Analyzing Port State Control Data to Explore Future Improvements to GMDSS Training

This article uses data generated by Port State Control (PSC) inspections of ships in national ports (Paris MoU) to assess their compliance with radio-communications safety regulations. By mainly applying binary logistic regression methods, the aim is to examine and understand the relationship between the severity of deficiencies in maritime communications and some characteristics of inspected ships. The raw data from the PSC detention database from 2005 to 2022 undergoes post-processing before being analyzed to explore patterns and coincidences with the rest of the potential risk areas. To do so, 23,725 PSC inspections were used. Several classification criteria have been proposed that can better gauge the risk related to distress communications at sea from the dataset. The results connect the probability of detention with the ship age at the inspection date, the flag of the registry, the type of ship, and the location of the port within the countries adhering to the Paris MoU. Another achievement is that the number of PSC inspections of maritime communications in a given period is a better indicator of the risk to safety than the total number of deficiencies detected in these inspections during the same period. This study also explores inspection deficiencies related to competency gaps identified in the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) operators, and precisely using the number of PSC inspections as a criterion of risk for safety is consistent with the recommendations of the Maritime Safety Committee Circular (2006), MSC.1/Circ.1208. Another finding from the time series is that a greater rate of decrease is identified for GMDSS equipment-related deficiencies compared to GMDSS training-related deficiencies. This alone poses a review of the refreshing courses and methods to maintain the General Operator Certificate (GOC) qualification to operate maritime radio communications facilities belonging to the (current and future) GMDSS.