Tag: regulatory update

The US Coast Guard shared work instruction concerning determinations for a Vessel’s Keel Laid Date, providing guidelines for Officers in Charge, Marine Inspection (OCMIs) to determine what may be accepted for the purpose of establishing a vessel’s keel laid date.

The Government of Canada announced that the Canadian Navigable Waters Act and the Major Works Order come into effect on 28 August, restoring lost protections for all waterways to protect the rights of Canadians to travel on all navigable waters in the country.

Starting from 1st September, seafarers on Danish ships no longer need to hold Danish health certificates, the Danish Maritime Authority announced, in line with a changing scheme for medical examinations of seafarers and fishermen. Instead, the certificate must follow international rules.

As the Swedish Club informed, no stowaways will be allowed to be landed in South African ports, according to a new sharpened policy from the immigration authority. Any person declared as a stowaway will have to be removed on route or at the next port of call outside South Africa.

According to the Shipowners' Club, with effect from 20 August 2019, under Regulation PM No. 7 of 2019, the Ministry of Transportation of The Republic of Indonesia has made it mandatory for ships sailing in Indonesian waters to install and activate an Automatic Identification System (AIS).

The US Oil Pollution Act 1990 (OPA 90) provides for an adjustment of the limits of liability according to increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI) not less than ever three years. On 13 August 2019, the USCG published a final rule to increase limits of liability for vessels under OPA 90.

The Government of Canada announced it has made amendments to the invitation to qualify (ITQ) for a third National Shipbuilding Strategy shipyard, correcting an inconsistency in the vessel dimensions that shipyards’ must be capable of building and launching.

Following recommendations in the National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee Production Subcommittee Final Report in March 2018, the US Coast Guard eliminated the need for submissions of service life extension requests, as previously outlined in D8 Policy Letter 01-2016.

Between 8 Sep 2019 and Sep 2024, the BWM Convention will reach the second phase of its implementation where all ships will have to conform to the D-2 standard. In other words, after 15 years, the Ballast Water Management Convention is coming into full effect from this September since all ships must be fitted with D-2-compliant ballast water treatment system by the next IOPP renewal survey but not later than 8 September 2024.

IMO's MEPC 74 in May adopted amendments to MARPOL Annexes I, II, V, VI and the NOx Technical Code, regarding the use of electronic record books, approved as alternative of hard copy record books under the MARPOL Convention. The Committee also adopted guidelines to support the use of electronic record books.