Representatives of the State Service for Maritime, Inland Waterway Transport and Shipping of Ukraine participated in person in the 26th Meeting of the Port State Control Committee of the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region (Black Sea MoU PSCC 26), held on 21-23 April 2026 in Varna, Republic of Bulgaria.
The primary objective of the Committee’s annual sessions is to review statistical data and analytical materials on inspection of foreign ships in Black Sea ports, as well as to disseminate the maritime administrations’ experience in checking vessels for compliance with conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization.
During the review of Parties’ national inspection arrangements, the Ukrainian delegation presented document PSCC26/6.1A “Continuous negative impact of the russian federation’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on port state control activities in the Black Sea region”. It was emphasised that systematic violations of international maritime and humanitarian law by the russian side – such as attacks against foreign ships, their crews, port facilities, and other infrastructure objects; operation of closed Ukrainian seaports in temporarily occupied territories; and smuggling of Ukrainian grain and other commodities therefrom – contradict the core provisions of the Memorandum and undermine the safety of navigation far beyond the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait.
A distinct agenda item was dedicated to measures against substandard shipping and operation of fraudulent ship registries. Specific practical solutions that improve the tools available to port states for countering such practices, which are often linked to the “shadow fleet” operations for the benefit of the russian federation, will be further developed by the Committee throughout the intersessional period.
At the meeting, the delegations also discussed:
- updates of several technical guidelines of the Memorandum, including those on security aspects, in accordance with the new edition of the IMO Port State Control Procedures (resolution dated 05 December 2025 A.1206(34));
- harmonisation of inspection campaigns with other regional port state control regimes, primarily the Paris, Tokyo, Mediterranean, and Abuja MoUs;
- cooperation with the European Maritime Safety Agency, particularly within the BCSEA II international technical assistance project;
- participation of the Secretary, Mr. Onur Turhan, in annual meetings of secretaries of international port state control regimes, held on the sidelines of the IMO Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments;
- the Strategic Plan and Action Plan for the period until 2030.
With a view to safeguarding Ukraine’s national interests, the Shipping Administration will continue to actively engage in international activities under the auspices of the Memorandum. This includes participation in the Working Groups established for the intersessional period, which will last until April 2027 and the next 27th ordinary meeting of the Committee in Constanţa, Romania.