Volga-River

The Paris MoU on Port State Control has published the details of three vessels detained last month over the sulphur content of their fuel. On Jan 6, 2018, the Marshall Islands-flagged "Al Jasrah" containership was released, having been detained at the Port of Rotterdam for one day. On Jan 10, the "Max Winner" was released after being detained for two days at the Port of Rotterdam. And on 20 Jan 20, the "Araz River" was released after being detained for five days at the Port of Rotterdam. The organisation, which consists of 27 participating maritime Administrations and covers the waters of the European coastal States and the North Atlantic basin from North America to Europe, aims to eliminate the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonised system of port State control. In total, 63 vessels were detained in the Paris MOU region during January. According to Paris MoU, more than 18,000 inspections take place each year onboard foreign ships in the Paris MoU ports.

The Araz River" had to return to Vast in the morning of Feb 5, 2016, with one crew member dead and two in need of immediate hospitalization. The vessel had left Vasto after offloading chemical solvent, three crew members were tasked with clearing the tanks. They used water, which reacted with remains of the cargo in form of toxic vapor. One 24-year old sailor died on the spot after cardiac arrest, two other were transferred to hospital in serious condition. The ship was detained in Vasto for investigations.