complete information on outstanding deficiencies for ships that previously flew its flag;
• allowing authorised recognised organisations to perform certain tasks on behalf of the Member State.

Safety of ships flying the flag of a Member State

Member States must fully apply mandatory IMO rules and ensure that ships’ actual condition matches the certificates they carry:

• flag state inspections must be carried out either using a risk-based approach or, if such a system is not used, at least once every five years for every ship;
• risk-based criteria include past deficiencies, accident reports, port state control detentions and other relevant information;
• deficiencies identified during inspections must be corrected within a time frame set by the administration.

Safety and pollution-prevention requirements

Member States must ensure that their administration has the resources and technical capacity needed to meet their flag state obligations:

• oversight must cover surveyors, inspectors, assisting personnel and those recognised organisations to which the administration has delegated tasks;
• administrations must maintain appropriate design-review and technical decision-making capabilities, proportionate to the size and type of their fleet.

Training and capacity building

Personnel performing surveys, inspections, audits and verifications must receive training appropriate to their tasks:

• Member States may establish national capacity-building schemes and, if so, should keep them up to date;
• the European Commission and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) will organise supporting training activities for inspectors and surveyors when so requested by Member States.

Follow-up when an EU-flagged ship is detained

Administrations must ensure that any ship flying their flag and detained under port state control is brought back into compliance through the following actions:

• applying the administration’s established national procedures to oversee all corrective measures;
• ensuring that the ship meets all relevant IMO convention requirements before it is allowed to resume operations;
• developing and implementing a control and monitoring programme to ensure timely responses to detentions.

Information Member States must keep

Member States must make specified ship information available in electronic format by 6 January 2031, including:

• statutory certificates and survey/audit dates;
• identification of ships that left the flag in the previous 12 months;
• this information must be uploaded to a new EU digital portal, established by 6 January 2028, interoperable with the EU ship database;
• the portal must be free of charge, not contain personal or confidential data and ensure compatibility with national systems.

Flag state auditing

Member States must undergo an IMO audit in accordance with the IMO-adopted audit cycle and publish the results subject to national confidentiality rules. The Commission will carry out visits to Member States to monitor implementation and administrative performance.

Quality management and performance review

Member States must have a certified quality management system for operational flag state functions meeting ISO 9001 or equivalent standards and must fully expand their system to include new documentation, training and independence requirements by 6 January 2028:

• systems must document responsibilities and communication procedures for inspectors and surveyors;
• Paris MoU performance reporting now applies to Member States appearing on:
  • the low performance list, or
  • the medium performance list for two consecutive years.

Commission reporting

The Commission must report every five years, first by 6 January 2028, on Member States’ performance as flag states.

Committee procedure

The directive uses the committee procedure under Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 (see summary), assisted by the Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.