Ship Risk Profile and New Inspection Regime (NIR)
Under the Paris MoU, Ship Risk Profile connects ship data with inspection windows and selection priorities. Prepare for the call by reading the current profile, last regional inspection and additional factors together.
Operational Explanation
Start with the regime applicable to the call and current data: ship type and age, flag, RO, Company Performance and inspection history over the previous 36 months. Under the Paris MoU these parameters determine HRS, SRS or LRS; the profile is recalculated as age, history or performance tables change. The public calculator helps check the inputs, while the regime’s information system displays priority and level of selection.
Read the profile together with the date of the last regional inspection, whether periodic or additional, to identify the next window. Then check overriding or unexpected factors: a certificate expiry date alone does not describe PSC selection. Use this information to organise documents, review ship condition and follow up previous findings; it does not justify postponing due maintenance.
The profile determines selection and frequency, not an automatic more detailed inspection. Clear grounds may arise from certificates, observed conditions or reliable information, including prior information; Paris MoU also provides for closer inspection of flags not party to relevant instruments.
Regulatory Reference
Paris MoU, Annex 7: defines the criteria for calculating the Ship Risk Profile; Annex 8 governs windows and selection — HRS: 5-6 months from the last inspection; SRS: 10-12 months; LRS: 24-36 months. Annex 7 requires at least 5 points for HRS; LRS requires all low-risk criteria and at least one inspection in the previous 36 months. The flag/RO performance lists feeding the calculation are updated annually by the Paris MoU Committee based on the rolling three-year period of inspections and detentions; the 2026 edition (2023-2025 data) is in use from 1 July 2026 to 6 July 2027.
For EU calls consider Directive 2009/16/EC and national implementation together with the Paris MoU regime. EU and Paris MoU membership differ: do not equate the Memorandum’s members with the EU’s 27 Member States.
For comparison with the EU amendments, Directive 2024/3099 replaces Annexes I and II to Directive 2009/16/EC: read these changes with applicable national implementation and transitional provisions, without assuming that every new parameter is already operational at the call. Annex I, as replaced, treats as higher risk, by type, “Passenger ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers, gas carriers, NLS tankers or chemical tankers”; by age, “Ships of more than 12 years old”; and by history, “Ships which have been detained more than once”. Annex II retains the numerical threshold: high risk ships are those “which meet criteria to a total value of 5 or more weighting points”, while low risk ships are those meeting all the low-risk criteria — an «and», not an «or».
Within EU law, Article 5(2) of the Directive requires each Member State to inspect all Priority I ships calling at its ports and to meet an annual share of the regional inspection total. Paris MoU signatories also undertake administrative commitments to inspect Priority I ships and meet an annual share: distinguish those commitments from the convention and national-law basis for control powers. Paris MoU windows run from the last inspection in the region, rather than only inspections by the port State concerned.
Directive 2024/3099 entered into force on 5 January 2025 and sets transposition by 6 July 2027. Paris MoU announces alignment of the new calculations and environmental parameters on that date. For a call check applicable national law and transitional provisions; inclusion in a consolidated text alone does not establish operational applicability. Paris MoU: Performance Calculations.
Periodic windows: HRS 5–6 months, SRS 10–12, LRS 24–36 from the last regional inspection. Within the window the ship is Priority II; after it closes, Priority I. Overriding factors entail Priority I; unexpected factors may justify Priority II outside the window. Paris MoU: Selection Scheme.
Scope of Application
For Paris MoU calls, apply that NIR’s profile, thresholds, windows and selection, using the THETIS ecosystem. Tokyo MoU calculates its own profile in APCIS and uses its own criteria and windows: a profile from one region must not be transferred to the other.
Procedure / How to Complete It
- Calculate the profile from all current weighted factors.
- Use profile and NIR for priority and window.
- Distinguish profile, selection factors and clear grounds, including reliable information available before the PSCO boards.
- Prepare documents and evidence of actual condition, and cooperate with the PSCO: the PSCO/authority assesses clear grounds, inspection scope and deficiencies.
Practical Example
A detention removes the Low Risk clean-history condition and may affect Company Performance. It does not alone make the ship High Risk: HRS follows the total weighted score, including the criterion for more than one detention in the preceding 36 months.
What Typically Goes Wrong
Common Mistakes Mistake Library
| Mistake | Consequence | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Using a Paris MoU profile or window for a Tokyo MoU call | Priority and expected date may be wrong | Consult each regional NIR separately: THETIS for Paris MoU and APCIS for Tokyo MoU |
| Assigning an automatic fleet-wide effect to one detention | Company Performance and profiles are described without recalculation | Recalculate the effect from the parameters and history prescribed by the competent regime |
What the PSCO Checks
Operational Tips
- Identify the regional regime applicable to the call first.
- Do not reuse Paris MoU thresholds, windows or results in Tokyo MoU.
- Check current regional flag, RO and Company Performance data.
Preparation checklist
Educational checklist. This summary supports learning and preparation only. It does not replace the vessel’s approved procedures, manuals, statutory documents, company SMS, or applicable official requirements. Completing it demonstrates neither compliance nor readiness for an inspection: it shows that a list has been read, not that the ship is in order. Always verify the current documents carried on board.
- Ship Risk Profile checked periodically
- Flag and RO performance monitored
- Company Performance known and communicated by the Company
- Pre-PSC preparation reinforced in the event of a High Risk profile
- Fleet-wide impact of every detention understood and communicated
- Flag's and RO's position in the 2026 performance lists (1 July 2026 - 6 July 2027) verified
FAQ
Related Topics
Certified substantive revision: 14 October 2026 · page fingerprint ac8af0a3bcbd