Port state control versus marine environmental pollution

This work analyses whether port state control (PSC) has been effective in reducing environmental pollution in the region it covers. The analysis covers the technical and political aspects of PSC's effectiveness. To match the complexity of marine environmental pollution and safety issues, several indicators are developed to assess performance under both aspects. Previous studies on quantitative and qualitative material, as well as fresh evidence, are utilized to obtain quantitative or qualitative evaluations, as the case may be. The separate insights are then combined to reach an integrated conclusion. PSC is found to be effective in fighting marine environmental pollution, but with peripheral shortcomings of a mainly operational nature. These shortcomings limit the effectiveness to a less than optimal degree.