Maritime Health Services (MHS) has published a study examining the characteristics and outcomes of Vessel Sanitation Programme (VSP) inspections conducted on cruise ships operating in US waters last year.
It assessed public health trends and areas for improvement by analysing the risk categories applied during inspections, cited deficiencies, and awarded scores.
A total of 197 inspections were conducted across 150 cruise ships between 1st January and 31st December, 2024.
Inspection scores ranged from a high of 100 to a low of 62, with a mean average of 96.1 out of 100.
Inspectors identified 5,929 violations, averaging 30.1 per inspection. Notably, 71% (4,232) of all violations were concentrated in just 10 item categories, which remained the most frequently cited areas of non-compliance from previous years.
Violations of critical item standards—those posing the highest risk to public health—accounted for 21% of all citations and 40% of total point deductions.
Only three vessels passed inspection without a single violation of VSP-designated critical standards.
This study highlighted that while inspection scores offer a broad measure of sanitation performance, they do not fully reflect public health conditions on board cruise ships.
A detailed analysis of cited deficiencies provides a more accurate assessment of compliance, helping to identify trends and prioritise areas for corrective action, David Best MHS founder and CEO said.
See https://www.maritime-health.com/insights/regulatory-compliance/annual-review-of-vsp-cruise-ship-inspections-2024/ for a copy of the report.
