The Ministry of Transport ("MOT") has recently issued the Provisions on Supervision and Administration of the Safety of Roll-on/Roll-off Ships at Sea (the "Provisions"), with effect from September 1, 2019.
Encompassing 37 articles, the Provisions deal with "roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ships and seamen", "operators and managers of ro-ro ships", "vehicles, cargo and passengers", "supervisory checks" and "legal liability". The statute expressly states that: 1. comprehensive checks shall be performed to look at passengers, cargo, vehicles and ro-ro ships' safety equipment, before the ro-ro ships set sail, and the check results shall be documented truthfully. 2. Operators and managers of ro-ro ships shall set up the patrolling system to clearly specify such procedures as the coverage of patrols, emergency responses, and job responsibilities ofpatrollers. 3. Passenger evacuation procedures for emergencies should be established for ro-ro ships carrying passenger trains. 4. Any entity or individual shall accept supervisory checks and safety management carried out by competent authorities for ro-ro ships. 5. In case of any violation of provisions concerning maritime traffic safety management herein, authorities of maritime affairs will impose administrative penalties in accordance with relevant laws, administrative regulations and the MOT's rules.