Challenges and Opportunities of Port State Control Collaborations between Countries Enabled by the Maritime Silk Road

The inspection of foreign-flagged ships in a state’s ports and anchorages for the purpose of monitoring compliance with international standards, known as ‘port state control’, has become necessary due to ineffective control by flag states over their vessels. Measures of effectiveness of port state control invariably focus upon the quantitative outcomes of inspections, deficiencies and detentions. This paper focuses on how effectively port state control is being delivered in the Asia-Pacific region on a qualitative basis and, in particular, it considers whether the strategic objective of the Asia-Pacific port state control regime, the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region (Tokyo MOU),1 is being achieved. The starting point is to recall the concept of port state control and its development from a unilateral reactive measure by coastal states to a multilateral proactive control mechanism supported by international law. The structure, membership and capability of the Tokyo MOU is examined, including the flag state record of member authorities.2 Port state control performance of the Tokyo MOU is analysed using published statistics with comparative analysis undertaken of the European port state control regime - the Paris MOU. The paper identifies issues and challenges for member authorities of the Tokyo MOU in meeting its objectives. The components of the Tokyo MOU’s strategic objectives are then examined to determine whether they are being achieved. A number of recommendations are made.

21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is a regional cooperative regime and it will provide public goods for regional countries. 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is a process of co-building, sharing and open. Co-building of 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road means regional countries share the responsibilities of providing public goods while China as a big country may provide bigger share for the public goods and sharing the public goods by the regional countries. As an open regime, 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road welcome other countries to join the “club” to share the responsibilities and obligation. As a new regime, 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road faces with 7 problems, including: the high trade volume between China and the countries along with Maritime Silk Road, the trade imbalance between China and the countries along with Maritime Silk Road, low level of institutionalization, easily effected economic relations by political or security relations, failed states along Maritime Silk Road, privacy in the Indian Ocean, difficulties in connectivity. These problems show the necessity and difficulties of Maritime Silk Road. Building of Cooperative Regime for 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road including five platforms: trade promotion and trade disputes settlement platform, connectivity platform, finance platform, official development aid platform, and foreign investment platform. The elevation of Cooperative Regime for 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road can be done from the dimensions of effectiveness and legitimacy. 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is proposed by China and should be beneficial for the national interests of China while it is worth noticed that the interests of Maritime Silk Road as a cooperative regime does not necessary identical with China’s national interests. With the enlarging of members of Maritime Silk Road, the dilemma between effectiveness and legitimacy will become significant which requires more delicate design.

Analyzing the spatial-temporal characteristics of the marine economic efficiency of countries along the Maritime Silk Road and the influencing factors

During the past decades the economic contribution of the maritime transportation to the shipping industry has been increased rapidly. This is a positive trend, but it entails many threats (e.g. human life loose, environmental threats, sea pollution etc.) for the shipping industry. Therefore, a wide range of maritime measures have been created with the aim to eliminate the safety threats. Among these measures are included the Port State Control (PSC) inspections. Since the signature of the Hague Memorandum in 1978, the Port State Control (PSC) constitutes a strategy, that is implemented worldwide, with the aim to foreflight the substandard ships. Considering the importance of the Port State Control (PSC) inspections, this is an in-depth literature review, which aims to identify the risk-based approaches that are proposed in the international literature for the improvement of the Port State Control (PSC) performance. In addition, this research aims to identify the factors that influence the (PSC) inspections based on the international literature. The sample of this literature review are 47 academic articles which have been published in high quality journals. A total of 28 papers identified which proposed risk-based approaches for the improvement of the Port State Control (PSC) inspections’ performance. Additionally, a total of 19 papers were identified which examined the factors that influence the Port State Control (PSC) performance. The research results, shown that most of the selected papers focus on the data driven Bayesian Networks (BN). Fewer studies have been published on other approaches such as on the Support Vector Machine (SVM) method, the Bayesian Networks (BN) and game mode and the K-nearest neighbor. As concerning the factors, which influence the Port State Control (PSC) inspections, the research results show that 17 out 19 researches, which examined in this Dissertation, focused on the following factors: the ship age, the ship flag, the inspection history and the classification society.

