TARIQ IBN ZIYAD (IMO 9109768) detained at Alicante, October 2026
The Algerian state-owned passenger/ro-ro ferry TARIQ IBN ZIYAD has been detained at Alicante, Spain, on 27 October 2026. This is the vessel's third detention in its recorded PSC history and the second at the same port, following a detention in November 2022. The 31-year-old ferry, operated continuously by ENTMV (Algérie Ferries), has accumulated 277 deficiencies across 38 inspections, with deficiency counts rising sharply since 2022.
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TARIQ IBN ZIYAD was detained at Alicante, Spain, on 27 October 2026 by the Spanish maritime authority under the Paris MoU regime. The specific deficiency count and deficiency codes for this detention have not yet been published. Alicante is a regular port of call for this vessel on its Mediterranean ferry routes, and it is also the port where the vessel was last detained in November 2022.
The vessel
TARIQ IBN ZIYAD is a passenger/ro-ro ship built in 1995 at Union Naval Valencia SA (UNV) in Valencia, Spain. She measures 153.26 metres LOA with a beam of 25.2 metres, and registers 21,659 GT and 5,125 DWT. The vessel has flown the Algerian flag since delivery in November 1995 and has never changed name. She is classed by Bureau Veritas, an IACS member, with classification status recorded as "reinstated" since 3 March 2019. At 31 years old, she is well past the typical economic life for a passenger/ro-ro vessel operating intensive Mediterranean ferry services. Her current draught is recorded at 6.0 metres, and she was showing a moored status in the West Mediterranean at the time of the report.
Inspection history
The inspection record for TARIQ IBN ZIYAD is extensive: 38 PSC inspections under the Paris MoU between June 1999 and August 2023, yielding a cumulative 277 deficiencies. That averages 7.3 deficiencies per inspection, a figure that is high for any vessel type but particularly concerning for a passenger ship carrying fare-paying travellers. The record divides into two distinct eras. From 1999 through 2020, the vessel was inspected predominantly in Marseille by French authorities, typically at expanded or more-detailed level. Deficiency counts in that period were moderate, fluctuating between zero and 11, with a single spike to 22 deficiencies in Alicante in March 2011 and 19 deficiencies in Marseille in June 2007, the latter resulting in the vessel's first detention. After that 2007 detention, the vessel went nearly 15 years without being held. The picture changed sharply in 2022. An expanded inspection in Alicante on 7 July 2022 produced 18 deficiencies but no detention. A more detailed inspection in Napoli on 24 July 2022 found 15 deficiencies. Then in November 2022, another expanded inspection at Alicante recorded 18 deficiencies and resulted in detention. The most recent inspection on record, a more detailed inspection at Alicante in August 2023, logged 12 deficiencies spanning emergency systems, fire safety, ISM, life-saving appliances, and propulsion and auxiliary machinery. Specific items included problems with the emergency generator, lifeboat condition, abandon ship drills, fire drills, and oil-wetted insulation in the engine room. Recurring themes across available deficiency detail include fire safety (fire dampers, firefighting equipment readiness, fire protection maintenance), emergency drill preparedness, ISM-related shortcomings, and MLC crew welfare issues. The vessel has been flagged for ISM-related deficiencies in at least three separate inspections where detail is available: January 2017, September 2019, and August 2023. Alicante inspections have consistently returned the highest deficiency counts, with four of the five Alicante inspections on record producing 12 or more deficiencies.
Ownership and management
TARIQ IBN ZIYAD has been under single continuous ownership and management throughout her operational life. ENTMV, trading as Algérie Ferries, is the registered owner, ISM manager, and ship/commercial manager. ENTMV has held the ISM manager role since 15 December 2003, and the company history shows no changes in any management role. The company is headquartered in Algiers and operates a fleet of six vessels. There has been zero management churn, which is reflected in the VesselScore model awarding full marks on that component. The stability of management, however, also means the same operator has presided over every deficiency and every detention in the vessel's record. The absence of ownership change removes one common explanation for deteriorating condition; what the record shows instead is an aging vessel with escalating maintenance demands under a long-standing operator.
Risk profile
The VesselScore stands at 83.5 out of 100, placing the vessel in a "below average risk" calibration band with a modelled detention probability of 2.8%. That headline figure is more favourable than the vessel's recent inspection performance might suggest, and the reason is structural: the scoring model awards full marks for management stability (no churn), flag and class profile (no penalty for Algeria or Bureau Veritas), and several other components where the vessel scores clean. The two components dragging the score down are age and prior detentions. The vessel loses the full 10 points on the age baseline, reflecting her 1995 build year. She also loses 2.5 points for the November 2022 detention at Alicante. A minor deduction of 2 points comes from AIS behaviour, where two loitering events were detected, though no dark-voyage gaps were recorded. The vessel also has one marine casualty on record from November 2017, classified as "marine casualty" in open sea with Algeria as the reporting administration; this costs 2 points. Notably, the deficiency rate component scores zero penalty. This is because the model uses a recent-window metric, and the vessel's last recorded inspection was August 2023, over three years before the scoring date. The current detention at Alicante will reset that calculation. Bureau Veritas classification status is listed as "reinstated" since March 2019, a status that indicates the class was suspended at some point prior. No sanctions exposure was identified.
What to watch
The immediate question is release: the deficiency count and codes for this detention have not been published, and until they are, the scale of rectification work required remains unclear. Given the vessel's pattern of double-digit deficiency counts at Alicante, a substantial list is plausible. Several certificates recorded at the last inspection in August 2023 had short-dated or annual expiry windows, including the passenger ship safety certificate, safety manning document, and bunker oil pollution damage certificate; their current status should be verified. The Bureau Veritas classification status of "reinstated" since 2019 is also worth confirming as current. This is now the vessel's second detention within approximately four years, which will elevate her targeting priority in the Paris MoU's New Inspection Regime for future port calls. Any charterer or underwriter considering exposure to this vessel should account for her age, her escalating inspection record since 2022, and the high probability of further scrutiny at European ports.
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