Web alert: Asian Gypsy Moths - it's nearly that time again

The flight season of the Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) is nearly upon us and, for vessels operating in Asia, AGMs may be a reason for detention and delay when they arrive at foreign ports outside of the AGM’s native area.

AGMs are attracted by a ship’s lights and female AGMs often fly onboard and lay eggs on a ship’s upper deck fittings/superstructure. These eggs may have been laid in difficult to access areas and are therefore hard to spot.

Flight season & Infestation areas

If a ship is operating from one of the infestation areas during flight season, they are at risk of an AGM infestation: 

*including all ports north of Shanghai

Port state control in the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia (to name but a few) are vigilant to the risks posed by vessels which have recently come from infestation areas and will conduct inspections in order to reduce these risks.

Typically, vessels found with an AGM infestation onboard are ordered out of territorial waters for remedial cleaning and treatment, resulting in significant delays and disruption to its trading pattern.

For full details of how best to avoid this risk, members are advised to read the Standard Safety: Asian Gypsy Moth Special Edition, which is attached to this web alert.