Maritime safety: standards in respect of shipping using Community ports, package Erika I

PURPOSE : to make obligatory the inspection regime of certain ships classed as potentially dangerous. COMMUNITY MEASURE : Directive 2001/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 95/21/EC concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control). CONTENT : the Directive, adopted in accordance with the common position approved on 13 November 2001 by the Conciliation committee, is included in the first package of measures, presented by the Commission, on ship safety following the Erika disaster. It aims in particular to make mandatory inspections of vessels presenting a degree of high risk. With regard to certain categories of ships, more rigorous measures foresee in particular reinforced mandatory inspections as well as refusing access to Community ports. Ships calling at EU ports should be detained if they are not equipped with a functioning voyage data recorder (VDRs or "black box"). If this deficiency could not easily be remedied in the port of detention, the port authority could allow the ship to proceed to the nearest appropriate port to have the matter dealt with. It was agreed that the deadline for rectifying the lack of VDR sould be 30 days. The Directive stipulates that the use of black boxes will become compulsory for: - passenger ships built on or after 1 July 2002; - ships other than passenger ships, of 3000 gross tonnage and upwards, built on or after 1 July 2002; - old cargo ships from 2007/2008 onwards. The Commission shall review the implementation of this Directive no later than 22 July 2006. ENTRY INTO FORCE : 22/01/2002. IMPLEMENTATION : 22/07/2003.