EMSA THETIS helpdesk
EMSA THETIS helpdesk
Email
THETIS@emsa.europa.eu
5.10 THETIS Insurance Information
Agency responsible
Data group
05. Ship Inspection Support and Port State Control
Coast Guard Functions with access
Maritime Safety Including Vessel Traffic Management
Maritime Ship and Port Security
Status of implementation
Available
Dissemination channels
Agency web interface
Point(s) of contact
Last reviewed on
Last saved on
Description
Directive 2009/20/EC on the insurance of shipowners for maritime claims forces that all ships under the flag of a Member State as well as all other ships have an insurance cover for maritime claims as specified in the Limited Liability Convention 1996.
Data elements
Directive 2009/20/EC focusses on the availability of a certificate to prove the presence of coverage for maritime claims. The inspection is delegated to Port State Control, but it also prescribes refusal of access of ships to ports in case of absence of said certificate.
The data therefore relates to the availability of the certificate (Y/N) and more importantly to any action taken by the competent authorities.
Legal basis
The legal basis for the inspections and recording under PSC sits in Article 5. This Article includes actions which a coastal State may have to take in case the absence of a certificate is detected pre-entry.
Scope and source of data
The data focusses on the availability of a certificate to prove coverage by insurance against maritime claims, but does not look at the exact detail of the terms and conditions. This is to be monitored by the issuing entity.
Actions taken by the inspecting authority are prescribed by the Directive and enforced by Port State Control. Actions taken are an integral part of the dataset.
Technical implementation
THETIS serves the enforcement of the Insurance Directive through PSC. This is a web-based application funded by the Commission, managed, operated and hosted by EMSA for and on behalf of all EU Port States. All inspection data is stored centrally. Noting that not all EU ships are inspected annually, it cannot be concluded at random that all ships have a (valid) certificate.
The system:
- is used by means of a graphical interface available to authorised users;
- has a public search engine.
Inspection information regarding PSC inspections is available and searchable for consultation on a public site. However, noting that the Insurance Directive has no publication requirement, the (non) availability of the certificate is not published.
Conditions of access
Access to data and the system is divided in two distinct methods:
- Access to data: Data on recorded findings during PSC inspections can be extracted from the system by EMSA only.
- Access to the system: Each participating State has a National Coordinator within the competent authority for PSC who decides on the relevance of the request for an account and is responsible afterwards for user management one or more accounts.
In the absence of a legalised Committee, requests for data shall be directed at the Commission, DG MOVE.