General Cargo Ship Corsica Banned from Paris MoU Ports

Detention in Constanta Triggers Ban

The general cargo ship Corsica has been refused access to ports and anchorages across the Paris MoU region, according to a notice published by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. The vessel is registered under IMO number 9222352. The 26-year-old ship was detained in Constanta, Romania, on 23 July 2026.

According to Paris MoU, the ship flies the flag of the Comoros, which currently sits on the black list of the organisation’s Whitelist-Greylist-Blacklist (WGB) performance ranking. The detention in Constanta marks the third time the vessel has been held in the Paris MoU region within a 36-month period.

Eighteen Deficiencies, Eleven Detainable

Inspectors recorded eighteen deficiencies aboard the Corsica, of which eleven were serious enough to warrant detention. Under Section 4 of the Paris MoU and Article 16 of EU Council Directive 2009/16/EC, a ship with this detention history can be refused further access to any port or anchorage in the Paris MoU region, with the sole exception of a port belonging to its own flag state.

The refusal of access takes effect as soon as the ship is cleared to leave Constanta. Because this is the first such order issued against the Corsica, the ban applies for an initial period of three months.

Conditions for Limited Access

The notice points to Section 4.4 of the Paris MoU and Article 21.6 of the EU directive, which permit entry to a specific port or anchorage under narrow circumstances. These include force majeure, overriding safety concerns, efforts to reduce pollution risk, or the need to have deficiencies repaired — provided the ship’s company or master has put measures in place, to the satisfaction of the relevant authority, to guarantee a safe port entry.

Context for Fleet Operators

The case illustrates how repeat detentions and flag performance combine under the Paris MoU framework to escalate consequences for ageing tonnage. A vessel’s placement on the black list, paired with a pattern of detentions within a three-year window, can move a ship from routine inspection findings to a formal, region-wide access ban — underscoring the compliance stakes tied to maintenance standards and flag state oversight for older general cargo vessels operating in European and North Atlantic waters.

Apeks view — Eighteen deficiencies, eleven detainable, on a 26-year-old ship with two prior detentions in three years — this is a maintenance and oversight pattern, not a one-off inspection. For owners and technical managers, the lesson is that repeat findings compound under Paris MoU rules regardless of flag ranking. Structured, evidence-linked maintenance history, reviewed before problems accumulate, gives operators a better chance of catching deficiencies early rather than facing a region-wide ban after the fact.