Reportedly, two entered vessels in our Club had failed the documented audit before port calling at New Zealand based on the Craft Risk Management Standard (CRMS). Thereafter Notice of Direction to carry out the underwater cleaning at outside of the territorial water was made by New Zealand authorities in June 2020, because the result of underwater inspection after arriving ports of New Zealand does not meet the standard.

It is found that two vessels have no further underwater inspection after 2 years have passed since the last Antifouling Coating (AFC). Looking into Underwater surveys on Guidance Document for the Craft Risk Management Standard for Biofouling (Attachment 1), which requests “As a general rule, commercial vessels with a 5-year dry docking cycle that have not operated outside their profile should get an annual inspection for the first two years, and then 6 monthly after that. If they fall outside of their operational profile, then more frequent inspections should be done.”

We introduce reported four cases as follows;

Vessel A (last AFC date, 22 May 2018)

In June 2020, Vessel A failed the documented audit and was requested by the authorities to carry out the underwater inspection.

Notice of Direction to carry out the underwater cleaning at outside of the territorial water before returning was made by New Zealand authorities, because the result of underwater inspection after arriving ports of New Zealand does not meet the standard.

Vessel B (last AFC date, 27 May 2018)

In June 2020, Vessel B failed the documented audit and was requested by the authorities to carry out the underwater inspection.

Notice of Direction to carry out the underwater cleaning at outside of the territorial water before returning was made by New Zealand authorities, because the result of underwater inspection after arriving ports of New Zealand does not meet the standard.

Vessel C (last AFC date, 20 September 2019)

In June 2020, the documented audit against Vessel C by the authorities confirmed that Vessel C meets CRMS standard as less than one year has passed since the last AFC. At the same time, Vessel C was recommended to carry out the underwater inspection around September 2020.

Vessel D (last AFC date, 15 January 2019)

27 June 2020, the underwater inspection was carried out in accordance with the specific Biofouling Management Plan for Vessel D. Subsequent the documented audit recommended to carry out the underwater inspection around January 2021.

For planning on port call of New Zealand, we would urge members to recheck CRMS, the relevant guidelines, documents, and the hull condition.

Furthermore, we have obtained the letter of Enhance Biofouling Risk on 24 June 2020 (Attachment 2) addressed to vessel operators and agents, which is announcement of that Biosecurity New Zealand conducts research on risk factors that influence the accumulation of vessel biofouling and undertake filed surveyors of international commercial vessels arriving to New Zealand. Simultaneously, frequently asked questions (Attachment 3) is published.

For your reference, please also refer to our Japan P&I News No.884 dated 18 April 2017.