The Sino-Indian relationship is the most important major-power relationship in Asia and is also the most subtle and complex. It has a significant impact on Asian geopolitical relations and regional economic development. Border disputes have rendered the relationship delicate and unstable for more than half a century. The One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative put forward by the Chinese government is attracting much discussion in the Indian government, think tanks, and media. Indian policymakers will need to determine how to respond to China's grand blueprint for promoting regional economic cooperation in the new era. This essay will examine China's priorities for the maritime component of the OBOR initiative in the Indian Ocean, consider Indian and Chinese concerns about that aspect of the project, and evaluate India's choices with regard to participation.China's Maritime Silk Road: Key PrioritiesWhen Chinese president Xi Jinping visited Indonesia in October 2013, he claimed that Southeast Asia had been a major maritime hub since ancient times and proposed that China and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should jointly build a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The MSR is one component of Xi's OBOR initiative, with the other component being the Silk Road Economic Belt connecting Europe and Asia. Since Xi proposed the OBOR initiative, the Chinese government has strongly embraced the principle of joint construction to meet the interests and development strategies of all states involved. In March 2015, China's State Council issued the document Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which provides a comprehensive presentation of the OBOR framework.1 It indicates that the MSR initiative will focus on jointly building smooth, secure, and efficient transport routes to connect major sea ports.The long-term blueprint for the project requires careful selection of key countries and entry points before construction begins. Two factors are taken into consideration in choosing countries for the MSR. The first is whether countries are located on maritime trade routes or have marine transportation centers, such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Singapore, Myanmar, and Kenya. A second factor is whether states respond positively to the initiative and have a good foundation of economic cooperation with China.The Indian Ocean is a major maritime trade and energy channel for China and is of great strategic significance for the stable development of the Chinese economy. Energy security, in particular, is a key priority. After becoming a net petroleum oil importer in 1993, China became the world's largest oil importer in 2015. In that year, China's imported crude oil reached 335.5 million tons, of which more than 60% was transported via the Indian Ocean. In 2015, imports represented 60.6% of total oil consumption.2 Trade security is also critical. The Indian Ocean is the most important route for imports to East Asia and Southeast Asia and for exports from these regions to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The development of port infrastructure in these key regions will not only benefit China's economic development but also greatly facilitate the social and economic development of other countries in East Asia, in Southeast Asia, and around the Indian Ocean rim.Accelerating infrastructure construction is a major factor in encouraging regional economic cooperation. Thus far, the MSR includes joint port construction in Colombo and Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Gwadar in Pakistan, Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, and Chittagong in Bangladesh. Some large Chinese companies are also making investments in ports such as Piraeus in Greece, Said in Egypt. and Antwerp in Belgium in accordance with their own development strategies.MSR Security Issues: Different Concerns between China and IndiaIndia's geographic location and growing economy will have a great influence on the MSR. …

Since the establishment of the “Belt and Road” initiative, the investment and construction of ports along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road have received extensive attention from the international community. The evaluation of ports is of great significance to investors’ investments and construction of ports around the world, so it is very necessary to establish a reasonable port evaluation system. At present, there are few studies on defining and evaluating port resilience, and the existing port evaluation index system has defects. Therefore, according to the similarity between cities and ports, this paper introduces the concept of “three-dimensional space” and the “system of systems” theory of cities and divides the resilience of ports along the Maritime Silk Road into three-dimensional spaces of “physical-society-information.” The CRITIC-entropy method and the TOPSIS method constructed a port resilience evaluation model along the Maritime Silk Road and quantitatively evaluated and analyzed the comprehensive resilience and subspatial resilience of 28 ports along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The results show that the route network port degree, the annual throughput of the port container, and the number of fixed broadband subscribers per 100 people are the key indicators that affect the port’s physical space resilience, social space resilience, and information space resilience. Also, coordinated physical, social, and information spatial resilience development plays a catalytic role in improving overall resilience. Therefore, the investment of ports along the Maritime Silk Road should adopt corresponding and more targeted investment plans according to the actual resilience of each port. The research provides new ideas and directions for investors to invest in port construction and has certain practical guiding significance for the increase of investors’ income and the sound development of the national economy.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) designed by China is of great importance to maritime transportation, economic development, and environmental protection. However, the straits/canals along the MSR have been struggling with pirate attacks, terrorism, and accidents which pose challenges for the security of MSR. There is a strong need for further investigation in strait/canal security evaluation. However, the traditional risk modelling approach used in risk assessment indicates challenges due to its incapability of dealing with incomplete data, uncertainties, and subjective judgment. Thus, we propose a novel strait/canal security assessment framework to evaluate the security of the strait/canal along the MSR on the basis of a fuzzy evidential reasoning approach. The subjective risk analysis information collection and processing process from multiple experts can be embedded in the framework in a systematic way to provide maritime stakeholders to evaluate maritime security along the MSR. The results provide decision makers with useful insights and standard tools on enhancing strait/canal security, effective routes planning as well as operational efficiency.

