A notice published on 2 June 2022 by the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of People's Republic of China emphasises that shipowners, managers and operators are responsible for ensuring the sea worthiness of their ships. They must implement ship safety management systems and test a ship's main and auxiliary machinery before calling at Shanghai Port.
New rules for shipowners and ship operators regarding machinery failure in Shanghai Port's territory come into effect on 1 July 2022 and are applicable for two years.
The full China MSA notice can be found here.
Please note, this is only available in local language
Machinery failure actions In case of machinery failure, the ship's master should take emergency measures to ensure safety and avoid accidents, report to vessel traffic services (VTS) and follow instructions. When the vessel is stable, a written report should be submitted to the local MSA with details of the incident, emergency measures and corrective and correct actions, as well as ship information on the owner, management, agent and classification. Vessel requires to carry Safety Management Certificate should also carry out safety management system review and report to MSA. Any machinery failure in Shanghai's territorial waterway, incident causing risk of traffic safety or repair requiring more than two hours will require an onboard incident root cause investigation and safety inspection by the Port State Control.
High risk listing for ships and owners Ships with two or more machinery failures in 12 months in Shanghai waters will be listed as high risk by the Shanghai MSA. They will also be subject to additional measures, which may include detention, suspension, or removal from port. Listed vessels must also report their precautionary actions to test machinery to VTS and local MSA, with video of the test and captain's declaration. Alternatively, a listed ship can employ an additional tug for the voyage through the Yangtze River. Owner, manager or operator with three or more machinery failures and total times over 10% of the vessel numbers they own or operating, will also be listed. Those listed face action from the Shanghai MSA, which includes downgrading governmental service and vessel traffic priority as well as informing their banking and insurance provider.
What shipowners and managers should do now With this new safety notice coming into force on 1 July 2022, it is more important than ever to implement effective safety management systems to maintain the ship's machinery. Propulsion, steering and navigational systems must be pre-checked and tested before entering Shanghai's territorial waterway.
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