Swedish Club has reminded its members that Ukraine’s Port Yuzhny was still an unauthorized zone for P&I surveyors. Independent surveyors working on shipowner’s nomination have encountered problems when trying to get passes to the port. Major Survey Companies working for cargo interests have permanent passes to the port and never encounter problems to obtain port passes, the Club said. However, independent surveyors, including all the P&I surveyors, have to apply to the port authorities two working days before the survey (i.e. excluding Saturdays and Sundays) to obtain a permit allowing entrance to the vessel.
The Club said that there had been cases when the port authorities delayed the pass issuance (deliberately or due to bureaucracy reasons). The longest availability of which the Club was aware was 10 days.
This situation had existed in this port for several years and nothing had changed for the better, the notice said, concluding that “in some cases, the charterers or port administration tried to assert that the problem was contrived and, in any case, one of the survey companies which has yearly passes to the port can be assigned to the inspection. However, all companies whose employees have permanent passes to the port are servants of cargo interests. The results of such inspections will likely be biased”.