Directive No. 17/2003/CT-TTg on Strengthening State Management in the Field of Ensuring Maritime Safety

DIRECTIVE

OF THE PRIME MINISTER

On Strengthening State Management in the Field of Ensuring Maritime Safety

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In recent years, relevant ministries, sectors, and localities have made significant efforts in managing maritime activities and ensuring maritime order and safety at seaports and maritime areas.

However, in the first months of 2003, several serious maritime accidents occurred causing oil spills leading to environmental pollution and substantial losses of state and people's assets in the seaport area of Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The main cause of these maritime accidents was due to the lax and insufficient supervision of compliance with regulations on maritime safety for vessels, especially oil and chemical carriers operating at seaports and maritime areas in Vietnam; ship owners and vessel operators did not comply or fully comply with legal provisions when participating in maritime activities; management of inland waterway vessels entering and leaving seaports was not fully implemented according to regulations.

To address the aforementioned situation and minimize maritime accidents and incidents causing environmental pollution and loss of life and property of the state and people, the Prime Minister instructs the Ministers of Ministries, Heads of agencies equivalent to Ministries, Heads of government agencies, and Chairpersons of provincial and municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government to promptly organize the implementation of the following tasks:

a) Organize inspections of registration, inspection, and issuance of technical safety certificates for sea vessels and inland waterway vessels, particularly passenger-carrying vessels, oil and chemical carriers, and international shipping vessels, ensuring that vessels can only operate when they meet all safety technical standards and environmental protection regulations of Vietnam and international conventions;

1. The Ministry of Transport:

b) Strengthen supervision and inspection of vessel operations in compliance with "State Inspection at Seaports" regulations; promptly detect and strictly handle violations of maritime safety regulations such as:

Firmly suspending the operation of vessels or not allowing them to leave the port if they do not meet safety technical conditions.

Not permitting crew members without the required qualifications and professional certificates to work on vessels.

For the above violations, strict legal action must be taken.

For international vessels, measures should be taken to revoke classification certificates and not issue departure permits for vessels detained at foreign ports for non-compliance with international conventions on maritime safety and environmental protection;

c) Implement measures to stop inland waterway vessels from operating outside permitted waters, carrying cargo beyond capacity, or failing to meet safety conditions. Directors of maritime traffic control offices must supervise and monitor vessels operating within their jurisdictional waters; not allowing vessels to leave the port if they do not meet safety conditions stipulated by law;

d) Direct the Vietnam Maritime Administration to effectively manage the system of buoys and navigational aids; timely replace and supplement equipment and buoys to ensure sufficient navigational aids along shipping routes; urgently put into operation the management system for ships on the Saigon-Vung Tau route to reduce maritime accident risks in the Ho Chi Minh City seaport area;

đ) Coordinate with relevant local authorities to develop plans and organize the handling of maritime accidents in frequently occurring areas, especially narrow or dangerous channels; organize traffic separation and time allocation to reduce waterway traffic accidents;

e) In the inspection and handling of violations of maritime safety laws, firmly and strictly deal with officials and staff who engage in corrupt practices or fail to fulfill their responsibilities;

g) Coordinate with the National Search and Rescue Committee to direct the development of contingency plans for oil spill response at seaports based on available resources and forces to implement rescue operations when incidents occur;

h) Coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and mass media organizations in implementing the dissemination and promotion of legal provisions on maritime safety and environmental protection;

a) Strengthen patrols and oversight of inland waterway vessels operating on domestic waterways; coordinate with specialized maritime and inland waterway management agencies to remove illegal fishing gear, aquaculture facilities, and unauthorized sand mining structures that obstruct navigation channels and affect maritime order and waterway traffic. All violations related to these issues must be dealt with strictly according to the law;

2. The Ministry of Public Security:

b) Coordinate with specialized maritime and inland waterway management agencies to strengthen patrols to protect maritime and inland waterway navigational aids;

c) Strictly handle owners of inland waterway vessels that overload goods or passengers, or operate without meeting safety technical conditions, and crew members without the required qualifications and professional certificates as stipulated by law.

a) Organize inspections of fishing vessel registration and crew member registration, inspection, and issuance of technical safety certificates for fishing vessels; firmly deal with officials and staff who violate the law in these tasks;

Leading and being responsible for preparing and providing materials for notifications and inquiries about contents and regulations on the application of measures for aquatic veterinary health and animal and plant quarantine according to the timeframes and forms specified by the WTO.

b) Review training programs, content, examinations, and issuance of professional certificates for personnel operating fishing vessels to improve training quality and ensure full compliance with regulations on preventing collisions between vessels, especially when operating in seaport waters.

b) Review the training program, content, examination, and issuance of professional certificates for operators of fishing vessels to enhance the quality of training and ensure full compliance with regulations on preventing vessel collisions at sea, particularly when vessels operate within port waters;

c) Strictly handle the ship owner and the person in charge of the vessel who fail to comply with technical safety regulations or the qualification certificates and professional licenses of fishery crew members.

4. The Ministry of Trade:

a) Coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to direct petroleum transportation enterprises (under the management of the Ministry of Trade) in implementing maritime safety regulations.

b) Carry out the tasks stipulated in Article 5 of Decision No. 129/2001/QĐ-TTg dated August 28, 2001, of the Government on approving the national plan for oil spill response from 2001 to 2010.

5. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment:

Implement the tasks stipulated in Article 2 of Decision No. 129/2001/QĐ-TTg dated August 28, 2001, of the Government on approving the national plan for oil spill response from 2001 to 2010; develop, supplement, and perfect legal normative documents related to prevention and handling of environmental pollution incidents caused by oil spills and guide the implementation of measures and plans for responding to oil spill incidents.

6. The Ministry of National Defense:

Organize the implementation of the tasks stipulated in Article 2 of Decision No. 129/2001/QĐ-TTg dated August 28, 2001, of the Government on approving the national plan for oil spill response from 2001 to 2010.

7. People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities:

a) Coordinate with specialized state management agencies in waterway traffic and inland waterways to restore and maintain order in waterway traffic safety on shipping routes, port waters, and wharves, clear fishing grounds and aquaculture facilities, illegal sand mining points, and encroachments on shipping lanes that affect waterway traffic safety. All violations related to these issues must be strictly handled according to the law;

b) Direct local functional agencies to organize registration and inspection of inland waterway vessels to ensure that such vessels operate in compliance with the law;

c) Regularly review and update the local rescue and oil spill response plans and take the lead in organizing measures to respond to inland waterway accidents and handle oil spills occurring locally.

d) Coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to disseminate and promote regulations on inland waterway traffic safety and maritime safety to individuals and organizations relevant to the locality.

8. National Committee for Search and Rescue:

Take the lead and coordinate with ministries, sectors, local authorities at all levels, and direct specialized search and rescue centers in search and rescue operations and oil spill response and handling to ensure timely coordination and high effectiveness.

9. National Committee for Traffic Safety:

Coordinate the activities of ministries, sectors, and local authorities in implementing the tasks prescribed in this Directive.

The Prime Minister requests the Ministers of Ministries, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees, and centrally governed city People's Committees to implement this Directive. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, the agencies must promptly report to the Prime Minister.