Legal provisions of COM(1995)28 - Safety management of ro-ro passenger vessels

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dossier COM(1995)28 - Safety management of ro-ro passenger vessels.
document COM(1995)28 EN
date December  8, 1995


Contents

Article 1

The purpose of this Regulation is to enhance the safe management, safe operation and pollution prevention of ro-ro passenger ferries operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community on a regular service by ensuring that companies operating ro-ro ferries comply with the ISM Code through:

- the establishment and proper maintenance of shipboard and shore-based safety management systems by companies, and

- the control thereof by flag and port State administrations.

Article 2

For the purpose of this Regulation and with a view to the implementation of the ISM Code:

(a) ro-ro ferry means a seagoing passenger vessel with facilities to enable road or rail vehicles to roll on and roll off the vessel, and carrying more than 12 passengers;

(b) regular service means a series of ro-ro ferry crossings operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more points, either:

1. according to a published timetable; or

2. with crossings so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognizable systematic series;

(c) company means the owner of a ro-ro ferry or any other organization or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed responsibility for operating the ro-ro ferry from the owner;

(d) recognized organization means a body recognized in compliance with the provisions of Directive 94/57/EC;

(e) ISM Code means the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, adopted by the IMO through Assembly Resolution A.741(18) of 4 November 1993, and annexed to this Regulation;

(f) administration means the Government of the State whose flag the ro-ro ferry is entitled to fly;

(g) document of compliance means the document issued to companies in conformity with paragraph 13.2 of the ISM Code;

(h) safety management certificate means the certificate issued to ro-ro ferries in conformity with paragraph 13.4 of the ISM Code;

(i) sheltered waters means areas where the annual probability of the significant wave height exceeding 1,5 m is less than 10 %, and in which a ro-ro ferry is at no time more than six nautical miles from a place of refuge where shipwrecked persons can land.

Article 3

The Regulation shall apply to all companies, operating at least one ro-ro ferry to or from a port of a Member State of the Community on a regular service regardless of its flag.

Article 4

1. All companies shall comply with all the provisions of paragraphs 1.2 to 13.1 and of paragraph 13.3 of the ISM Code, as if the provisions thereof were mandatory, as a requirement for their vessels to provide regular services to or from a port of a Member State of the Community.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, companies operating a ro-ro ferry or ferries on a regular service exclusively in sheltered waters between ports situated in the same Member State may defer compliance with the provisions of this Regulation until 1 July 1997.

Article 5

1. Member States shall comply with the provisions of paragraphs 13.2, 13.4 and 13.5 of the ISM Code as if the provisions thereof were mandatory, in relation to companies and ro-ro ferries.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, Member States may only authorize, or rely upon, fully or in part, a recognized organization.

For the purposes of paragraph 13.2 of the ISM Code, a Member State may only issue documents of compliance for a company which has its principal place of business on its own territory. Prior to such issue, the Member States shall consult the administration of the States whose flag the ro-ro ferries of that company are entitled to fly, if that administration is not that of the issuing Member State.

3. The document of compliance shall only be valid for five years from the date of its issue, provided always that a verification takes place once a year, in order to confirm the proper functioning of the safety management system, and to confirm that possible modifications introduced since the latest verification satisfy the provisions of the ISM Code.

4. The safety management certificate shall only be valid for five years from the date of its issue, provided always that an intermediate verification takes place at least every 30 months or more frequently in order to confirm the proper functioning of the safety management system and to confirm that possible modifications introduced since the latest verification satisfy the provisions of the ISM Code.

5. For the purposes of this Regulation, and in particular Article 6, each Member State shall accept a document of compliance or a safety management certificate issued by the administration of any other Member State or by a recognized organization acting on its behalf.

6. A Member State shall recognize the documents of compliance and safety management certificates issued by, or on behalf of, the administrations of third countries if it is satisfied that they demonstrate compliance with the provisions of this Regulation.

Documents of compliance and safety management certificates issued on behalf of administrations of third countries may only be recognized if they have been issued by a recognized organization.

Article 6

Member States shall satisfy themselves that all companies providing regular ro-ro ferry services to or from their ports comply with the provisions of this Regulation.

Article 7

Where a Member State considers that a company, notwithstanding the fact that it holds a document of compliance, cannot operate a ro-ro ferry on a regular service to or from its ports on the grounds that there is a risk of serious danger to safety of life or property, or the environment, the operation of such service may be suspended until such time as the danger is removed.

In the above circumstances the following procedure shall apply:

(a) the Member State shall inform the Commission and the other Member States of its decision without delay, giving substantiated reasons therefor;

(b) the Commission shall examine whether the suspension is justified for reasons of serious danger to safety and the environment;

(c) it will be decided, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 10 (2), whether or not the decision of the Member State to suspend the operation of such service is justified for reasons of serious danger to safety of life or property, or the environment and, if the suspension is not justified, that the Member State concerned will be requested to withdraw the suspension.

Article 8

In order to take account of the general terms of the ISM Code, the Commission shall review the implementation of this Regulation three years after its entry into force and propose any appropriate measures.

Article 9 - In order to take account of developments at international level and, in particular, in the IMO,

(a) the definition of the ISM Code in Article 2;

(b) the periods of validity of the document of compliance and/or the safety management certificate and the frequency of verification relating thereto in Article 5 (3) and (4);

(c) the Annex;

(d) the definition of recognized organization in Article 2;

may be amended, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 10 (2), in particular to introduce into the Annex guidelines for administrations for the implementation of the ISM Code.

Article 10

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee established by Article 12 (1) of Council Directive 93/75/EEC (1).

2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.

3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.

(b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.

(c) If, on the expiry of a period of 40 days from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.

Article 11

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1996.

It shall be applicable as from 1 July 1996.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, this Regulation shall not apply until 31 December 1997 to companies which are incorporated under Greek law, which have their principal place of business in Greece, and which operate ro-ro- ferries registered in and flying the flag of Greece providing regular services exclusively between ports situated in Greece.


This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.