Every vessel is given a risk rating, which is a combined output of our risk assessments for Flighted Spongy Moth Complex (FSMC¹) and BMSB (brown marmorated stink bug²).

The risk assessments compare a vessel’s travel history with the FSMC and BMSB management measures as defined by the Craft Risk Management Standard: Vessels³ (CRMS: Vessels) and the Import Health Standard: Vehicles, Machinery and Parts⁴ (IHS: VMP) in order to identify possible presence of the managed organism. Starboard evaluates risk based on vessel pathways rather than freight.

The colour of the vessel on the map represents this risk of having hitchhiker pests (FSMC and/or BMSB) on board, as determined by the occurrence of port visits in an FSMC and/or BMSB risk area during the risk period. All dates specified to calculate risks are in NZST/NZDT.

Hitchhiker pest risk ratings for arriving vessels are reset on departure from a New Zealand port or anchorage, after a stay for any duration. This is based on the assumption that a vessel has passed MPI’s clearance standards when it is permitted into a New Zealand port or anchorage.

Hitchhiker pest information is updated daily at approximately 4 pm NZST.

Starboard’s FSMC risk assessment that determines the risk of infestation of vessels closely follows the FSMC management measures outlined in the CRMS: Vessels (2018). These measures apply to vessels arriving in New Zealand that have visited a risk area during the last 12 months, with that visit having taken place during a risk period for the area in question.

Starboard considers all vessels globally and searches their track history over the past twelve months. Any vessel that has visited at least one risk area during its respective risk period has a rating of ‘Risk’ for FSMC.

FSMC risk areas and periods are shown in Table 1.

Starboard’s BMSB risk assessment that determines the risk of BMSB infestation of vessels closely follows the BMSB management measures outlined in the IHS: VMP.

The BMSB management measures apply to risk goods (vehicles, machinery, and parts) originating from or passing through BMSB risk countries listed in Schedule 3 of the IHS: VMP, and arriving in New Zealand during the risk period. 38 risk countries are identified (Table 2).

While the BMSB management measures in the IHS: VMP apply to the cargo, our assessment evaluates risk at the vessel level. As a result of our vessel-centric view, some criteria used to determine BMSB risk differ between the management standard and the Starboard risk assessment. These differences are shown in Table 3.

Classifications from the Starboard risk assessment are similar to, but slightly more cautious than the IHS: VMP management standard. This is a consequence of analysing vessel movements rather than cargo manifests. The following example pathways illustrate this difference.

Pathways which could result in inaccurately classifying a vessel as ‘Risk’ for BMSB in Starboard:

Pathways which could result in incorrectly classifying a vessel as ‘No risk’ for BMSB in Starboard:

Note that conditions which could exempt individual containers or freight from BMSB management measures do not exempt its carrier vessel from risk assessment in Starboard. For example, the IHS: VMP allows goods to be loaded into a fully enclosed container which is sealed before 1 September and then exported before 1 October of the same year without raising a risk rating.

Furthermore, the IHS: VMP does not raise a risk rating for breakbulk transshipped through a risk country if the duration in the risk country is less than 120 hours and if the goods are segregated from sources of possible BMSB infestation. Likewise, risk goods in a fully enclosed container are deemed safe if the contents remain in the unopened container while in the risk country.

In each of these examples, Starboard assigns BMSB risk to the vessel, covering the possible presence of the bugs in goods loaded at the risk port which do not meet the exemption conditions.