A review of port state control inspections: critical issues and emerging trends in maritime oversight

Port State Control (PSC) serves as a crucial mechanism for enforcing maritime regulations and safeguarding against substandard shipping practices. Effective inspections by well-trained port state control officers (PSCOs) are essential to ensure compliance without causing undue delays or detentions, although some shipowners may attempt to evade inspections, complicating enforcement efforts. This review examines scholarly publications from 2017 and 2024 to identify prevailing research themes and methodological approaches in PSC studies. Four primary research themes emerged: (i) evaluation of the PSC regimes, (ii) strategies for effectively targeting substandard vessels, (iii) determinants of PSC inspection outcomes, and (iv) the impact of PSC inspections. A synthesis of these themes revealed nine critical issues, including disparities in regional enforcement practices, inconsistencies in inspector training and legal frameworks, limitations of current risk assessment models, data imbalance and generalizability challenges, integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in inspection planning, influence of vessel characteristics and inspection history, impact of external shocks, effectiveness in improving compliance and safety, and stakeholder perceptions and enforcement gaps. The review identifies key knowledge gaps and offers directions for future research to strengthen PSC practices and enhance global maritime safety.