Flag State Control

BACKGROUND:

The Panamanian Registry has to take all the necessary measures to guarantee the safety at sea of ​​the vessels that fly its flag as dictated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in its Article 94.

It is therefore that among these current measures of the General Directorate of Merchant Marine are:

  • Certification of some certificates was delegated to Organizations Recognized by Panama for that purpose.
  • Conduct an annual flag safety inspection of your ships through a Flag State Inspection Program.
  • Monitoring of the results of the annual inspections.
  • Annual Evaluation of the flag state inspectors.
  • Analysis of the results of flag inspections.
  • Conduct audits Recognized Organizations to certify our fleet.
  • Analyze Port State reports to the ships of this registry that visit different ports worldwide.

It is noteworthy that in recent years, various countries of the Americas and the world have implemented different measures to increase operational and industrial safety.

CONCEPT:

To implement a preventive program of safety inspections, that allows this Administration to follow up the condition of our ships, supervising the certification processes performed by the Recognized Organizations, on which the Panamanian registry has delegated the ship certification, guaranteeing a safe navigation, forestalling the pollution and protecting the life condition and the labour rights of our seafarers.

CURRENT LEGISLATION:

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA

  • Made in Montego Bay, Jamaica on December 10, 1982
  • Entered into force on November 16, 1994
  • Approved by Law No. 38 of June 4, 1996
  • * Official Gazette No. 23,056 of June 12, 1996
  • Deposit of the Instrument of Ratification on July 1, 1996
  • Entered into force for Panama on July 31, 1996.
  • * Errata Faith: Official Gazette No. 23,059 of June 17, 1996
  • Note: With Declaration on the Gulf of Panama, Historical Bay

AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE APPLICATION OF PART XI OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA OF DECEMBER 10, 1982

  • Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on July 28, 1994
  • Entered into force on July 28, 1996
  • Participation of Panama on July 1, 1996, (Article 3.1)
  • Note: Part XI, The Zone: "The seabed and ocean floor and its subsoil are understood to be outside the limits of national jurisdiction."
  • Article 1.1.1 of the Convention.
  • LAW 39 OF JULY 8, 1976 - By which the Inspection Service of the Foreign Service Vessels is established under the Panamanian flag.
  • LAW 45 OF OCTOBER 9, 1979 - By which Article 4 of Law No. 39 of July 8, 1976 is modified and other articles are added to the same legal text.
  • LAW 30 OF SEPTEMBER 17, 1980 - By which Article 4 of Law No. 39 of July 8, 1976, modified by Law 45 of 1979, is modified.
  • EXECUTIVE DECREE 56 OF OCTOBER 8, 1976 - By which the provisions of Law 39 of 1976 that establishes the Inspection Service for Foreign Service Vessels under the Panamanian flag are regulated.
  • LAW 57 OF AUGUST 6, 2008 - General of Merchant Marine
  • RESOLUTION NO. 106-38-DGMM OF MAY 8, 2017 - Establishes requirements to be an inspector of the Flag State.
  • RESOLUTION NO. 106-36-DGMM OF APRIL 25, 2017 - Establish the qualifications, training, competence, mandate, attributions that must have the flag inspectors of the Panamanian Merchant Registry to carry out inspections under the Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 ( MLC).
  • RESOLUTION NO. 106-39-DGMM OF MAY 8, 2017 - Implements the Internal Program of Maritime Safety Annual Inspections. (IN HOUSE PROGRAM)
  • RESOLUTION 106-137-DGMM OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 - Regulation of inspection of ships in jurisdictional waters.
  • RESOLUTION 106-138-DGMM OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 - Regulation of cargo ships under 500 GT with international service patent.
  • RESOLUTION 106-25-DGMM OF APRIL 16, 2015 - Inspection regulation for Ro-Ro.

GLOBAL MARITIME SAFETY INSPECTIONS PLATFORM

From August 1st , 2018, the Global Maritime Safety Inspection Platform was implemented. This platform will be an essential tool for the creation of inspection requests to the vessels of our registry. The flag inspectors will carry out the inspections of our ships in a digital way (eliminating the use of paper) and integrated in real time to the platform. We can also mention the improvements of this platform:

  • Creation of requests for inspections
  • Inspection history
  • Newsletters
  • Payment history
  • Profile of the inspector
  • Digital signature
  • Inspector qualification
  • Live chat

WEB PAGE: https://gmsip.com.pa/news

ANNUAL SAFETY INSPECTION ONLINE STATUS:  https://gmsip.com.pa/vessels 

GUIDE FOR THE ANNUAL SAFETY INSPECTION OF PANAMANIAN REGISTERED VESSEL