Chapter II
PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION AND PROTECTION OF INLAND WATERWAY NAVIGATION INFRASTRUCTURES
Article 9.- Inland waterway navigation infrastructures
1. Inland waterway navigation infrastructures include inland waterways, inland waterway ports and landing stages, navigation embankments and dams and other support works.
2. Inland waterways are classified into national inland waterways, local inland waterways and exclusive inland waterways. Inland waterways are divided according to different technical grades.
3. The responsibility for organizing the inland waterway management and maintenance is decentralized as follows:
a/ The Transport Ministry shall organize the management and maintenance of national inland waterways;
b/ The People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereinafter collectively called provincial-level People's Committees) shall organize the management and maintenance of local inland waterways;
c/ Organizations and individuals having exclusive inland waterways shall organize the management and maintenance of exclusive inland waterways assigned to them.
4. Organizations and individuals specified in Clause 3 of this Article must arrange forces to manage and maintain inland waterways (hereinafter called inland waterway management units).
5. The Transport Minister shall decide on the classification, technical grading and criteria of technical grades, publicize inland waterway routes and prescribe the management of inland waterways.
Article 10.- Planning on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures
1. The planning on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures must be based on the socio-economic strategies, river basin plannings, other related plannings and defense as well as security tasks.
Branches, when formulating plannings and projects on construction of works related to inland waterway navigation, must solicit written opinions of competent State management agencies in charge of inland waterway navigation, excluding flood and storm control and dyke protection works.
2. The Prime Minister shall approve the overall planning on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures at the proposal of the Transport Minister.
3. The Transport Minister shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with, other ministries and concerned People's Committees in, organizing the formulation and approval of regional plannings on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures on the basis of the overall planning already approved by the Prime Minister.
4. Provincial-level People's Committees shall organize the formulation and approval of detailed plannings on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures in their localities on the basis of the regional plannings on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures.
5. Agencies competent to approve the plannings on development of inland waterway navigation infrastructures shall have to make public such plannings and decide on adjustments thereof.
Article 11.- Construction, renovation and upgrading of inland waterway navigation infrastructures
The construction, renovation and upgrading of inland waterway navigation infrastructures must comply with plannings, ensure technical criteria and navigation safety conditions for all subjects participating in navigation and comply with law provisions on investment, construction, dykes, flood and storm control.
Article 12.- Inland waterway signs
1. Inland waterway signs include buoys, signboards, signal lights and other auxiliary devices, aiming to direct the navigation of vessels operating on inland waterways.
2. The system of inland waterway signs includes:
a/ Channel signs, which indicate the channel limits or the directions for ships to proceed;
b/ Dangerous position signs, which indicate the places where exist obstructions or other dangerous positions on channels.
c/ Notice sign, which display ban notices, restriction notices or instructions on circumstances related to channels.
3. On the already publicized and managed inland waterway routes the systems of inland waterway signs must be installed and maintained.
4. Work owners, organizations and individuals that cause obstructions on inland waterways shall have to install in time and maintain inland waterway signs according to regulations throughout the duration of construction of works or existence of such obstructions.
5. The Transport Minister shall specify the inland waterway signs.
Article 13.- Inland waterway ports and landing stages
1. Inland waterway port means a system of constructed works for vessels, sea-going ships to berth, load and unload cargoes, embark and disembark passengers and provide other services. Inland waterway ports include public ports and exclusive ports.
Inland waterway landing stage means an independent place which has been reinforced for vessels to berth, load and unload cargoes, embark and disembark passengers. Inland landing stages include public landing stages and exclusive ones.
Exclusive inland waterway ports and landing stages mean inland waterway ports and landing stages of one or several economic organizations, which are only used for loading and unloading cargoes and supplies in service of the production or the building or repair of vessels of such organizations.
2. The building of inland waterway ports and landing stages must be in line with plannings and ensure technical standards.
3. Organizations and individuals, when drawing up projects on construction of inland waterway ports or landing stages must obtain written opinions of competent State management agencies in charge of inland waterway navigation.
4. Inland waterway ports must be categorized according to different technical grades. The Transport Minister shall prescribe technical grades and criteria of technical grades of inland waterway ports as well as criteria of inland landing stages, except for the case prescribed in Clause 5 of this Article.
5. The Defense Minister, the Public Security Minister and the Fisheries Minister shall, within the scope of their respective tasks and powers, prescribe the criteria of inland waterway ports and landing stages engaged on defense and security tasks, fishing ports and wharves.
Article 14.- Contents and area of protection of works belonging to inland waterway navigation infrastructures
1. To protect works belonging to inland waterway navigation infrastructures is to ensure safety and useful life of such works and take measures to prevent, stop and handle acts of infringing upon such works.
2. The area of protection of works belonging to inland waterway navigation infrastructures covers works and their protection corridors, the airspace and underground space related to the safety of such works and the safety of inland waterway navigation.
Article 15.- Channel protection
1. The channel protection area covers channels, their protection corridors and the airspace and underground space related to the safety of such channels and the safety of inland waterway navigation.
2. All obstructions within the channel protection areas must be cleared or handled under the provisions of Article 16 and Article 20 of this Law.
