Question

What is the difference between PSC regulation that a country forces on foreign flag vessels and the equivalent types of domestic regulations that are enforced on their domestic fleet of vessels in the U.S.

Answer 1

Port state control (PSC) is an international set of rules and regulations which have been agreed upon by the different countries on a common platform like conventions or declaration. By following the PSC regulations, PSC officers ensure that any ship which is carrying the non state flag or foreign ship does follow the standard operation guidelines and while doing so, officers are empowered to take strict action on those ships, which shows the noncompliance.

Any ship which is coming from outside US should ensure the compliance as per IMO while for any ship which carries US flag is supposed to follow below set of rules-

It should comply with Water management rules to comply with environmental protection mechanism. Provision of slapping heavy penalty on defaulters for US flag vessels has been proposed. Also for any state flag vessels there is certain size of vessel which is allowed to float in the sea or water area, controlled by US authorities.

In case of foreign vessels, SOLAS safe manning manual or guidelines are the optional rule to be followed by the smaller vessels but for the US flag vessels it should be followed with full compliance.