{"id":419,"date":"2026-08-10T08:31:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/cargo-securing-under-the-microscope-paris-and-tokyo-mous-launch-2026-cic\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T09:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T09:08:08","slug":"cargo-securing-under-the-microscope-paris-and-tokyo-mous-launch-2026-cic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/cargo-securing-under-the-microscope-paris-and-tokyo-mous-launch-2026-cic\/","title":{"rendered":"Cargo Securing Under the Microscope: Paris and Tokyo MoUs Launch 2026 CIC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Paris and Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding have published the official questionnaire for this year’s joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign, turning cargo securing from a background compliance item into the sharpest Port State Control focus of the autumn. From 1 September to 30 November 2026<\/strong>, officers across Europe, the North Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific will layer a dedicated ten-question checklist onto routine inspections \u2014 and seven of those questions can be grounds for detention.<\/p>\n

That is not a paperwork drill. A vessel that would clear a normal PSC visit can still pick up a campaign deficiency, and potentially a detention, if its Cargo Securing Manual, its lashing gear or its crew’s application of procedures fails under scrutiny. With the questionnaire released on 3 August, operators still have a short, usable window to prepare before the first campaign inspection lands.<\/p>\n

What the Campaign Is Really Testing<\/h2>\n

The CIC does not invent new rules. It concentrates inspection on obligations that already sit in SOLAS Chapters VI and VII, the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS Code), and each ship’s flag-approved Cargo Securing Manual. Paris and Tokyo MoU authorities say the purpose is to collect compliance data on the loading, stowage and securing of cargo units and cargo transport units \u2014 data that will later be analysed and may feed into future discussions at the International Maritime Organization.<\/p>\n

During the three-month window, campaign checks run inside ordinary PSC inspections. A ship faces only one CIC inspection per MoU during the period. Deficiencies go on the ship’s record like any other finding: from a recorded non-conformity through to detention, depending on severity.<\/p>\n

According to classification society guidance circulating since the questionnaire was published, questions 1, 6 and 10a\/10b should produce non-detainable deficiencies only. The remaining seven can justify holding the vessel. That balance is the signal operators should hear: cargo securing is a high-stakes inspection theme for the next three months, not a soft advisory topic.<\/p>\n

Why Cargo Securing Is a Safety Issue, Not Just Compliance Theatre<\/h2>\n

Poor securing is not an abstract PSC risk. Shifted or lost cargo threatens stability, crew safety and the marine environment. That concern now sits next to a related regulatory hardening that entered force on 1 January 2026: amendments to SOLAS Chapter V (Regulations 31 and 32) and aligned MARPOL reporting rules that require masters to report lost freight containers without delay to nearby ships, the nearest coastal State and the flag State, which in turn reports into IMO’s GISIS system.<\/p>\n

In other words, the industry is being pressed from two directions at once. Upstream, ships must secure cargo properly. Downstream, if containers go overboard, the loss must be reported quickly and with prescribed detail. The autumn CIC puts the first half of that chain under a regional spotlight.<\/p>\n

From an ISM angle, repeated cargo-securing findings often point beyond a single bad lashing. They can signal gaps in procedures, training, supervision or risk assessment \u2014 weaknesses that invite deeper ISM follow-up once PSC officers start digging.<\/p>\n

Security Pressure Has Not Eased Either<\/h2>\n

While inspectors prepare to examine manuals and twistlocks in port, the security picture at sea remains unsettled. August has already brought claimed and confirmed attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Strait of Hormuz corridors, alongside stepped-up enforcement against sanctioned shadow-fleet tonnage in European waters. Operators juggling war-risk routing and crew safety decisions still have to walk into Paris and Tokyo MoU ports ready for a cargo-securing quiz that can stop a ship as cold as any security delay.<\/p>\n

Safety, security and regulation are converging on the same commercial outcome: unprepared ships lose time, money and reputation. Prepared ships treat each regime as part of one operating system.<\/p>\n

What Officers Are Likely to Press On<\/h2>\n

Industry guidance drawn from the published questionnaire points to five practical concentration points:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Cargo Securing Manual<\/strong> \u2014 aboard, flag-approved, vessel-specific and current for the cargo actually carried.<\/li>\n
  • Condition of securing equipment<\/strong> \u2014 lashing gear, twistlocks, turnbuckles and fittings serviceable, with damaged gear removed and replaced.<\/li>\n
  • Availability of the right devices<\/strong> \u2014 enough securing equipment of the correct type for the stow, matching the manual.<\/li>\n
  • Crew familiarisation<\/strong> \u2014 officers and ratings who can demonstrate they understand and apply the CSM, including heavy-weather procedures and bridge visibility considerations.<\/li>\n
  • Pre-departure checks and records<\/strong> \u2014 securing verified before sailing and logged in a way an inspector can evidence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What Operators Should Do Before 1 September<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • Brief masters and cargo officers on the CIC checklist itself<\/strong>, not only the ship’s existing securing procedures.<\/li>\n
    • Audit the Cargo Securing Manual<\/strong> for currency against present cargo types and lashing arrangements; update where the profile has changed.<\/li>\n
    • Survey and inventory securing gear<\/strong>, replace damaged devices, and keep the maintenance trail visible.<\/li>\n
    • Run a short familiarisation drill<\/strong> so the crew can show, not just claim, that the manual is used in practice.<\/li>\n
    • Confirm pre-departure securing checks are logged and signed<\/strong> for every voyage.<\/li>\n
    • Clear open or repeat PSC findings<\/strong> related to cargo securing before the campaign window opens.<\/li>\n
    • Communicate across the fleet<\/strong>, not ship-by-ship after the first detention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The vessels that will sail through September to November cleanly are not the ones inventing a new securing culture overnight. They are the ones whose manuals are approved and current, whose gear is fit, whose crews can demonstrate the procedures, and whose records prove the discipline. The campaign simply raises the probability that those gaps \u2014 if they exist \u2014 will be found.<\/p>\n

      RegulAs Shipping will continue tracking the Paris and Tokyo MoU CIC, related SOLAS\/MARPOL reporting practice, and the wider safety and security picture as the inspection window opens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      From 1 September to 30 November 2026, Paris and Tokyo MoU Port State Control officers will apply a ten-question cargo securing checklist during routine inspections \u2014 and seven of those questions can detain a ship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ai_generated_summary":"","wpai_meta_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime-regulations","category-regulatory-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":421,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regulasshipping.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}