By Peter Damgaard, Skuld Copenhagen

The presence of Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) egg mass has recently caused a vessel entered with our association to be ordered off the national waters of Canada after AGM was found on board the vessel on inspection at Vancouver, British Colombia. Following cleaning and re-inspection the vessel was considered clean and was allowed to enter the port for loading. The total delay was 2.5 days. The vessel was on time charter, and the parties are now discussing whether hire accrued during the delay and who is responsible for the additional costs incurred in connection with inspection, re-inspection, port charges etc.

It appears that Agricultural Health inspectors in British Colombia, Canada and on the US West Coast are on the alert, as over a period of 2 weeks 3 vessels have been inspected in Canada and AGM found. The consequences of AGM’s presence on board a ship are that the vessel is ordered back to international waters for cleaning, and if upon re-inspection further AGM nests are found on board the ship, the vessel will be banned from calling Canada and the US West Coast until after 15 October 2009.

Therefore, we urge all Members with vessels calling ports in China, Japan and Korea to ensure that their vessels are properly inspected and cleaned after any call to these high risk areas. Such inspections and preventive measures should be recorded in the vessels’ log books. If the call is to a port in Japan, a “Clean of AGM” Certificate should be obtained prior to the vessel’s departure.
AGM appears to be active about every 2-year or so.

Further information on the present campaign may be found at:
www.inspection.gc.ca