The Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport ("MOT") has recently released the Announcement on Matters Concerning Adjustments to the Administrative Approval of Maritime Radio (the "Announcement").
The Announcement clearly states that from June 1, 2019, applications filed for the administrative approval to certain maritime radio matters, such as licenses for ship-based radio stations, identification codes for maritime mobile communication business, and call signs of ship-based radio stations, will be accepted, examined and approved by the maritime safety bureaus directly affiliated to the MOT's Maritime Safety Administration or their branch offices, instead of by the MOT's Maritime Safety Administration, adding that the MOT's Maritime Safety Administration itself will no longer be responsible for accepting such applications. Meanwhile, the Announcement reads that as for ship-based radio station licenses granted by local radio regulators before December 2016, applications should be filed to the corresponding maritime agencies for replacement licenses within 30 working days prior to the expiry date, while for those ship-based radio station licenses granted by local radio regulators after December 2016, applications should be filed to the corresponding maritime agencies for new licenses before September 1, 2019 and such licenses will be considered invalid in case of the failure to file applications before this deadline. A new ship-based radio station license issued on June 1, 2019 or thereafter will be valid for three years, rather than for merely one year as before.