Chapter V
MARITIME SAFETY, SECURITY, OCCUPATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Article 105. Assurance of maritime safety, security, occupation and environmental protection
1. Vietnamese sea-going ships shall only be used for purposes which have been registered in the national register of ships of Vietnam once the structure, equipment, certificates and documents of such ships, and manning requirements and qualifications of crew members, are consistent with Vietnamese laws and regulations and international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.
2. Sea-going ships, military vessels, public duty ships, fishing ships, inland watercraft, submarines, submersibles, hydroplanes, floating warehouses, movable platforms and floating docks must, upon operating within a port water area and territorial waters of Vietnam, comply with instructions conveyed by marine signaling systems and observe rules for preventing collisions at sea in accordance with regulations laid down by the Minister of Transport.
3. When a ship is underway within the territory of a navigational channel and at necessary positions along the coastline, on the island, or in the water environment with obstacles and other marine structures and in the port water area where such ship is licensed for operation, marine signaling system must be kept in place in accordance with regulations adopted by the Minister of Transport.
4. Ships specially engineered to transport oil and petroleum products or other hazardous goods are required to have civil liability insurance purchased by the ship owner against environmental pollution issues when underway within Vietnamese port water area and waters.
5. Foreign nuclear-powered ships, ships used for carrying nuclear materials shall be allowed to operate within the port water area, internal waters and territorial waters of Vietnam only after the Prime Minister grants permission.
6. Organizations or individuals operating within Vietnamese seaports and waters must observe Vietnamese laws and regulations and international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party with regard to maritime safety, security, occupation and environmental protection.
Article 106. Ship security and seaport security
1. Passenger-carrying ships and cargo-carrying ships which have the capacity of a least 500 GT and movable platforms, all of which are flying the Vietnamese national ensign to operate in the international route, must have the ship security plan in accordance with laws and regulations.
2. Vietnamese seaports which are allowed to receive foreign and Vietnamese ships as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article must have the seaport security plan in accordance with applicable regulations.
3. The Minister of Transport shall adopt specific regulations on formulation, evaluation and ratification of the plan for ship, seaport, water area and water region security; those on certification regarding ship and seaport security.
Article 107. Dissemination of maritime security information
1. Maritime security information refers to pieces of information about any illegal act of obstruction of a ship’s voyage, or about any past or possible risk that can cause ship accidents or incidents.
2. Ships operating within Vietnamese port water area and waters must send a distress call when in a state of emergency at sea in accordance with regulations.
3. Other ships must, upon receipt of maritime security information from any ship underway at sea, be obliged to transmit such information to responsible authorities or organizations of such ship’s country.
4. The authority that has received maritime security information shall be responsible for arranging 24/24 watchstanding work in order to process received information and deliver maritime security information in a timely manner to any relevant authority.
5. The Government shall adopt specific regulations on public dissemination, receipt, processing and delivery of maritime security information.
Article 108. Assurance of maritime safety
1. Assurance of maritime safety shall include the following activities:
a) Conduct and manage the work of assurance of maritime security;
b) Provide maritime security assurance service.
2. Conduct and management of maritime safety assurance refer to establishment and operation of a maritime safety assurance system, including formulation of the plan and management of investment in construction of infrastructure facilities, and conduct of operation of maritime safety assurance system; standardization, evaluation and control of quality of maritime safety assurance service.
3. Maritime safety assurance service includes:
a) Establish, operate, sustain and maintain marine signaling systems, navigational channels and routes;
b) Explore, sketch out and publish the nautical chart of port water area, navigational channel and route;
c) Issue nautical notifications;
d) Regulate assurance of maritime safety;
dd) Design and issue maritime safety documents and publications;
e) Provide electronic maritime information;
g) Provide marine pilotage service;
h) Provide marine search and rescue service;
i) Clear obstructions that can pose risks to the maritime safety;
k) Render other maritime safety assurance services in accordance with laws and regulations.
4. Maritime safety service providers must meet all required conditions in terms of equipment, financial and human resource as prescribed by laws and regulations.
5. The Government shall adopt regulations on eligibility requirements for provision of maritime safety assurance service.
The Minister of Transport shall conduct and manage maritime safety assurance duties.
Article 109. Navigational route located within Vietnamese territorial waters
1. Navigational route refers to the path of a ship within Vietnamese territorial waters which is restricted by points that have positions and coordinates defined and announced by competent regulatory authorities to direct ships sailing into Vietnamese waters.
2. Establishment of a navigational route within Vietnamese territorial waters used for safe passing and assurance of maritime safety of ships must be consistent with Vietnamese legislation, 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea and other relevant international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.