3. Work investors or organizations and individuals engaged in the construction of works or mineral exploitation within the channel protection areas must abide by the following provisions:
a/ When formulating projects on work construction or mineral exploitation, written opinions of competent State management agencies in charge of inland waterway navigation must be obtained;
b/ When building, renovating or upgrading works being road bridges, rail bridges, or other works spanning channels, the height and width of clear spans and safe depth of channel bottoms must be ensured according to the criteria of the technical grades of inland waterway navigation routes already determined in the publicized plannings;
c/ Before constructing works or exploiting minerals, plans on ensuring uninterrupted and safe navigation must be made and approved in writing by competent State management agencies in charge of inland waterway navigation;
d/ When completing works or terminating the mineral exploitation, obstructions caused by the work construction or mineral exploitation must be cleared and there must be certifications of the inland waterway management units in charge of the areas in question that navigation on the channels has been ensured as before and the works' dossiers related to the channel protection areas must be handed to the inland waterway management units;
e/ Compensation must be paid for damage caused to the channel protection areas by work construction or mineral exploitation.
Article 16.- Channel protection corridors
1. Within the areas of channel protection corridors, fishery and other activities must not hide signs and affect the visibility of persons directly steering vessels and must comply with the guidance of the inland waterway management units.
When channel corridors change, the inland waterway management units must inform such to organizations and individuals engaged in fishery or other activities and ask them to relocate, narrow or clear obstructions they cause on new channels.
2. Within the areas of channel protection corridors, houses and other works must not be constructed and mineral must not be exploited illegally.
3. Provincial-level People's Committees shall prescribe in detail activities of marketplaces, fishing villages, craft villages and other activities in the channel protection corridors, ensuring uninterrupted, orderly and safe inland waterway navigation as well as environmental protection.
4. The Government shall prescribe the areas of channel protection corridors.
Article 17.- Protection of navigation embankments and dams
1. The area of protection of a navigation embankment is prescribed as follows:
a/ For bank-casing embankments, this area stretches 50 meters from the head and the end of such an embankment upstream and downstream, at least 10 meters from the top of the embankment toward the bank and 20 meters from the foot of the embankment towards the channel;
b/ For blow-pipe embankments, including embankment clusters and single embankments, the area stretches 50 meters from the foot of such an embankment upstream and downstream, at least 50 meters from the root of the embankment toward the bank and 20 meters from the foot of the embankment's head toward the channel.
2. The area of protection of a navigation dam stretches 50 meters from both ends of the dam along the centerline in each direction, 100 meters from the upstream foot of the dam upstream and from the downstream foot of the dam downstream.
3. Within the areas of protection of navigation embankments or dams, the following acts are prohibited:
a/ Placing materials, vessels and equipment, causing slides of embankments or dams;
b/ Anchoring or mooring vessels;
c/ Using explosives, exploiting minerals or other acts affecting embankments or dams.
Article 18.- Protection of other works belonging to inland waterway navigation infrastructures
1. For inland waterway ports and landing stages, locks, works used to help vessels pass dams or falls, their protection areas cover land areas and water areas as decided by competent State agencies.
2. For inland waterway signals, mooring pillars, mooring posts, water benchmarks, monuments, their protection areas stretch 5 meters, measuring from the outermost point of each side of such mooring pillars, mooring posts, water benchmarks, monuments outwards.
3. Within the protection areas of the works prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, the following acts are prohibited:
a/ Anchoring, mooring vessels or animals to buoys, sign posts, water benchmarks or monuments;
b/ Damaging, arbitrarily displacing, or reducing the effect of, signals;
c/ Discharging hazardous substances, thus affecting the durability and useful life of works.
Article 19.- Responsibilities for protecting inland waterway navigation infrastructures
1. People's Committees at all levels, organizations and individuals shall have to protect inland waterway navigation infrastructures.
2. Organizations and individuals, when detecting any damaged or infringed works belonging to inland waterway navigation infrastructures, must promptly inform the nearest People's Committees, inland waterway navigation management units or police offices thereof. The informed agencies or units must take remedial measures in time to ensure uninterrupted and safe navigation.
Article 20.- Clearance of obstructions
1. Illegal obstructions on channels or channel protection corridors must be cleared to ensure safe navigation.
Inland waterway management units shall have to compile dossiers to monitor obstructions which may affect inland waterway navigation safety.
2. Organizations or individuals causing obstructions shall have to clear them within the time limits prescribed by the inland waterway management units; if they fail to clear such obstructions within the prescribed time limits, the inland waterway management units shall clear such obstructions and the organizations or individuals causing obstructions shall bear all costs therefor.
3. Inland waterway management units shall have to clear natural obstructions or obstructions caused by unknown organizations or individuals.
Article 21.- Restrictions on navigation on inland waterways
1. Competent State management agencies in charge of inland waterway navigation shall publicize the specific time, positions and navigation restriction extent of inland waterways in the following cases:
a/ Unexpected emergence of obstructions, thus impeding navigation on the channels;
b/ Prevention and control of floods, storms, natural calamities, rescue and salvage;
c/ Competent agencies' requests regarding construction of works, sport, festive, exercising activities or assurance of national defense and security on inland waterways.
2. The Transport Minister shall prescribe the competence to publicize, and measures to ensure navigation in, the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article.
Article 22.- Inland waterway management and maintenance
The contents of inland waterway management and maintenance include:
1. Surveying, monitoring and reporting on the actual conditions of channels; organizing navigation; inspecting and supervising the protection of works belonging to inland waterway navigation infrastructures;
2. Repairing and maintaining regularly or irregularly channels, signals, equipment and service works on inland waterway navigation routes, facilities used for the management and maintenance of inland waterways; clearing obstructions; preventing, combating and remedying flood and storm consequences.
Article 23.- Financial sources for inland waterway management and maintenance
1. Financial sources to ensure the inland waterway management and maintenance include:
a/ The State budget;
b/ Other sources prescribed by law.
2. The Government shall specify the management and use of financial sources for inland waterway management and maintenance.
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