This article deals with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization for the legal regulation of Port State Control, which is an effective mechanism for ensuring the safety of navigation and protecting the environment from marine pollution from vessels. The need to strengthen control over ships by the port state is determined by the following circumstances – the aging of the world fleet, reduction of ship crews, complication of technical equipment and transportation technology. A necessary condition for the safety of navigation should be sufficiently complete and strict control in ports over the application of the provisions of international conventions on ships. The purpose of such control is to identify vessels that do not comply with current international standards and take the necessary measures (detention of a vessel in the port, termination of cargo operations, delay in departure) to correct the deficiencies. The legal basis for such control is the international conventions of the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor Organization. Regional Organization of Port State Control – Paris Memorandum on Port State Control of Ships, was established in 1982 by 14 European countries to coordinate efforts to inspect foreign ships in European ports. The Paris Memorandum of Understanding Committee on Port State Control on 17 May 2010 at its 43rd session in Dublin, Ireland, finally approved the new inspection regime. A feature of the new inspection regime is the division of ships into three levels of risk: low, medium and high. The Black Sea Memorandum of Understanding (BS MOU) was established in April 2000. The member countries are Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine. The scope of BS MOU is the geographical coverage of ports located on the Black Sea coast. Currently, the Port State Control procedure is carried out based on the requirements of IMO resolution A.1119 (30). As the experience of states that have acceded to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) conventions on the safety of navigation shows, flag states did not fully exercise control over compliance with and implementation of the convention requirements. As a result, there has been a significant increase in ship accidents, so further expansion and strengthening of control over ships by the port State of visit becomes an important task for IMO at present.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (shortened to “Maritime Silk Road” hereafter) initiative represents China’s consistent theme of peace and development. It is conducive to achieve common prosperity and progress of human society. However, challenges and opportunities often coexist. The Maritime Silk Road links the South China Sea and the northern Indian Ocean, involving a large number of countries, a wide range, and long distances. The challenging natural environment, scarcity of electricity and freshwater resources, different political and cultural bases, etc. greatly increase the difficulty of constructing the Maritime Silk Road. Obviously, an understanding the characteristics of the marine environment, energy, legal counsel and so on is a prerequisite for the safe and efficient construction of the Maritime Silk Road. However, relatively weak basic research and scarce marine data seriously restrict the full implementation of the Maritime Silk Road initiative and urgently need to be addressed. This chapter discusses the significance and challenges of the Maritime Silk Road initiative and provides corresponding countermeasures.

Remote inspection refers to an inspection where the inspector is off-site, whilst the intermediary (inspected entity, vessel’s crew or shore office personnel) is operating on-site. The process is performed via the use of technological, visual or database/portal means. The notion of remote inspections is not new in the maritime industry. The quest to apply efficient and cost-effective inspection techniques on commercial vessels has been underway for years and was closely correlated with the advancement of technology. Nevertheless, until the outbreak of the pandemic, such practices were subject to certain limitations: reliable technology and accepted procedural frameworks should be in place. These could only be applied against certain regulatory backgrounds and performed by qualified inspectors. However, during the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic crisis, unprecedented conditions emerged which significantly affected the ship inspection procedures and in particular the controls by the Port State Authorities and the inspections from energy companies, members of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE). These unforeseen conditions mandated an acceleration of pace towards the adoption of remote inspection schemes. During the pandemic, most Port States had to refrain from physically attending vessels to conduct Port State Control (PSC) inspections. Alternative means of inspections had to be employed by PSC Authorities with the aim of maintaining an acceptable level of control over substandard ships calling at their ports. Proceeding one step further, Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has officially and permanently established a remote inspection system introducing technical specifications for remote inspections that may be conducted only with the consent of the Master. Further to the remote inspection techniques adopted by the US Coast Guard (USCG), Tokyo MoU has introduced live streaming interviews with the Master, officers and crew members. Livestreaming inspections, where the PSC officer may request the crew to visit specific areas of the vessel and witness live tests and operational controls, were established. It is anticipated that the feedback collected from the implementation of the first official remote PSC inspection regime will be exploited also by other PSC MoUs which will proceed with similar schemes in the near future. Embarking in the same direction, OCIMF, following an official announcement in August 2020, launched the remote inspection as an alternative against the restrictions imposed by the pandemic towards the physical SIRE inspections (OCIMF in Temporary guidelines for conducting a vessel inspection during Covid-19, 2020a; OCIMF in Guidelines for remote Inspections under OCIMF programmes (2nd ed.), 2020b). The option to conduct a remote SIRE inspection lies at the discretion of submitting companies, considering several factors including but not limited to the practical possibility and risks of conducting physical attendance at specific ports. The remote SIRE inspections scheme set certain standards for the development of the next Vessel’s Inspection Programme by OCIMF (SIRE 2.0) but at the same time generated concerns regarding the equal assessment of remote reports by individual OCIMF members.