Article 110. Establishment and public announcement of navigational route and categorization of navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters
1. The Ministry of Transport shall carry out establishment and public announcement of maritime routes and categorization of navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters upon the request of maritime state regulatory agencies.
2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall collaborate with the Ministry of Transport and other relevant agencies to notify international organizations of maritime routes and categorization of navigational channels within Vietnamese territorial waters in accordance with Vietnamese legislation and other relevant international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.
Article 111. Establishment and public announcement of maritime routes and categorization of navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters
1. Name of maritime route.
2. Positions, coordinates and technical specifications of maritime routes.
3. Information about categorization of navigational channels.
4. Instructions for ships’ operations on a maritime route.
5. Other necessary information.
Article 112. Form of announcement of maritime route and categorization of navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters
1. Public announcement of maritime routes and categorization of navigational channels within Vietnamese territorial waters shall take the following forms:
a) Publish the nautical chart or relevant paper or electronic documents used for sea-going issues;
b) Disseminate maritime notifications;
c) Establish the directory of maritime routes and navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters.
d) Follow other relevant forms in accordance with laws.
2. Maritime state regulatory agencies shall assume the following responsibilities:
a) Conduct transmission of maritime notifications of maritime routes and categorization of navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters, both of which have been publicly announced in accordance with laws;
b) Conduct establishment and publication of the directory of maritime routes and navigational routes within Vietnamese territorial waters.
3. Establishment and publication of the directory of maritime routes within Vietnamese territorial waters shall be financed by the state budget and other legitimate financing sources.
Article 113. Inspection and examination of ships’ conformity to requirements for assurance of maritime safety, security, occupation and environmental protection
1. Ships which operate within port water areas, internal waters and territorial waters of Vietnam shall be subject to inspection and examination of the maritime Inspectorate and the port authority to ensure their conformity to requirements for assurance of maritime safety, security, occupation, fire and explosion prevention and environmental protection in accordance with Vietnamese laws and regulations and international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party.
2. Inspection and examination stipulated in paragraph 1 of this Article must be performed in accordance with laws and cause no adverse impact on any possibility of maritime safety and security and conditions for assurance of maritime occupation, fire and explosion prevention and environmental prevention.
3. The ship owner and master shall be held responsible for providing favorable conditions for competent state regulatory agencies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article to carry out their ship inspection and examination.
4. The ship owner and master shall be responsible for taking any necessary measure to correct any ship defect in maritime safety, security, occupation, fire and explosion prevention and environmental protection upon the request of the maritime inspectorate and the port authority.
Article 114. Temporary detention of ships
Temporary detention of ships shall apply under the following circumstances:
1. A ship is involved in an investigation in a marine accident under which temporary detention is required to serve investigation purposes;
2. All statutory fines have not been paid in full yet as stipulated by laws.
3. The ship is charged with commission of any violation against laws for which a temporary detention is imposed in accordance with laws.
Article 115. Authority to temporary detention of ships and term of such temporary detention
1. The Director of the port authority shall be vested with authority to temporarily detain ships under the provisions of paragraph 1 Article 114 hereof within a period of less than 05 days.
Where it is necessary to extend the term of such temporary detention for the purpose of collection of evidence used for investigation in a marine accident that happened within a port water area, the Director of the port authority shall report to maritime state regulatory agencies for consideration and decision to extend the validity term of such temporary detention which is restricted to less than 05 days; where any marine accident occurs outside the port water area, the extended period of temporary ship detention shall be considered and decided by the Minister of Transport.
Investigation in a marine accident must be conducted in an imperative manner and the temporary ship detention must be terminated promptly after sufficient evidence is collected for investigation purposes.
2. The person who is accorded authority over temporary ship detention as defined in the Law on handling of administrative violations shall be entitled to temporarily detain ships under the provisions of paragraph 2 Article 114 hereof. Temporary ship detention shall be terminated immediately after all administrative fines have been completely paid or full payment for such fines is guaranteed.
3. Authority and term of temporary ship detention as stipulated in paragraph 3 Article 114 of this Code shall be consistent with laws and regulations.
4. The person who grants the decision on temporary ship detention shall be liable for compensation for any damage or loss incurred from any wrong detention as prescribed by laws.
Article 116. Procedures for temporary ship detention
1. The person who is accorded authority over temporary ship detention as stipulated in Article 115 hereof shall make a decision on temporary ship detention in respect of cases specified in Article 114 hereof. The temporary ship detention decision must be immediately delivered to the master of the ship subject to the temporary detention, maritime state regulatory agencies and other relevant state regulatory authorities located at seaports.
2. Upon receipt of the temporary ship detention decision referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the ship master and interested persons must follow requirements set out in such temporary ship detention decision.
