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

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced that it enacted 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 investigation that is undergone on vessels of foreign nationality by the local government. When vessels of foreign nationality are constructed in Korea, they have to go through safety inspection before 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 the results of self-inspection instead of a field investigation and narrow down the range of inspection to the minimum extent necessary to ensure safe navigation. The ministry carried out safety inspections on 421 vessels of foreign nationality in 2008 and imposed safety measures on 614 cases of 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>