Vietnam: 13 responsibilities of master of a inland waterway vessel

According to Article 6 of the Circular No. 39/2019/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, master is the person having the supreme authority on board a single vessel or an entire fleet, and shall have the following rights and responsibilities:

First, regarding responsibilities:

- Manage and ensure safety for humans, equipment and property aboard vessels; thoroughly grasp technical conditions, useful life and frequency of repair of vessels.

- Manage logbooks, crew directories and passenger lists (if any), books and other necessary documents, administer data input and carry out the regular monitoring of entries in vessel books or records.

- Administer delivery and receipt of cargoes, provision of services to customers according to shifting orders or transport contracts and other regulations in force.

- Administer assignment of tasks, oversee and push crew members for fulfillment of their assigned duties.

- Pick up, leave passengers, load or unload goods at prescribed places, except when the ship is in distress or force majeure events take place.

- In case of his/her vessel’s accident, he/she must take the most effective emergency response actions; while aboard a sunken vessel, the master must be the last person abandoning the vessel after taking all possible actions to save humans, property, cargoes and other necessary documents aboard the vessel, except when the vessel is entirely sunk.

- Upon receipt of a distress signal or a competent regulatory authority’s order to participate in search and rescue missions, he/she shall be obligated to comply with such order and decide to participate in such rescue if it does not inflict any danger to crew members, passengers aboard or the vessel itself under his/her command.

- While a vessel is operating on the water, if a passenger is giving birth, dead, sick, or is involved in an accident, the master shall be responsible for dealing with these situations in accordance with the following regulations:

+ If a passenger aboard the vessel gets sick or is involved in an accident, first aid services must be provided. Depending on the seriousness of the situation, he/she must be promptly taken to the nearest healthcare establishment to receive emergency care services.

+ If a passenger aboard a vessel is giving birth or dead, a report on the case must be made and certified by 02 (two) witnesses. The childbirth report must clarify the labor time, child’s sex and health condition of both mother and infant. The death report must clarify the deceased’s belongings and documents. He/she shall take control of the report and these belongings before transferring them to a local authority and the deceased's relatives.

- When leaving his/her vessel, he/she must entrust the master’s mate or the authorized person with his/her assigned tasks; if he/she is away for at least a shift period, a written handover report form must be made; if he/she is unable to continue to undertake his/her assigned duties, he/she will have to transfer his/her command authority to the master’s mate and immediately sending a report on this to the vessel’s owner.

- If he/she transfers his/her duties to others upon the vessel owner’s request, an assessment report clearly describing current conditions of crew members, technical condition of the vessel, equipment, property, the number of passengers aboard the vessel, related records and documents on board the vessel. A copy of the handover report must be kept by the transferor, transferee and sent to the vessel owner.

- Take charge of assigning tasks to his/her junior staff, providing information required by, and issuing notices to, competent regulatory authorities before his/her vessel arrives or leaves a port or terminal. Prior to departure, a staff duty roster showing duties that each crew member must perform onboard the vessel must be available. Before the vessel leaves a port or terminal, he/she is obliged to push related departments to which crew members are managed for ensuring an adequate amount of bunkers, fuel, materials, food and medical supplies necessary for a voyage. He/she may allow the vessel to leave a port or terminal only if the vessel conforms to safety regulations, all necessary arrangements for the voyage are made, and competent regulatory authority's permission is obtained.

- Directly undertake a work shift, directly maneuver the vessel through dangerous water areas. After finishing his/her scheduled shift, if there is a request made by the master’s mate or the chief engineer, the master must be present at the commanding position to deal with issues that may arise in a timely manner.

- Perform duties assigned to the master’s mate in default of the post of master's mate aboard the vessel.

Second, within the ambit of his/her position, the master may be accorded the following powers:

- Request replacement of, or refuse to hire, any crew member aboard the vessel if he/she establishes that such crew member does not meet prescribed requirements;

- Force any crew member to leave the vessel if this crew member fails to comply with the master’s command or is in breach of the vessel’s rules and regulations;

- Refuse to allow the vessel to take a voyage if he/she judges that vessel-related, climatic, hydrographic and environmental conditions are not satisfied or may pose safety risks.

View details at Circular No. 39/2019/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, effective from January 01, 2020.

Thu Ba

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