3. After the reasons for temporary ship detention no longer persist or term of such temporary ship detention expires and there is no decision on extension of the temporary ship detention in accordance with laws and regulations, the person accorded authority over temporary ship detention must grant the decision to terminate the temporary ship detention and deliver such decision to the master of the ship subject to such detention, maritime state regulatory agencies and others located at seaports.
4. The temporary ship detention must be documented.
5. The Government shall adopt specific provisions on the temporary ship detention to serve the purpose of investigation into a marine accident.
Article 117. Complaints and resolution of complaints against the decision on temporary ship detention
The ship master, owner or operator shall be vested with rights to file any complaint against the temporary ship detention decision. Processes and procedures for resolution of a complaint shall be consistent with laws and regulations on complaints.
Article 118. Sea protest
1. Sea protest refers to a document created by the ship master which is served as a statement of situations that a ship has faced and measures that the ship master has applied to remedy these situations, restrict any possible loss or damage and protect legitimate rights and interests of the ship owner and persons involved.
2. When ships, people or goods carried onboard ships are subject to any loss or damage, or there is any suspicion about any possible loss or damage incurred by any accident or incident at sea, the ship master must prepare and lodge a sea protest to competent authorities as referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article in order to certify filing of such sea protest.
3. State agencies accorded authority to certify that a sea protest has been filed in Vietnam include the port authority or the People’s Committees of the nearest commune.
State agencies accorded authority to certify that a sea protest has been filed in an overseas country include the nearest representative agencies of Vietnam or any accredited agency or organization located within such country where the ship is operating.
4. A sea protest shall be made and certified in Vietnamese or English language. If a sea protest is made in English language, it must conform to requirements set out by the agency accorded authority to certify such filing of the sea protest, and the ship master must submit an attached Vietnamese translation version.
5. Regulations on a sea protest shall also be applied to other types of ships operating within a Vietnamese port water area and territorial waters.
6. The Ministry of Transport shall adopt specific regulations on submission and certification of sea protests.
Article 119. Legal value of a sea protest
1. The sea protest certified under the provisions of this Code shall have value as evidence for resolution of any relevant dispute.
2. The certified sea protest shall not exempt the ship master from liability for concerning events.
Article 120. Time limit for filing of a sea protest
1. If an accident or incident occurs during the time when a ship is underway at sea, the sea protest must be submitted to competent authorities for certification no later than 24 hours from the time of ship's entering the first seaport.
2. If an accident or incident occurs at a Vietnamese seaport, the sea protest must be submitted to competent authorities for certification no later than 24 hours from the time of occurrence of such accident or incident.
3. If an accident or incident concerning cargoes stored in a cargo hold occurs, the sea protest must be submitted to competent authorities for certification before uncovering that cargo hold.
4. If it is impossible to submit a sea protest under the provisions of paragraph 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, the filed sea protest must clearly specify reasons.
Article 121. Submission of a supplemental sea protest
The sea master shall be entitled to prepare a supplemental sea protest whenever necessary for submission to competent authorities for certification.
Article 122. Marine search and rescue
1. Ships and hydroplanes which are in distress and need any help must send a distress call in accordance with laws and regulations.
2. Any ship and hydroplane that discovers or receives a distress call from people or other ship in distress at sea or a port water area, if there are necessary and sufficient actual conditions for any rescue action and if rescue activities do not pose any serious danger to the ship and people onboard, must make every effort to help and rescue people in distress, even though such effort entails the ship's going off the predetermined course, and must promptly advise any relevant organization and individual of this.
3. The maritime search and rescue coordination authority must stay always ready to organize and cooperate on search and rescue operations in a timely manner to search and rescue people in distress within the search and rescue area under its management and shall be entitled to mobilize people and equipment for the purpose of participation in search and rescue efforts.
4. The Minister of Transport shall adopt specific regulations on organization and operation of the maritime search and rescue coordination authority.
Article 123. Marine accident
1. Marine accident refers to any event directly relating to ship operations which may lead to one of the following consequences: dead, missing or seriously injured people; ship collision; severe damage to the ship structure; missing, wrecked, sunken, stranded and unmaneuvered ships; damage to maritime infrastructure facilities or serious environmental pollution.
Marine accidents shall not include acts that intentionally cause harm to people, ships, maritime infrastructure facilities or environment.
2. The Director of the port authority must conduct investigation into any marine accident; in the course of investigation into such marine accident, if any sign constituting an offence is found, all documents and records relating to such offence must be transferred to the competent investigation authority.
