Circular No. 44/2013/TT-BGTVT amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 14/2012/TT-BGTVT dated April 27, 2012, issued by the Minister of Transport, regarding passenger and luggage transportation by high-speed vessels on fixed inland waterway routes between ports and wharfs within Vietnam's internal waters.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 14/2012/TT-BGTVTdated April 27, 2012 issued by the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and parcels by high-speed vessels along fixed inland waterway routes between ports and wharfs within Vietnam's internal watersThe Minister of Transport issues this Circular to amend and supplement certain Articles of Circular No. 14/2012/TT-BGTVT dated April 27, 2012 issued by the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and parcels by high-speed vessels along fixed inland waterway routes between ports and wharfs within Vietnam's internal waters.Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 14/2012/TT-BGTVT dated April 27, 2012 issued by the Minister of Transport on passenger transport, luggage, and parcels by high-speed vessels along fixed inland waterway routes between ports and wharfs within Vietnam's internal waters.

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Pursuant to the Maritime Code of Vietnam dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Traffic dated June 15, 2004;

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

At the proposal of the Director of the Transport Department,

1. Article 9 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 9. Handling accidents in port waters and shipping channels

Organizations and individuals involved in handling accidents in port waters and shipping channels shall follow Circular No. 27/2012/TT-BGTVT dated July 20, 2012 issued by the Minister of Transport on reporting and investigating maritime accidents. In cases where a vessel encounters an incident or accident that cannot be resolved within 30 minutes, it must immediately report to the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center for rescue operations or assistance."

"Article 11. Administrative penalties for violations

Authorities with jurisdiction shall impose administrative penalties for violations according to the provisions of Decree No. 93/2013/NĐ-CP dated August 20, 2013 issued by the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of maritime and inland waterway transportation."

2. Article 11 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 12. Technical requirements and safety equipment for high-speed vessels

1. In addition to technical requirements and equipment according to the National Technical Regulation on Classification and Construction of High-Speed Vessels (QCVN 54:2013/BGTVT), high-speed vessels must also be equipped with voyage monitoring systems or equivalent devices (hereinafter referred to as voyage monitoring devices) registered and certified according to Circular No. 08/2011/TT-BGTVT dated March 8, 2011 issued by the Minister of Transport on the issuance of the National Technical Regulation on Voyage Monitoring Devices for Motor Vehicles.

3. Article 12 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

2. For hovercraft or air-cushion high-speed vessels, in addition to the equipment required under Clause 1 of this Article, they must also be equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) at a minimum Class B level. The AIS must meet the standards IEC 61162-1, IEC 662287-1, and IEC 60945 published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

3. Hovercraft and air-cushion vessels put into commercial operation after the effective date of this Circular only need to be equipped with AIS."

"Article 13. Safety equipment for high-speed vessels
1. Operators of high-speed passenger vessel transport must maintain the good technical condition of the voyage monitoring system of high-speed vessels and must keep it continuously operational from the time the first passenger is picked up at the departure port until the last passenger is dropped off at the destination port.

4. Article 13 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

2. The voyage monitoring system of high-speed vessels must ensure at least the following requirements:

a) Information: information about the route, operating speed; number of stops and times, and must be stored for at least one year;

b) Always connected to the Internet and provide information to competent state management authorities;

3. Operators of hovercraft and air-cushion vessel transport must install and maintain the good technical condition of the AIS; connect to the control system of the Marine Port Control Units, and such connection must be confirmed by the Marine Port Control Units.

4. The Marine Port Control Unit where hovercraft and air-cushion vessels operate has the responsibility to inspect and monitor the activities of the vessels through the AIS."

This Circular takes effect from December 30, 2013.

The Head of the Ministry’s Office, the Inspector General, Heads of Departments, Directors of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, Vietnam Maritime Administration, Vietnam Ship Survey Bureau, Directors of Provincial Departments of Transport, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.

Article 2. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from December 30, 2013.

Article 3. Implementation Organization

The Director of the Ministry's Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry, the Heads of all Departments, the Directors of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the Vietnam Ship Registry, the Directors of Provincial Department of Transport, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.