Vessels of foreign nationality should go though safety inspection for trial sailing

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced that it will enact Guidelines of Temporary Navigation Certificate for Vessels of Foreign Nationality on a request of the shipping industry and enforce them from December 1, 2009.

The shipping industry has asked the ministry to eliminate inconvenience caused by field investigations of foreign vessels by the local government. When foreign vessels are built in Korea, they have to go through safety inspections before a trial sailing to ensure that the vessels are capable of sailing safely. Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs set up the Guidelines after studying foreign cases and consulting experts.

The new guidelines allow for self-inspection instead of field investigations and narrow down the range of inspections to the minimum extent necessary to ensure safe navigation. The ministry carried out safety inspections on 421 foreign vessels in 2008 and imposed safety measures on 614 cases with defects.

It is expected that the new guidelines will help the shipping industry save time and energy spent on field investigations, which will ultimately improve competitiveness and the business environment.<Korea Shipping Gazette>