3. The Minister of Transport shall adopt detailed regulations on marine accident reporting and investigation.
Article 124. Protection for marine structures
1. Protection for marine structures includes operations aimed at ensuring that these marine structures meet safety and quality standards; measures to prevent, control and deal with acts of infringement against such structures which may pose dangers to human lives and cause damage to state and public-owned assets.
2. Extent of protection includes marine structure, its enclosure facilities, aerial parts, underwater parts and underground parts related to safety for marine structures and assurance of safety for marine operations.
3. Outside the extent of protection for seaport structures and navigational channels, construction and other operations shall not be allowed to cause impact on safety for utilization of these seaport structures and navigational channels.
Article 125. Rules on protection for maritime structures
1. Investing in constructing, managing operation of, repairing and protecting marine structures must be consistent with relevant laws and regulations together with technical standards which have already been issued or published by competent authorities.
2. Upon formulating the plan that may have any impact on marine structures, Ministries and provincial People’s Committees must send a written request for any advice of the Ministry of Transport.
3. Organizations and individuals investing in construction, conduct of operation of marine structures must have plans to protect these marine structures, including the following basic contents:
a) Determination of the extent of protection for marine structures in accordance with provisions laid down in this Code;
b) Establishment of marine signaling systems installed for marine structures;
c) Human resource; registered address, telephone number used for protection for marine structures;
d) Means and instruments used for protection for marine structures;
dd) Plan to protect marine structures and methods of inspection and oversight provided by the project owner or operator of such structures;
e) Measures to deal with any damage, marine accident, incident or any act of offence that may impact safety during the process of operation of marine structures;
g) Recommendations on rules, policies and mechanisms for cooperation of project owners or operators with the port authority and competent authority located at the area where a marine structure is located.
Article 126. Extent of protection for marine structures
1. Extent of protection for marine structures must include:
a) As for port terminal and wharf, the extent of protection is calculated from the outer edge of each structure to the outer limit of a water area facing against a seaport or wharf;
b) As for offshore oil ports, the extent of protection is restricted by the safety belt and the safety zone where navigation and anchoring are prohibited;
c) As for navigational channels, the extent of protection is calculated from the centre of the concrete block for buoy marking navigational channels to both sides of navigational channels which are determined according to the technical regulations for navigational channels;
d) As for marine signaling systems, the extent of protection is calculated outwards from the centre of the marine signaling system which is determined according to the technical regulations for marine signaling systems;
dd) As for the aerial and underground parts of marine structures, the extent of protection for these parts is specifically determined in respect of each structure on the basis of the plan for development of seaports and navigational channels, technical regulations and other relevant legal regulations.
2. The competent authority must even include contents of the extent of protection for marine structures when announcing a marine structure's being brought into operation.
3. The Government shall adopt specific provisions on distance and extent of protection for marine structures.
Article 127. Response to emergencies that may arise during the process of protection for maritime structures
1. When discovering that a marine structure has been encroached upon or exposed to a risk of insecurity, the project owner, the person in charge of conducting operation of such marine structure, or the person who made such discovery, shall be responsible for promptly reporting to the port authority that manages such marine structure to find timely measures.
2. Upon receipt of reported information, the Director of the port authority must direct the project owner or the person in charge of conducting operations of this marine structure to apply any necessary measure to protect the marine structure and reduce any loss that may happen to the minimum; concurrently, report to the competent authority and government of the locality where such marine structure is located with the aim of giving assistance and applying any necessary measure to respond to and mitigate any accident, handle any violation and assure safety for such marine structure.
3. The project owner or operator of a marine structure must be responsible for strictly comply with directions of the port authority or competent authority; apply measures to respond to and mitigate any accident and prevent any violation according to the plan for protection of marine structures; create any necessary warning or alert to assure safety for the vicinity of that marine structure; promptly alleviate any consequence in order to bring the marine structure into operation in a safe manner as soon as possible.
4. The competent authority, government of the locality where the violated marine structure is located, upon discovering any violation or receiving information about any marine structure which is exposed to any encroachment or any risk of insecurity, must imperatively cooperate with the port authority of this locality, the project owner or the person in charge of conducting operations of marine structures to deal with such violation, respond to and mitigate any accident in accordance with laws.
Article 128. Environmental protection in marine operations
1. Construction of a ship or seaport must entail installation of environmental protection equipment in accordance with laws and regulations; have oil and hazardous chemical spill response plans.
Seaport must have plans and solutions to receive and treat wastes discharged from ships in accordance with applicable laws.
2. The ship owner, seaport owner and organizations or individuals involved must comply with laws and regulations on environmental protection.
Tìm kiếm
Bộ luật hàng hải Việt Nam 2015 (Bản Word)
Bộ luật hàng hải Việt Nam 2015 (Bản Pdf)