Circular No. 20/2016/TT-BGTVT amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and parcels by high-speed passenger ships between ports, wharfs, inland water areas of Vietnam and across borders.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and cargo by high-speed passenger ships between ports, wharfs, and inland water areas within Vietnam and across borders

Pursuant to the Maritime Code of Vietnam 2005;

Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 15, 2004; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 17, 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 30/2014/NĐ-CP dated April 14, 2014 of the Government on conditions for marine transportation business and supporting marine transportation services;

Pursuant to Decree No. 110/2014/NĐ-CP dated November 20, 2014 of the Government on conditions for inland waterway transportation business;

Pursuant to Decree No. 107/2012/NĐ-CP dated December 20, 2012 of the Government on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

At the proposal of the Director of the Transport Department and the Director of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration,

The Minister of Transport promulgates this Circular amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and cargo by high-speed passenger ships between ports, wharfs, and inland water areas within Vietnam and across borders.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and cargo by high-speed passenger ships between ports, wharfs, and inland water areas within Vietnam and across borders

1. Amend Article 3 as follows:

“Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. A passenger ship is an inland waterway vessel with a capacity of more than 12 (twelve) people.

2. A person-carrying vessel is an inland waterway vessel with a capacity of up to 12 (twelve) people.

3. High-speed passenger ship (high-speed passenger vessel) is a passenger ship that has been inspected and certified by the Vietnamese Ship Survey Bureau as complying with the National Technical Regulations on classification and construction of high-speed vessels; a passenger ship operating in planing mode where the hull is completely separated from the water surface due to aerodynamic lift created by surface effect at its maximum speed of 30 km/hour or more under full load condition.

4. Passenger means persons on board the ship who are not crew members or service staff.

5. Relevant Port Authority means the Inland Waterway Port Authority or the Marine Port Authority.”

2. Amend Article 5 as follows:

“Article 5. Procedures for approval of passenger transport, luggage, and cargo along fixed routes by high-speed passenger ships

1. Organizations and individuals submit directly one set of application dossier for approval of passenger transport, luggage, and cargo along fixed routes by high-speed passenger ships or send it through postal services or other appropriate methods to the competent authority as follows:

a) Vietnamese organizations and individuals submit the dossier to the Department of Transport (except in cases where the ship departs from a port or wharf under the jurisdiction of the Marine Port Authority) or the Marine Port Authority (in cases where the ship departs from a port or wharf under the jurisdiction of the Marine Port Authority);

b) Organizations and individuals with foreign investment capital submit the dossier to the Regional Inland Waterway Transport Management Agency (in cases where the ship departs from a port or wharf under the jurisdiction of the Regional Inland Waterway Transport Management Agency) or the Marine Port Authority (in cases where the ship departs from a port or wharf under the jurisdiction of the Marine Port Authority).

2. The documents include:

a) A registration form for passenger transport, luggage, and cargo along fixed routes by ship according to the model prescribed in Appendix I attached hereto;

b) Written document or contract with the organization or individual managing the port or wharf agreeing to allow the high-speed passenger ship to pick up and drop off passengers, still valid;

c) Certified copies (or copies accompanied by original documents for verification) of the following documents still valid: Certificate of Registration of the ship; Certificate of Technical Safety and Environmental Protection of the ship; Certificate of Enterprise Registration or Business Registration Certificate or Business Household Registration Certificate; Investment Certificate for foreign organizations and individuals.

d) A service quality registration form according to the model prescribed in Appendix II attached hereto;

đ) An operational procedure for high-speed passenger ships of the organization or individual, including the main contents as follows: number of ships operated, operating time, maintenance and repair time, ramp-up time, number of crew members, procedures for handling situations when the ship encounters incidents during operation.

3. Approval procedures:

a) In case of direct submission of the dossier, if the dossier is complete, a receipt will be issued and a result delivery date will be scheduled according to the prescribed period; if the dossier is incomplete according to regulations, it will be returned immediately and the organization or individual will be guided to complete the dossier again.

b) In case of submission through postal services or other appropriate methods, if the dossier is incomplete according to regulations, within two working days from the date of receiving the dossier, the competent authority will issue a written request to the organization or individual to supplement and complete the dossier.

c) Within two working days from the date of receiving a complete dossier according to regulations, the competent authority will issue a written request for opinions as follows:

The Department of Transport will issue a written request for opinions from the Marine Port Authority (where the port or wharf receives the ship or in cases where the ship travels through related maritime waters), and the opinion of the Directorate of Inland Waterway Transport of Vietnam (in cases where the ship travels on national inland waterway routes).

