Chương III : Phương tiện thuỷ nội địa

Chapter III

INLAND WATERWAY VESSELS

Article 24.- Operating conditions of vessels

1. Non-motorized vessels with a gross tonnage of over 15 tons, motorized vessels with total main engine capacity of over 15 horse powers or vessels with a capacity of over 12 passengers, when operating on inland waterways, must ensure the following conditions:

a/ Satisfying the quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards prescribed in Clauses 2, 3 and 4, Article 26 of this Law;

b/ Having inland waterway vessel registration certificates, technical safety and environmental protection certificates; being painted or stuck with number plates, painted with safety waterlines and the permitted numbers of passengers;

c/ Having a sufficient complement of crew and a crew list.

2. For non-motorized vessels with a gross tonnage of between 5 tons and 15 tons, motorized vessels with total main engine capacity of between 5 horse powers and 15 horse powers or with a capacity of between 5 passengers and 12 passengers, when operating on inland waterways, must ensure the conditions specified at Point a and Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. For non-motorized vessels with a gross tonnage of between 1 ton and under 5 tons each or a capacity of between 5 passengers and 12 passengers each, motorized vessels with total main engine capacity of under 5 horse powers or a capacity of under 5 passengers, when operating on inland waterways, must ensure safety, be painted with safety waterlines and have registration certificates.

4. For rudimentary vessels with a gross tonnage of under 1 ton or a capacity of under 5 passengers, when operating on inland waterways, must ensure safety according to regulations of the provincial-level People's Committees of the localities where their owners register their permanent residences.

Article 25.- Vessel registration

1. Vessels which are of lawful origin, satisfy the quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards as prescribed by law shall be granted registration certificates by competent State agencies.

2. Vessels of organizations or individuals shall be registered at the places where their owners are headquartered or register their permanent residences.

3. Vessels must be re-registered when changing hands, changing their names, technical properties or when their owners relocate their headquarters to, or register their permanent residences in, other provinces.

4. Vessel owners must make declarations in order to have their names deleted and return the vessel registration certificates to the agencies where the vessels are registered in the following cases:

a/ Their vessels are missing;

b/ Their vessels are destroyed;

c/ Their vessels are irreparably damaged;

d/ Their vessels are sold abroad;

5. The Transport Minister shall prescribe the registration of vessels, except for those specified in Clause 6 of this Article.

6. The Defense Minister, the Public Security Minister and the Fisheries Ministers shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, prescribe and organize the registration for vessels engaged on defense or security tasks and fishing vessels.

7. Registration shall be exempt for vessels specified in Clause 4, Article 24 of this Law.

8. Provincial-level People's Committees shall organize the vessel registration according to the regulations of the Transport Minister and organize the management of registration-exempt vessels.

Article 26.- Vessel registry

1. Vessels specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 24 of this Law shall be subject to registry and their owners must implement the following provisions:

a/ When building, transforming, repairing vessels, they must have their design dossiers approved by registry offices;

b/ In the course of operation, their vessels must be subject to inspection by Vietnam Registry offices in terms of technical safety and environmental protection; they must bear responsibility for ensuring that their vessels satisfy the prescribed technical safety and environmental protection standards in inspection intervals.

2. Registry offices, when inspecting the technical safety of vessels, must observe the system of Vietnamese processes and standards and branch standards. The heads of registry offices and the inspectors must bear responsibility for the inspection results.

3. The Transport Minister shall prescribe the quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards of vessels; prescribe and organize the uniform registry of vessels nationwide, excluding vessels specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

4. The Defense Minister, the Public Security Minister and the Fisheries Ministers shall, within the scope of their tasks and powers, prescribe the quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards of vessels engaged on defense or security tasks, and fishing vessels, and organize the registry of vessels engaged on defense or security tasks, and fishing vessels.

Article 27.- Establishments that build, transform and/or repair vessels

1. Establishments that build, transform and/or repair vessels subject to registry under the provisions of Clause 1, Article 26 of this Law must fully satisfy the conditions prescribed by the Government.

2. When building, transforming or repairing vessels subject to registry, the establishments must comply with the quality, technical safety standards and as well as design dossiers already approved by registry offices. In the course of building, they must be subject to inspection and supervision by registry offices regarding quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards.

Article 28.- Import of vessels

Imported vessels must ensure the quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards; the importation of vessels must comply with law provisions.