Regulations on prescription of traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam

Regulations on prescription of traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is prescription of traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam?

According to Clause 2, Article 3 of Decree 16/2018/ND-CP, prescription of traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam means competent authorities of Vietnam regulating and requesting ships to exercise the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea of Vietnam so as to ensure the safety and security of navigation as well as prevent, reduce and control pollution of marine environment.

2. Regulations on prescription of traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam

Specifically, in Article 7 of Decree 16/2018/ND-CP stipulates the prescription of traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam as follows:

- Ships passing through the territorial sea without entering internal waters of Vietnam are required to navigate within the publicly announced sea lanes in the territorial sea of Vietnam.

- Ships carrying cargoes, passengers and luggage or military ships and other ships operated for non-commercial purposes, that must pass through the territorial sea and internal waters of Vietnam in order to enter into seaports of Vietnam, are required to navigate according to designated lanes and carry out procedures for ships moving to ports as regulated by law.

- In case a ship passes through the territorial sea and internal waters of Vietnam without entering into any seaports of Vietnam, the master of that ship must promptly report to the Maritime Administration of that region on reasons and purposes of the ship’s entry into the internal waters of Vietnam in the following cases:

+ Giving first aid to a crewmember or passenger onboard the ship;

+ Sheltering from storms;

+ Carrying out search and rescue activities; transferring people, property or ships rescued at sea;

+ Remedying consequence of ship incident or accident at sea;

+ Other necessary cases as regulated by law.

3. Cooperation in management of sea lanes and traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam

Cooperation in management of sea lanes and traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam is as follows:

- The Vietnam Maritime Administration shall coordinate activities among regulatory authorities. To be specific:

+ Take charge of coordinating the management duties between regulatory authorities;

+ Organize and chair conferences and meetings with specialized authorities or relevant authorities, organizations and enterprises operating on sea lanes to discuss and reach agreement on the settlement of problems arising in the management of sea lanes and traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea of Vietnam;

+ Propose competent authorities to request relevant forces to pursue foreign ships committing violations against laws in the territorial sea of Vietnam;

Request other specialized authorities to promptly notify results of management of announced sea lanes and solutions for handling arising problems; request owners and captains of ships and relevant authorities and organizations to provide data and information about maritime activities on sea lanes;

+ Propose Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces in regions to promptly settle problems arising in specialized state management of sea lanes in the territorial sea of Vietnam within their competence.

- Other specialized authorities shall:

+ Closely coordinate with one another to promptly and lawfully settle formalities related to ships, cargoes, passengers and crewmembers on board the ships operating on sea lanes under this Decree;

+ Promptly notify the Vietnam Maritime Administration or regional maritime administrations of results of settlement of formalities related to ships, cargoes, passengers and crewmembers on board the ships operating on sea lanes;

+ Promptly notify the Vietnam Maritime Administration or regional maritime administrations of any received problems and handle information from regional maritime administrations or ship owners for prompt settlement.

(Article 13 of Decree 16/2018/ND-CP)

Tran Thanh Rin

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