The Regional Inland Waterway Transport Management Agency will issue a written request for opinions from the Marine Port Authority (where the port or wharf receives the ship or in cases where the ship travels through related local inland waterway routes), and the opinion of the Department of Transport (where the port or wharf receives the ship or in cases where the ship travels on local inland waterway routes related to the area).

The Marine Port Authority will issue a written request for opinions from the Department of Transport (where the port or wharf receives the ship or in cases where the ship travels on local inland waterway routes), and the opinion of the Directorate of Inland Waterway Transport of Vietnam (in cases where the ship travels on national inland waterway routes).

Within two working days from the date of receiving the written request for opinions, the Directorate of Inland Waterway Transport of Vietnam, the Department of Transport, and the relevant Marine Port Authority will issue written responses.

d) Within three working days from the end date of soliciting opinions from related agencies, the competent authority will issue a written approval for the organization or individual to transport passengers, luggage, cargo, and goods along fixed routes by high-speed passenger ships.”

3. Amending Article 8 as follows:

“ Article 8. Procedures for Entering and Departing Ports and Wharfs for High-Speed Passenger Ships

1. Not later than twenty (20) minutes before the vessel is expected to arrive at the port or wharf, the shipmaster shall be responsible for notifying the Port Control Authority or the Wharf Management of the time the vessel will arrive at the port or wharf, the number of passengers, and the quantity of cargo on board. The notification may be made via VHF or other communication devices.

2. After the vessel arrives at the port,

a) Procedures for entering and leaving inland waterway ports shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on inland waterways;

b) Procedures for entering and leaving seaports shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on maritime affairs.

3. After checking the required documents as prescribed, the Port Control Authority or the Wharf Management shall conduct an actual inspection of the vessel. If safety conditions are met, the Port Control Authority or the Wharf Management shall issue a Port Entry Permit to the vessel. In cases where safety conditions are not met as prescribed, a record shall be made and handled in accordance with the provisions of the law.

4. Amend Article 16 as follows:

“Article 16. Handling Accidents in Port Waters, Wharfs, and Inland Waterways

Organizations and individuals involved in handling accidents in port waters, wharfs, and inland waterways shall follow the provisions set forth in Clause 22, Article 1 of the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 17, 2014, Decision No. 51/2015/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2015 of the Prime Minister on the organization of search and rescue operations in inland waterway transport, and the regulations of the Minister of Transport on the management of inland waterway port and wharf activities.

5. Amend Article 17 as follows:

“Article 17. Handling accidents in seaport waters and shipping channels

Organizations and individuals involved in handling accidents in seaport waters and shipping channels shall follow Decision No. 06/2014/QD-TTg dated January 20, 2014 of the Prime Minister promulgating the Regulations on Coordination for Search and Rescue Operations at Sea and in Seaport Waters, and Circular No. 34/2015/TT-BGTVT dated July 24, 2015 of the Minister of Transport on reporting and investigating maritime accidents.

6. Amending and supplementing Article 18 as follows:

“Article 18. Temporary suspension of operations for vessels

Departments of Transport, Regional Inland Waterway Transport Management Agencies, and relevant Port Control Authorities shall suspend operations upon discovering that high-speed passenger vessels have encountered incidents or accidents affecting the technical safety of the vessel, and only allow resumption of operations when the relevant inspection organizations confirm that the vessel meets the technical safety conditions for continued operation.

Article 2.

1. Replace the phrase "in the case where the vessel departs from a port or wharf under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transport" with the phrase "except in the case where the vessel departs from a port or wharf under the jurisdiction of the Marine Port Control Authority" in Clause 1 of Article 10 and Clause 1 of Article 11 of Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger and baggage transportation by high-speed passenger vessels between ports, wharfs, and waters within Vietnam's internal waters and across borders.

2. Replace the term "passengers" with the term "persons" in Point a of Clause 1 of Article 11 and Appendix III issued together with Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger and baggage transportation by high-speed passenger vessels between ports, wharfs, and waters within Vietnam's internal waters and across borders.

3. Repeal Article 6, Article 9, and the phrase "according to the voyage contract" in Clause 1 of Article 13 of Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 12, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on passenger and baggage transportation by high-speed passenger vessels between ports, wharfs, and waters within Vietnam's internal waters and across borders.

Article 3. Effectiveness

This Circular takes effect from October 1, 2016.

Article 4. Organization of Implementation

The Director of the Ministry’s Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry, Heads of Departments, Directors of the Vietnam Inland Waterway Transport Administration, Directors of the Vietnam Ship Inspection Bureau, Directors of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, Directors of Provincial Departments of Transport, Heads of related agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.