The Ships Safety Centers or in French "''Centres de Sécurité des Navires''" are specialized services of the French Directorate general for Maritime affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture. They are responsible for ships surveying and participate in the protection of human life at sea and the prevention of pollution from ships. They are located along the French coast and overseas. Within these centers, ship safety inspectors are responsible for both surveys of French flag vessels (as Flag State surveyor) and of foreign vessels under

Port State Control Port state control (PSC) is an inspection regime for countries to inspect foreign-registered ships in port other than those of the flag state and take action against ships that are not in compliance. Inspectors for PSC are called PSC officers (PS ...

Missions

Corsica -Vizzavona (ship, 1999)- 2019 by-RaBoe 298

For vessels under the French flag, the inspectors are responsible for monitoring construction, commissioning and periodic safety surveys for vessels not delegated to authorized classification societies such as

Bureau Veritas Bureau Veritas is a French company specialized in testing, inspection and certification founded in 1828. It operates in a variety of sectors, including building and infrastructure (27% of revenue), agri-food and commodities (23% of revenue), ...

or RINA. These are currently passenger ships regardless of their size ( ferry to Corsica or the English Channel,

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s, shuttles to the coastal islands) as well as ships less than 24 m in length, this mainly involves

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was ...

s, pleasure craft for commercial use and support vessels (

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

s, dredges). To carry out these inspections, the inspectors base themselves on the technical standards published by th
French maritime administration
as well as IMO international conventions such as SOLAS or

MARPOL The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. MARPOL 73/78, MARPOL is an amalg ...

for larger ships. Ship safety inspectors are also responsible for auditing and issuing certificates on all French vessels with a tonnage greater than 500 GT for ISM (safety management),

ISPS An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

(security management) as well as MLC (social certification). Al Jasrah in port of Le Havre (France) 2019

Inspectors from ship safety centers are

Officer for the Paris Mou. As such, inspectors visit foreign ships touching French ports and check the conformity of ship and seafarer certificates ( STCW), check the proper functioning of safety equipment (fire, rescue,

GMDSS The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Convent ...

, etc.), and those related to pollution prevention ( OWS,

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...

), they also ensure the respect of social conditions of seafarers (cleanliness of the premises, prevention of accidents and working hours on board). In the event of a serious breach, the vessel may be detained until the deficiencies identified are corrected. In 2018, 1073 PSC inspections were carried out, more than half of them revealed deficiencies on board and 35 ships were detained in French ports. These inspections concern all types of cargo ships, commercial yachts as well as passenger ships. The inspectors also carry out checks on the compliance of the fuels used by ships with regard to international regulations concerning sulfur content, for this, samples are taken by inspectors for laboratory analysis or by using drones

Inspectors

The inspectors working in Ships Safety Center belong to the

French Civil Service The French Civil Service (french: Fonction publique française) is the set of civil servants (''fonctionnaires'') working for the Government of France. Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; howev ...

, they are either members of a military ''corps'' " Administrateurs des affaires maritimes" or the technical ''corps'' of the " Ingénieurs des Travaux Publics de l'Etat". These inspectors are trained in the specialized school " École nationale de la sécurité et de l'administration de la mer" and through training sessions organized by the

European Maritime Safety Agency The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is a European Union agency charged with reducing the risk of maritime accidents, marine pollution from ships and the loss of human lives at sea by helping to enforce the pertinent EU legislation. It is ...

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References

Maritime safety in France Maritime safety organizations Maritime safety Ship registration

Missions

Inspectors

See also

References