The Ministry of Transport ("MOT") has recently issued two regulations entitled the Provisions on Safety Supervision and Control of Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (the "Provisions") and the Administrative Provisions of the People's Republic of China on the Navigation Safety for Waterborne and Underwater Activities. The Provisions will take effect from March 1, 2019.
According to the Provisions, the systems or rules concerning safe navigation and pollution prevention and control for vessels, established and implemented by owners, operators or managers of vessels used to transport solid bulk cargoes, in accordance with relevant provisions of the MOT, shall include procedures, must-know information or management systems for carrying solid bulk cargoes. Also, the Provisions require that, a consignor that intends to deliver solid bulk cargoes for transport by ship, is required to provide the carrier with certain information about the cargoes, including "a declaration of the safety and transportability of the solid bulk cargoes", before the cargoes concerned are delivered for shipping, and report the same to the maritime safety regulator. Furthermore, the Provisions make clear that consignors of solid bulk cargoes that are easily fluidized shall, in line with provisions of the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code, establish and put in place procedures concerning cargoes sampling, tests and control of moisture content.