Performance of Abuja MOU on Port State Control in Enforcement of IMO Regulations on Maritime Safety

The study evaluates the performance of the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on port states control (PSC) with a view to providing empirical evidence and information on the rates of change in inspection efforts, detention efforts, and poor inspection performance of PSC Officers in the Abuja MoU. It examined the performance of the Abuja MoU and the level of compliance with International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations in the West and Central African sub-region. Secondary data obtained from the database of the Abuja MoU administration was used. The findings indicate that the implementation of the instrument has improved maritime safety in the region. The result also shows that trends of inspection efforts, poor inspection performance, number of inspections with and without detected deficiencies grew in the monitored period. The detention rate declined, which implies a decline in the trend of deploying unseaworthy vessels in the waters of the region, which is good for maritime safety administration in the region. About 92.5 % of the total inspections are fully compliant with the IMO safety regulation while 7.44 % of the inspection efforts show shortcomings and failure to comply with IMO regulations in the region