In order to ensure the safety of life and property at sea, strengthen the safety and pollution prevention management of shipping companies, and implement the primary responsibility for safe production of shipping companies, the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport organized the revision of the Provisions on Safety Supervision and Administration of Key Tracking Shipping Companies, forming a draft for comments, which is now open to the public for comments. Relevant units and individuals are requested to study and provide comments and suggestions before December 5, 2021.
Contact: Zhang Haibao, Tel: 010-65292685, Email: dongyufangmsa@sina.com
Provisions on Safety Supervision and Administration of Key Tracking Shipping Companies
(Draft for Comments on Revision)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 In order to promote shipping companies to fulfill their primary responsibility for safe production, ensure the safety of life and property at sea, and strengthen the safety and pollution prevention management of shipping companies, these Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Safety and Pollution Prevention Management of Shipping Companies and relevant laws and regulations.
Article 2 These Provisions apply to the safety supervision and administration of key tracking shipping companies nationwide.
Article 3 The Maritime Safety Administration of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as 'China MSA') shall uniformly coordinate and manage the supervision and administration of key tracking shipping companies nationwide, and be responsible for publishing and updating the list of key tracking shipping companies.
Directly affiliated maritime safety administration agencies and provincial transportation authorities (hereinafter referred to as 'provincial competent departments') shall, according to their duties, be responsible for the supervision and administration of key tracking shipping companies within their respective jurisdictions, and shall report to the China Maritime Safety Administration the list of key tracking shipping companies proposed to be included or removed, along with relevant materials.
Branch maritime administration agencies and municipal transportation authorities (hereinafter referred to as 'municipal authorities') shall carry out supervision and inspection and special verification work on key tracked shipping companies on their own initiative or as assigned by provincial authorities, and report to the provincial authorities the list of key tracked shipping companies proposed for inclusion or requesting removal and the relevant
materials.
Chapter II Inclusion of Key Tracked Shipping Companies
Article 4 A shipping company shall be listed as a key tracked shipping company under any of the following circumstances:
(1) The shipping company refuses without reason to accept daily supervision and inspection conducted by provincial or municipal authorities, or fails without justifiable reason to rectify matters that provincial or municipal authorities have urged it to rectify within the prescribed time limit;
(2) A water traffic accident involving three or more deaths (including missing persons) occurs to a ship under its management, and the company bears equal or greater responsibility, and upon investigation it is found that there are serious problems in the company's safety management;
(3) More than one third of the ships under its management are listed as key tracked ships;
(4) After ships under its management commit violations or illegal acts, the company refuses to accept or evades handling, and the shipping company has not taken effective measures;
(5) The cumulative incidence of serious maritime violations committed by ships under its management within any three months exceeds 20%, and the number of serious maritime violations reaches two or more;
(6) The company fails to establish a safety management system in accordance with regulations and obtain a valid Document of Compliance, or the ships under its management fail to obtain valid Safety Management Certificates, and after being urged by the maritime administration agency, it still fails to rectify.
Article 5 Where a municipal authority discovers that a shipping company falls under the circumstances specified in Article 4 of these Provisions
For circumstances listed in the Article, the company shall be informed of the relevant circumstances under which it is proposed to be included in key tracking, and its statements and defenses shall be heard. If it is considered that the company should be included in key tracking, the 'Report Form for the Inclusion of Shipping Companies in Key Tracking' shall be filled in within five working days and submitted to the provincial competent authority together with relevant materials.
Article 6 Where a provincial competent authority discovers that a shipping company has circumstances listed in Article 4 of these provisions, it shall inform the company of the relevant circumstances under which it intends to include the company in key tracking, and hear its statements and defenses. If it confirms that the company should be included in key tracking, it shall fill in the 'Report Form for the Inclusion of Shipping Companies in Key Tracking' within five working days and submit it to the China Maritime Safety Administration together with relevant materials.
Where a provincial competent authority, upon receiving a report from a municipal-level competent authority, confirms that the company should be included in key tracking, it shall fill in its opinions in the 'Report Form for the Inclusion of Shipping Companies in Key Tracking' within five working days and submit it to the China Maritime Safety Administration together with relevant materials; if it confirms that the company should not be included, it shall notify the relevant municipal-level competent authority, which shall notify the relevant shipping company.
Article 7 For a report received from a provincial competent authority, the China Maritime Safety Administration shall decide whether to list the relevant shipping company as a key tracking shipping company.
If the China Maritime Safety Administration discovers that a shipping company has circumstances listed in Article 4 of these provisions, it may directly decide whether to list the company as a key tracking shipping company.
Article 8 If the China Maritime Safety Administration decides not to list a company as a key tracking shipping company, it shall notify the relevant provincial competent authority, which shall notify the relevant shipping company.
Chapter III Supervision of Key Tracking Shipping Companies
Article 9 The provincial or municipal competent authority with jurisdiction over daily supervision and inspection of shipping companies shall conduct supervision and inspection of key tracking shipping companies at least once every three months.
