Announcement on Strengthening the Administration of Access to the Market for the International Carriage of Passengers by Sea

(Issued by the Ministry of Transport on, and effective as of, March 12 2012.)

Announcement of Mot [2012] No.12

With a view to regulating the international carriage of passengers by sea and ensuring safety in China's international carriage of passengers by sea, the administration of access to the market for the international carriage of passengers by sea is further strengthened pursuant to relevant provisions of the PRC International Maritime Transport Regulations (the International Maritime Transport Regulations) from the date of issuance hereof. We hereby announce relevant matters as follows:

1. Requirements in Respect of Market Access

(1) An international vessel transport operator that engages in the international carriage of passengers by sea to and from ports in China shall secure the relevant permit from the competent transport department in accordance with the law. To engage in the international transport of passengers by liner, qualifications to engage in international liner transport shall be secured in accordance with the International Maritime Transport Regulations. To engage in multi-point ports-of-call business between Chinese ports using foreign-flagged vessels, special approval shall be secured pursuant to the requirements of the Ministry of Transport, Announcement on Special Permission for Foreign-flagged Liners to Engage in Multi-point Ports-of-call Business in China (Announcement No.44 of 2009).





(2) An international vessel transport operator registered in China shall secure a Document of Compliance appropriate for the type of vessel it is operating and a Safety Management Certificate for the vessel it is operating issued by the Chinese maritime department or an organisation recognised by it.





(3) Passenger vessels that are more than 30 years old shall not be granted approval to enter or leave Chinese ports. The age of a vessel is counted from the date on which construction thereof is completed. For foreign-flagged liners that engage in irregular or single voyage international carriage of passengers by sea in China, such as by multi-point ports-of-call, the aforementioned vessel age restriction shall be determined by the Ministry of Transport by comprehensively considering the vessel's technical circumstances.


(4) A vessel shall have the statutory inspection certificates and Certificate of Class appropriate for its navigation area. Its Safety Management Certificate, Passenger Ship Safety Certificate, International Ship Security Certificate and Certificate of Class shall be issued by a classification society that is a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). To engage in international passenger liner transport, the aforementioned certificates may not be valid for less than one year from the date on which the international vessel transport operator submits the relevant permit application documents.





(5) With a view to ensuring that an international vessel transport operator has the relevant operating experience and risk-bearing capacity, if it carries on its operations with a leased vessel (other than a bare boat charter), the operator shall own at least one vessel navigating international waters.





(6) A passenger vessel flying the flag of a state blacklisted under the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control shall not be approved to enter and leave Chinese ports.





2. Monitoring Inspections





Competent transport departments and port authorities at every level shall strengthen their monitoring inspections of the market in their jurisdictions for the international carriage of passengers by sea, intensify onsite inspections, and order international vessel transport operators that engage in the international carriage of passengers by sea in a manner that violates the International Maritime Transport Regulations to rectify such violation within a specified period of time and report the same to the Ministry of Transport. Maritime departments shall strengthen oversight of the safety of arriving vessels that engage in the international carriage of passengers by sea.





Relevant port operators may not offer passenger loading and unloading services to vessels and international vessel transport operators that have not received approval to engage in the business of the carriage of passengers by sea to and from ports in China.

clp reference:4500/12.03.12prc reference:交通部公告 [2012] 第12号　promulgated:2012-03-12