(3)Most Member States already, where possible, combine mandatory surveys for the safe operation of regular ro-ro passenger ships with other types of surveys and inspections, that is flag State surveys and port State control inspections. To further reduce the inspection effort and to maximise the time in which the ship or craft can be commercially exploited, whilst continuing to ensure high safety standards, vessels subject to port State control inspections should therefore be transferred so that they fall within the scope of Directive 2009/16/EC. The scope of this Directive should be confined to ships providing regular ro-ro passenger ship and high-speed passenger craft services between ports within a Member State or between a port in a Member State and a port in a third country where the flag of the vessel is the same as the Member State in question. With regard to vessels carrying out regular ro-ro passenger ship and high-speed passenger craft services between a Member State and a third country, Directive 2009/16/EC should apply if the flag is not the same as the flag of the Member State in question.