The article discusses two of the important Memorandum of understanding that have an impact on the development of Bulgarian maritime transport, such as The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control - Paris MoU and The Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region - BS MoU. Their essence is briefly examined and based on data on the inspections carried out, it is found that Bulgaria does not have a sufficient number of vessels, which is the basis for its exclusion from the lists of the Paris Memorandum. It is noted that one of the largest Bulgarian shipowners registers its vessels under the flag of Malta, which directs the focus of attention to the conditions for registering ships in that country. The author believes that Bulgaria can study these conditions and implement a similar registration regime in the country.

The Maritime Silk Road, which began in China, connects Asia, Africa, and Europe through commercial trade. Historically, the Maritime Silk Road, with its core goals of equality and mutual benefit, cooperation, and win-win scenarios, has promoted the exchange and development of politics, economy, and culture between the East and West. In September and October 2013, during a state visit to Central Asian countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Chinese President Xi Jinping made a speech in which he proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The marine environment has a significant impact on ocean construction, the maintenance of maritime rights and interests, and so on. To serve the construction of the Maritime Silk Road, we systematically presented information on the marine environment, important routes and port features, geographical features, climatic profiles, marine resources, and the utilization status of the Maritime Silk Road. To make a better contribution to the construction of the Maritime Silk Road, legal escort is essential. Legal escort is helpful to protect the rights, interests, and enthusiasm of countries and regions that participate in the construction of the Maritime Silk Road. This chapter discusses the legitimacy and rationality of development and construction in the South China Sea and the Maritime Silk Road according to the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Declaration on the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, and the China–ASEAN Agreements in the hope of providing a reference for the legal protection of the Maritime Silk Road.

This article focuses on the connotation, capabilities, challenges, risks and the corresponding countermeasures of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The article states that the core of the MSR strategy is the cultural concepts of “balancing convergence and divergence” and “inclusive development” as well as the moral concepts of “mutual benefits” and “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you”. The strategy will uphold the basic principle of “open cooperation, harmonious inclusiveness, market operation, and mutual benefits.” Practical cooperation and joint building of the MSR will always be in the primacy of the strategy. Emphasis must be put on leveraging the comparative advantages of China and the countries along the MSR to let them coordinate with each other and reach consensus through “joint consultation” and form joint effort through “jointly building” the MSR. Countries can only achieve cooperation and mutual benefits and promote rebalancing of the regional and global economy through sharing each other’s strengths, risks and interests. The MSR strategy is composed of various economic cooperation projects between China and the countries along the MSR. However, it is also influenced by certain political and security factors and thus has geopolitical implications. But in the end, what connects the far-away regions is the economic interest. As a base and examplar, Southeast Asia is an important region for the MSR strategy.

Zhang, M.Q., 2020. Researches on the economic and trade exchanges for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In: Qiu, Y.; Zhu, H., and Fang, X. (eds.), Current Advancements in Marine and Coastal Research for Technological and Sociological Applications. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 107, pp. 308-311. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The Maritime Silk Road in twenty-first Century is an important measurement of Belt and Road Initiative to promote trade economic and trade development between China and the other countries under the new situation of economic globalization. The import and export trade of Maritime Silk Road countries is of great significance to the economic growth of all countries. At present, there are 21 countries in the world in the construction of the Maritime Silk Road. In this paper, three countries from Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa: Thailand, India and Turkey for research and analysis.

This article is based on 183 819 port state control inspections from various port state control regimes for the time frame 1999 to 2004. Using binary logistic regression, we establish the differences of port state control inspections across several regimes, even though theory predicts there should be no significant differences in treatments of vessels. The results indicate that the differences towards the probability of detention are merely reflected by the differences in port states and the treatment of deficiencies and not necessarily by age, size, flag, class or owner as perceived by the industry and regulators. The analysis further shows that some differences can be found across ship types and regimes and that there appears to be room for further harmonization in the area of port state control.