Principles of Dredging Operations in Sea Port Waters and Inland Waterways

Principles of Dredging Activities in the Waters of Seaports and Inland Waterways as stipulated by Decree 159 are as follows:

- Dredging activities must comply with the regulations of the law to ensure maritime safety, maritime security, order and safety of inland waterway traffic, environmental pollution prevention, safety for local communities, the dyke system, irrigation, disaster prevention, prevention of riverbed, bank, and beach erosion, and should not affect the maritime infrastructure, inland waterway traffic, and other structures.- Dredging activities should not be conducted in the waters of seaports and inland waterways if such activities can obstruct the refuge of vessels during flood season and when natural disasters occur.- Before commencing dredging activities, the dredging contractor shall notify the implementation plan (time, construction progress, project scale, types and quantity of construction vehicles, implementation method) to the relevant specialized management agency (Regional Maritime Administration, regional inland waterway management agency), the local government where the project is located, and post a notice at the construction site throughout the construction process. The posted notice should include the approving authority, investor, consultant monitoring organization, construction contractor, project scale, construction progress, start and completion dates, funding source, and implementation method.- Fundamental dredging projects in inland waterways must be approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or the Provincial People's Committee according to the regulations of the law on water resources. For fundamental dredging projects in inland waterways with dykes, the opinion of the Provincial People's Committee managing the dyke is required; for fundamental dredging projects in inland waterways with dykes of grade III to special grade or within the territories of 02 or more provinces, the opinion of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is required before project approval.- Dredged materials must be managed in accordance with regulations of the law on environmental protection, land law, law on marine and island resources and environment, and other related laws.

See detailed Decree 159/2018/ND-CP effective from January 11, 2019.

-Thao Uyen-

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