India Port State Control Rules 2026: Targeting, Detention and Banning of Foreign Ships

The India port state control rules, formally the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control and Flag State Implementation) Rules, 2026, were notified on 27 July 2026 as G.S.R. 672(E) and came into force on publication in the Gazette. Chapter III governs foreign ships in Indian waters: how they are targeted, inspected, detained, released and, after repeated detentions, banned. Chapter II covers Indian-flag ships and is the subject of a separate article in this series.

This article summarises Chapter III of the India port state control rules and the related schedules from the Gazette text. The Rules follow the procedures of the Port State Control Memorandum of Understanding that India belongs to, and the report format in Schedule V is headed with the Indian Ocean region MoU, so much of what follows will be familiar to anyone who has been through Paris, Tokyo or Indian Ocean inspections.

Which Ships the India Port State Control Rules Cover

Rule 21 applies Chapter III to ships other than Indian ships to which the relevant conventions apply, while they are within a port, terminal, anchorage, port facility, Indian offshore facility or the territorial waters of India and are engaged in a vessel-port interface or are otherwise in Indian jurisdiction. Only the provisions of the conventions listed in Schedule III that are in force and to which India is a party are enforced. Rule 22 gives no more favourable treatment to ships of non-Parties, and rule 23 accepts the flag State’s certificates as prima facie evidence for ships outside the conventions by size or type, while the officer still checks that the ship is of an acceptable standard. Under rule 25 inspections follow the Port State Control Procedures Manual of the MoU and the applicable IMO procedures.

Inspections are carried out by authorised Port State Control Officers under the direction of the field authority, the Principal Officer of the Mercantile Marine Department for the port or region. Reports are approved by the national authority, uploaded to the MoU’s centralised database and given to the master, who signs for them.

How Foreign Ships Are Targeted for Inspection

Rule 27 lists five grounds for selecting a visiting ship.

• Ship risk profile in the MoU’s information system: high-risk and standard-risk ships are inspected as a high priority, while low-risk ships may be inspected less often in line with regional procedures. The profile is based on the ship’s record over the preceding 36 months and on criteria such as type and age, flag State performance, recognised organisation performance and company performance.
• A request or notification from another port, coastal or flag State about deficiencies or suspected non-compliance, for a ship bound for an Indian port.
• Information or a complaint from the crew, a professional body, an association, a trade union or another person with a legitimate interest, investigated by inspection where there are reasonable grounds.
• A report from a pilot or port authority of deficiencies or anomalies that may pose a risk to safety or the environment, which counts as clear grounds for a focused or expanded inspection.
• A direction from the field authority or national authority, based on emerging safety or security concerns, incidents, accident investigations or concentrated inspection campaigns.

The Rules define clear grounds as evidence that the condition of a ship, its equipment or its crew does not substantially meet the conventions, or that the master or crew are not familiar with essential shipboard safety, security or pollution prevention procedures.

Types of Inspection

Schedule IV sets out four. An initial inspection checks certificates and documents, the overall condition of the ship, its equipment and its crew. A more detailed inspection follows where there are clear grounds and examines the areas concerned, including the human element under the ILO conventions, the ISM Code and STCW. An expanded inspection is broader and is typically carried out on higher-risk ships, with aged oil tankers, gas or chemical tankers, bulk carriers, passenger ships and ships with a history of detentions given as examples; high-risk ships and ships more than fifteen years old are eligible. A concentrated inspection campaign covers a specific subject in a period announced by the Indian Ocean MoU. The officer may require operational tests or drills, but none is carried out if the master objects that it would compromise immediate safety (rule 29).

Detention, Release and Re-inspection

Under rule 32 the field authority may provisionally detain a foreign ship whose condition, crew or operation fails to comply with the applicable conventions in a way that creates a danger to life, property or the marine environment. The detention order is issued to the master in the Schedule VI format, and the grounds are guided by the IMO port State control procedures and the MoU guidelines. A release order in the Schedule VII format follows once the ship is fit to proceed. Notice of a detention goes to the flag State, the flag State’s consul or diplomatic representative in India, the local port authority, the recognised organisation that issued class or statutory certificates and the national authority (rule 34).

Rule 36 requires the officer to give the master a detailed report of deficiencies, to recommend after a detention that the flag State or recognised organisation carry out a thorough examination before re-inspection is requested, and to tell the master of the ship’s right to appeal and that a port State control inspection is a sampling inspection whose recorded deficiencies may not be exhaustive. Re-inspection is to follow without undue delay and with minimal impact on the ship’s schedule (rule 31). A ship allowed to sail with deficiencies rectifiable within a stated period that calls at an Indian port to clear them is to be followed up promptly.

Two special cases are provided for. If an inspection finds a ship in an extraordinarily poor state, with numerous serious deficiencies indicating a breakdown of maintenance or management, the officer may with the Principal Officer’s consent suspend the inspection and report the ship as substandard; re-inspection is then a full inspection, arranged only after the flag State or recognised organisation certifies that the ship meets the requirements (rule 33). And a ship that arrives in distress or after accidental damage is not detained for deficiencies directly caused by the accident, provided the master or company notified the relevant authorities and the flag State before or on entering port, unless there is clear evidence of negligence or the ship would be unreasonably dangerous to sail (rule 35).

Banning, and Duties in Port

Rule 40 allows the Director-General to ban a foreign-flag ship from Indian ports, terminals, anchorages, port facilities, offshore facilities and the territorial waters, permanently or for a stated period, if it has been detained more than once within less than twelve months in Indian ports or consistently shows serious deficiencies indicating a pattern of substandard operation. The notice goes to the master, owner and flag State and to port authorities, and sets out any conditions for lifting the ban. Rule 44 requires foreign ships in port or Indian territorial waters to give what the Director-General or another competent authority requires, which may include advance notice of arrival, certificate details, the crew list, MARPOL discharge records, ISPS security information and any serious defects of hull or machinery; failing to give information or giving false information is liable to penalty under the Act.

The national authority must review the regime each year, using inspection data on deficiencies, detentions and detentions of Indian ships abroad, and publish an annual report (rule 41). For comparison with other regimes see PSC Detentions 2025: Paris, Tokyo, USCG and AMSA Compared. The entry requirements for foreign ships in Indian coastal waters are in India Coastal Waters Entry Rules 2026, and the other 2026 rules are mapped in India’s Merchant Shipping Rules 2026: A Map for Ship Managers.

Sources

The summary above is taken from the Gazette text of the Rules and the Act. Schedule III (the list of conventions), Schedule VI and VII (detention and release orders) and the other schedules should be read in the Rules themselves.

• Merchant Shipping (Port State Control and Flag State Implementation) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 672(E), 27 July 2026 (English text follows the Hindi)
• Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 (24 of 2025)

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