Paris MoU

The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, agreed in 1982, coordinates inspections of foreign ships across 27 maritime administrations in Europe and the North Atlantic. It targets ships by a risk profile built from ship type, age, flag and recognized-organization performance, company record, and inspection history, concentrating effort on high-risk ships. Detainable deficiencies against SOLAS, MARPOL, MLC, and other instruments can hold a ship in port. Results feed the white, grey, and black flag lists and a public inspection database, and inform sister regimes such as the Tokyo MoU.