Article 10 When conducting safety management system audits on key tracking shipping companies, the following measures shall be taken: (1) dispatch auditors with relevant business backgrounds; (2) expand the size of the audit team and the scope of audit; (3) appropriately extend the audit time; (4) select representative ships for each audit; (5) verify on site the corrective measures for non-conformities.
Article 11 All ships managed by a key tracking shipping company shall be listed as key tracking ships.
Chapter IV Removal of Key Tracking Shipping Companies
Article 12 A shipping company included in key tracking may, six months after the date of publication, if it considers through self-inspection that the circumstances listed in Article 4 of these provisions no longer exist, submit an application to the provincial or municipal competent authority for removal from key tracking, fill in the "Shipping Company Application for Removal from Key Tracking" and submit the shipping company's rectification report.
Article 13 The provincial or municipal competent authority shall organize special safety management verification for the shipping company that has applied for removal from key tracking. The verification content mainly
includes:
(1) the safety management situation of the shipping company after being included in key tracking;
(2) the safety management situation of the ships managed by the shipping company;
(3) whether the contents in the shipping company's rectification report are consistent with the actual rectification situation;
(4) other relevant circumstances.
Article 14 When a provincial or municipal competent authority discovers any of the following circumstances, it shall fill in the "Report Form for Shipping Company Release from Key Tracking", and after confirmation by the provincial competent authority, the provincial competent authority shall report it to the China Maritime Safety Administration within five working days.
(1) After verification, it is considered that the shipping company has fully rectified the relevant issues and none of the circumstances listed in Article 4 of these Provisions exist;
(2) It is confirmed through routine supervision and inspection that the company has been deregistered or, after being placed under key tracking, has had no managed ships for more than two years.
Article 15 After review and approval, the China Maritime Safety Administration shall remove the shipping company applying for release from the list of key-tracked shipping companies. If, upon review, it is considered that the shipping company has not fully rectified the relevant issues and the circumstances listed in Article 4 of these Provisions still exist, the company shall not be released from key tracking, and the relevant provincial competent authority shall be notified, which shall then notify the relevant shipping company.
Article 16 For a shipping company that is not released from key tracking after verification or review, if, three months after the date of completion of the special verification or review, it considers through self-inspection that the circumstances listed in Article 4 of these Provisions no longer exist, it may again apply for release from key tracking
shipping company.
Article 17 When the ships managed by a key-tracked shipping company change, it remains a key-tracked shipping company, and the ships newly entering or exiting the management of the company remain key-tracked ships.
For ships newly entering the management of the company, the provincial or municipal competent authority shall report the ship list level by level to the China Maritime Safety Administration, which shall include them in the list of key-tracked ships.
Article 18 After a shipping company has been removed from key tracking, the ships under its management that had been included in key tracking because the shipping company was listed under key tracking shall be removed from key tracking at the same time.
Chapter 5 Supplementary Provisions
Article 19 The relevant terms in these provisions are defined as follows:
"Shipping company" refers to an enterprise legal person registered in China that bears the safety and pollution prevention responsibilities for ships flying the Chinese flag in water transport or water transport auxiliary services.
"Serious problems in the company's safety management" means that the company does not know the manning situation of its ships, does not know the movements of its ships, does not know the loading situation of its ships, or the ship manager does not actually perform ship management business.
"A ship involving a serious maritime violation" means: escaping after a maritime traffic accident; inland river ships illegally participating in sea transport; driving a ship without a license; using forged, altered, transferred, bought, sold, rented, or borrowed ship certificates or crew certificates to engage in operations or other related activities; obtaining administrative...
licenses or administrative confirmations through improper means such as deception or bribery.
The occurrence rate of serious maritime violations means the number of serious maritime violations divided by the number of ships managed by the company.
Article 20 Provincial-level or municipal-level competent departments shall establish archives for key tracking of shipping companies. The archives shall include:
(1) A copy of the "Report Form for Shipping Company Inclusion in Key Tracking" and related materials;
(2) Routine supervision and inspection materials;
(3) The "Application for Removal of Shipping Company from Key Tracking" and the company's rectification report (if any);
(4) A copy of the "Report Form for Removal of Shipping Company from Key Tracking";
(5) Other related materials.
The above materials may be stored in paper or electronic form, with a retention period of no less than 10 years.
Article 21 For shipping companies determined to be listed as key tracking targets, the China Maritime Safety Administration will publish the following on its official website:
(1) Names of the shipping companies under key tracking;
(2) Reasons for the shipping companies being included in key tracking;
(3) Names of all vessels managed by the shipping companies at the time of being listed as key tracking targets.
Article 22 Maritime administration agencies at all levels shall promptly notify the competent transportation authorities at the same level of the inclusion and removal of relevant shipping companies under key tracking.
Article 23 These Provisions shall come into force as of [year] [month] [day],
and shall be valid for five years. The Provisions on Safety Supervision and Administration of Shipping Companies under Key Tracking (Hai Safety [2014] No. 517) shall be repealed simultaneously.
