The ship risk profile
Both regimes classify ships by risk. Under the Paris MoU's New Inspection Regime, a ship's profile is calculated from ship type and age, the performance of its flag, the performance of the recognised organisation that surveys it, the ISM company's deficiency and detention record, and the ship's own history of deficiencies and detentions. The result places the ship in a high, standard or low risk band. That band sets the inspection window. In the Paris MoU region the windows are 5 to 6 months for high risk ships, 10 to 12 months for standard risk ships and 24 to 36 months for low risk ships, measured from the last inspection in the region. The Tokyo MoU uses the same three bands but inspects more often: 2 to 4 months for high risk ships, 5 to 8 months for standard risk and 9 to 18 months for low risk. Ships are then flagged Priority I, meaning they are due or overdue, or Priority II, meaning they may be inspected within the window. The practical consequence is that inspection frequency is largely earned. A ship that strings together clean inspections moves toward longer windows and lighter scrutiny. A detention resets the clock and hardens the next inspection. The Paris MoU's Ship Risk Profile changes from 6 July 2027, with new environmental parameters and revised flag and recognised organisation performance calculations agreed by the Committee in May 2026. The description above is the regime as at August 2026.
Flag and company performance: the lists that matter
Both MoUs publish annual flag performance tables calculated from three years of inspection outcomes. The Paris MoU publishes White, Grey and Black lists. The Tokyo MoU publishes an equivalent Flag Performance List graded high, medium and low performance. Both regimes also grade recognised organisations and ISM companies. These tables feed straight back into every ship's risk profile. The same vessel, identically maintained, is inspected differently depending on whose flag it flies and which company's Document of Compliance it operates under. This is why flag choice and company record are commercial variables, not administrative details. A strong flag and a clean company record buy every ship in the fleet longer inspection windows. A weak one taxes them all.
Campaigns, bans and databases
In recent years the two MoUs have run a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign from 1 September to 30 November. A topic questionnaire is applied alongside a regular inspection, and each ship is covered by one inspection under the campaign during the period, per MoU. Ballast water management was the 2025 topic. The securing of cargo units and cargo transport units is the topic for 2026, as at August 2026. Campaign results shape both individual ship records and the following year's regional priorities. Escalation differs between the two regions, and the difference matters. The Paris MoU operates a formal refusal of access regime: a ship flying the flag of a black listed State can be banned after three detentions in 36 months, and a grey listed flag after three detentions in 24 months. Bans also follow a ship that sails in breach of a detention or fails to proceed to a nominated repair yard. A ban attaches to the ship, and changing company, flag or manager does not lift it. The Tokyo MoU publishes performance data and detentions but does not operate an equivalent regional banning mechanism. Every inspection, deficiency and detention is recorded in the regional databases, THETIS in the Paris MoU and APCIS in the Tokyo MoU. Both are visible to member authorities and both feed the commercial screening tools charterers and insurers use. Scale is worth keeping in view: as at August 2026 the most recent published Tokyo MoU annual figures are 35,546 inspections and 1,255 detentions in 2025, a detention rate of 3.53 per cent. One change is already scheduled. Directive (EU) 2024/3099, which amends the EU Port State Control Directive, entered into force on 5 January 2025 and must be transposed by Member States by 6 July 2027. It adjusts the inspection commitment, extends expanded inspections, encourages electronic certificates and introduces a voluntary regime for larger fishing vessels. Operators trading to EU ports should treat 2027 as a planning date, not a surprise.
Working the system honestly
The targeting machinery rewards one strategy: sustained, verifiable compliance. The levers an operator actually controls are straightforward. Run pre arrival self inspections keyed to the current campaign topic and the region's known focus areas. Close out deficiencies quickly and keep the evidence. Watch the company level record across the whole fleet, because one ship's detention raises every sister's profile. The regimes are transparent about what they measure. Operators who treat those metrics as management information, rather than as a report card that arrives once a year, are consistently the ones sitting in the longest inspection windows.