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Rules of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Vessel Visas 1

  • Type : Regulation
  • Release Date : 2010-07-15

 Order of the Ministry of Communications

                            (No. 7 [2007])

  The Rules of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Vessel Visas, which were deliberated and adopted at the 6th utive meeting of the Ministry on May 9, 2007, are hereby promulgated for effect as of October 1, 2007.

  Annex: Rules of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Vessel Visas

  May 31, 2007

Annex: Rules of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Vessel Visas

  Chapter I General Provisions

  Article 1 The present Rules are formulated according to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Safety of Maritime Transport and the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Safety of Inland River Transport for the purpose of regulating the conducts relating to vessel visas and safeguarding the security of water transport.

  Article 2 The present Rules shall apply to the issuance of vessel visas to the domestic vessels navigating within the waters of the People's Republic of China.

  The present Rules do not apply to the military vessels, fishing vessels, and sports vessels. However, when the aforesaid vessels are engaged in profitable transportation, they shall apply for a vessel visa according to the provisions of the present Rules.

  The term "vessel visa" as herein used in the present Rules refers to the administrative licensing act whereby the maritime affairs administrative organs examine vessels and vessel operators upon their application and issue a permit to those that satisfy the conditions for a vessel visa.

  Article 3 The Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of the People's Republic of China shall take charge of the administration of vessel visa all through the whole country, and the maritime affairs administrative organs at various levels are specifically responsible for the administration of the vessel visas within their respective jurisdictions.

  The administration of vessel visas shall meet the principle of efficiency and facilitating people.

  Chapter II Vessel Visas

  Section 1 General Provisions

  Article 5 One shall apply to the maritime affairs organ for a vessel visa under any of the following circumstances unless it is otherwise differently provided for in the present Rules:

  1. sailing from within a port to without the port;

  2. sailing from without a port to within the port;

  3. necessary to sail out of an in-port berth so as to sail within the port as so required by operations;

  4. necessary to sail into an in-port berth so as to sail within the port as so required by operations;

  5. sailing out of a vessel fixing plant or station or out-of-port operating site or on-sea operating platform;

  6. sailing into a vessel fixing plant or station or out-of-port operating site or on-sea operating platform;

  The vessel visas as described in Items 1, 3 and 5 of the preceding paragraph are referred to in general as departure visas, which the applicant shall have obtained within 24 hours prior to the vessel sets sail, while the vessel visas as described in Items 2, 4 and 6 of the preceding paragraph are referred to in general as arrival visas, which the applicant shall have obtained within 24 hours after the vessel arrives. Where a report has already been made to the maritime affairs administrative organ of the place of arrival about the vessel within 24 hours before the vessel arrives, the arrival visa and departure visa may be issued concurrently.

  Article 6 A vessel visa shall be issued upon the request of the vessel or the business operator thereof. In the case of a towed vessel, its application for issuing a visa shall be filed by the towed vessel or the operator thereof, or be filed by the towing vessel or the operator thereof on its behalf.

  The applicant may entrust someone else to apply for a vessel visa.

  Article 7 The vessel for which an application for departure visa is filed shall be in a state of sea-worthiness or tow-worthiness.

  A vessel or the operator thereof who applies for a vessel visa for the first time shall submit to the maritime affairs administrative organ the following materials:

  1. vessel visa book;

  2. electronic card of vessel information (for the applicable vessel);

  3. certificate of vessel nationality;

  4. certificate of vessel inspection;

  5. minimum safety manning certificate;

  6. seaman's competence certificate;

  7. certificate on prevention of oil pollution (for the applicable vessels);

  8. duplicate of the vessel safety management certificate and the certificate on compliance with the corporate security management system (for the applicable vessels);

  9. vessel safety inspection records;

  10. certification on payment of or exemption from vessel port fees;

  11. bill of declaration for the approved carriage of hazardous goods by vessel (for the applicable vessel);

  12. captain's pre-departure announcement and vehicle safe loading records (for the applicable vessel);

  13. application form for convoy (for the applicable vessel); and

  14. vessel operation license.

  Where the information about the certificates as listed in Items 3 through 8 in the second paragraph has been recorded in the book of vessel visas of the maritime affairs administrative organ or been saved in the vessel electronic information card, such certificates may be exempted from submission.

  The vessel operation certificate as mentioned in Item 14 of the second paragraph has to be submitted only for the visa application for the old transporting vessels engaged in domestic transportation. The issuer of vessel operation certificates shall provide the corresponding information of the vessel operation certificate to the maritime affairs administrative organ.

  Article 8 A vessel or vessel operator shall report truthful information when submitting application materials to the maritime affairs administrative organ, and shall be responsible for the truthfulness of such information.

