Question of the Week
Maritime News
French plans to privatise port state inspections opposed
5 March 2010
The CFDT trade union confederation has warned that French government plans to privatise port state ship inspections could endanger the safety of shipping. The confederation says that the classification societies, which would carry out the inspections, would have conflicting loyalties to the government and shipowner clients.Although the government is considering the plan to deal with a shortage of government inspectors, the confederation says the state should recruit and train more inspectors rather than contract out the work.
CFDT secretary-general François Le Gall said that the French state, rather than sub-contractors, needed to be responsible for the necessary inspections to eradicate unacceptable practices of flag states such as Panama, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas, Malta and Cyprus.
"Men who enrich themselves through this terrible unfair competition will not change their methods unless they fear the inspections of the states of the ports which their ships frequent.”
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