Since 1st July 2022, the Shanghai Port in China has set local reporting requirements, effective for two years, in respect of machinery failure. In this context, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration published an official announcement with the aim to strengthen the management of ships with machinery failure in navigation.
In particular, the new announcement aims to ensure the safety of ships entering and leaving Shanghai Port and maintain the safety and order of maritime traffic. It came into force on July 1st, 2022 and will be effective for 2 years.
Machinery failure refers to a state when a ship cannot maneuver due to failure of machinery equipment and its auxiliary system during the voyage or the process of berthing/unberthing. However, it shall not include difficulty in power output or steering gear arising from external factors such as grounding, entangled by fishing nets, etc..
In case of a machinery failure, safety emergency measures shall be taken, according to circumstances such as prevailing weather, ship conditions, navigation environment, etc. to avoid accidents or dangerous situations. In addition, an oral report shall be made to the Command Center of the Maritime Safety Administration and follow its instructions.
After the ship is in a stable and safe condition, the following measures shall be taken in a timely manner:
(1) Submit a written report including ship’s incident and measures taken, ship’s particulars, information about ship Owners, ship Managers, ship Operators, shipping agencies and classification to the Maritime Safety Administration under jurisdiction.
(2) A ship that is required to hold a safety management certificate shall, in addition to conducting investigation and analysis and formulating corrective measures in accordance with the situation of non-compliance, conduct a review on safety management system and submit the management review report to the Maritime Safety Administration for verification. A ship that is not obliged to hold a safety management certificate shall submit a statement of the cause of the failure and a letter of guarantee for navigation safety.
If a ship conceals or fails to truthfully report machinery failure, punishment shall be imposed in accordance with Article 110 of the Maritime Traffic Safety Law of the People’s.
Ships Subject to Accident Investigation and Safety Inspection by Maritime Safety Administration
- Machinery failure occurs within traffic lanes and precautionary areas.
- Machinery failure occurs in waters apart from those stated in 1 and the repair time exceeds 2 hours.
- Close quarter situations, accidents caused by machinery failure, which obviously affected traffic safety order under the jurisdiction.
- Machinery failure occurred twice or above in Shanghai Port waters within 12 month
- Within 12 months, ships run by the same Owners, Operators or Managers have suffered 3 or more machinery failures in the waters of Shanghai Port, and the cumulative number of machinery failures during this period exceeds 10% of the total flee
Managers, Masters, Officers and crew onboard should ensure the effective implementation of company’s safety management system, especially the routine maintenance and testing of ships’ machinery equipment.
Hence, ships prior to entering Shanghai waters should:
- Conduct detailed technical inspection, self-inspection, testing of ship’s machinery which include propulsion system, auxiliary engine system, steering system and navigation equipment in accordance with technical/pre-arrival or departure checklists which provided by ship management companies, to ensure that they are in a reliable working condition
- Ensure that crew members are familiar with their duties and emergency response measures to be taken in the event of machinery failure. If necessary, drill will be conducted. The contingency drill may include main engine failure, main engine local control, loss of power/blackout, emergency steering and emergency generator operational test, etc
- Train the crew to ensure that the relevant personnel exercise the corresponding due vigilance and precautions when entering Shanghai Port waters