  A vessel or vessel operator may apply for a vessel visa by means of fax, email, electronic data interchange (EDI), etc., and may also report its arrival at the port by means of cable, telex, fax, mobile phone message, email, electronic data interchange (EDI), etc., and make corresponding records in the log book.

  The report shall include the name, type, scale, total tonnage, draught, passenger or freight on board, the place to berth, etc.

  Article 9 The maritime affairs administrative organ shall check if the application materials for a vessel visa are complete, whether they meet the requirements for application, whether there is any obvious sign of alteration or falsification, and whether they are submitted within the valid term, etc.

  Where the maritime affairs administrative organ is doubtful about the genuineness of the application materials or receives any relevant exposure for offence, it shall assign people to make an onsite investigation.

  Article 10 After receiving an application for vessel visa, the maritime affairs administrative organ shall process it according to the relevant provisions of the Procedural Provisions on the Implementation of Transport Administrative License.

  The maritime affairs administrative organ shall process the applications for a single voyage visa on the spot. The visa officer shall remark in the vessel visa book whether the visa is approved, the number and date of the maritime administrative enforcement certificate, and the special seal for vessel visa shall be affixed. Where the application for vessel is disapproved, the reasons for disapproval shall be stated in the vessel visa book.

  Article 11 Where any of the following circumstances occurs, an application shall be filed for a new departure visa:

  1. the captain or any of the seamen performing the corresponding duties changes;

  2. any material change occurs to the structure of the vessel or any of the important equipment relating to the safety of voyage;

  3. the area or line of voyage changes;

  4. the vessel has failed to depart within 48 hours after the departure visa was issued.

  Article 12 Where a vessel is not able to apply for a vessel visa according to the prescribed procedures due to such emergency as disaster relief, salvation, etc., it shall report to the maritime affairs administrative organ prior to its departure and shall make up the vessel visa within 24 hours after completing the task.

  Article 13 Where a vessel enters into or sails past a port temporarily due to reasons like sheltering from wind, waiting for the tide, or replenishment, etc., it shall be exempted from vessel visa, except:

  1. the captain or any of the seamen performing the corresponding duties changes;

  2. to embark or disembark passengers; or

  3. to load or unload goods.

  Article 14 Where a barge-tug fleet finds it necessary to add or release any vessel halfway, the vessels added or released shall apply for a vessel visa, while other vessels in the fleet do not have to apply for a vessel visa.

  Section II Special Provisions

  Article 15 A vessel may apply for a short-term fix-term vessel visa instead of a voyage vessel visa if it is:

  1. a vessel that sails within a fixed water area; or

  2. a vessel that sails along a fixed route.

  A vessel that sails within a fixed water area shall file an application to any of the maritime affairs administrative organs that has jurisdiction over the fixed water area, and a vessel that sails along a fixed route shall file a separate application to the maritime affairs administrative organ of the place where the port of departure and port of destination of the route is situated.

  Article 16 A vessel may apply to the maritime affairs administrative organ directly affiliated to the Ministry of Communications of the place where the hail port is situated or to the maritime affairs administrative organ affiliated to the provincial department of communications for an annual fixed-term vessel visa instead of a voyage vessel visa if it:

  1. is a vessel with good faith in safety;

  2. has been equipped with and uses an automatic identification system as required;

  3. has submitted as required a report of arrivals and departures of the previous year during the prescribed term of visa; and

  4. has entered into an agreement on the payment of port fees with a relevant financial institution.

  Article 17 To apply for a fix-term vessel visa, one shall submit certification materials to prove that it meets the requirements as described in Article 15 or 16 in addition to the materials as provided for in Article 7 of the present Rules.

  Article 18 The maritime affairs administrative organ shall finalize the processing of the application for a short-term fixed-term vessel visa within 7 work days of accepting an application, and shall finalize the processing of the application for an annual fixed-term vessel visa. Where it approves an application for a fixed-term vessel visa, it shall remark in the vessel visa book the valid term of the visas, the area of voyage or the route.

  The valid term of a short-term fixed-term vessel visa shall not be any longer than 3 months. An annual fixed-term vessel visa shall be effective countrywide, and shall be valid for a term of 12 months.

  A passenger vessel and a vessel that carries hazardous goods can only apply for a short-term fixed-term vessel visa whose valid term is not longer than a month.

  Article 19 Where a vessel sails beyond the valid term of the fixed-term vessel visa or the approved area of voyage or route, or any other content as approved in the visa changes, it shall apply for a voyage vessel visa according to the provisions of Section I of the present Chapter.

  Article 20 A vessel which has obtained a fixed-term vessel visa shall, when carrying out any of the activities as provided for in Article 5 of the present Rules, report to the maritime affairs administrative organ about itself according to the ways and contents as provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 8 of the present Rules.

To be continued.

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