07/2012/TT-BGTVT in Vietnam, Circular No. 07/2012/TT-BGTVT stipulating ranks rank-based duties of seafarers in Vietnam

Vietnamese
English
Official Gazette
Content relation
Validity relation
Related Content
Description
Download

Text size large => Please "Download" to view content.

THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT --------	THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness ---------------
No. 07/2012/TT-BGTVT	Hanoi, March 21, 2012

CIRCULAR

STIPULATING RANKS, RANK-BASED DUTIES OF SEAFARERS AND REGISTRATION OF SEAFARERS WORKING ABOARD VIETNAMESE SEAGOING SHIPS

Pursuant to the Law on Vietnam’s Maritime dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 51/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 22, 2008 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

Pursuant to the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers amended in 2010 of which Vietnam is a member.

The Minister of Transport hereby promulgates the Circular on stipulating ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

...

Bạn phải đăng nhập hoặc đăng ký Thành Viên TVPL Pro để sử dụng được đầy đủ các tiện ích gia tăng liên quan đến nội dung TCVN.

Mọi chi tiết xin liên hệ: ĐT: (028) 3930 3279 DĐ: 0906 22 99 66

This Circular shall stipulate ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships.

Article 2. Applicable entities

This Circular shall apply to seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships and other relevant agency, organization or individual. This Circular shall apply to Vietnamese seafarers working aboard ships seagoing vessels only if this is governed under the specific provisions of this Circular.

Article 3. Flying of the national ensign on Vietnamese ships

1. Seafarers are obliged to protect and preserve the dignity of the national ensign flown by their ships.

2. The national ensign must be flown in the regulated position. When the ship is under sail or at anchor, the national ensign must be flown from the peak of the aftermost mast. As for ships without the stern mast, the national ensign shall be flown from the main mast. Everyday, the national ensign shall be hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset. In foggy winter days, the national ensign shall be raised whenever it can be seen. The national flag may be hoisted earlier or lowered later than the regulated time under the following circumstances:

a) Ships are entering or leaving harbours;

b) Ships come across combat ships or other Vietnamese ships.

3. The national ensign shall be raised and lowered by able seafarers under the order of the deck officer of the watch.

...

5. During important national holidays or special days specified in the directive of the Prime Minister, the national ensign must be raised in the manner of a flag salutation practice. When underway and in favorable weather conditions, in addition to flying the national ensign from the topmost of the aftermost mast, the ship needs another national ensign to be flown from the main masthead.

6. When the ship is at anchor in an overseas harbor, the national ensign of Vietnam must be raised before and lowered after the other ensign of the nation in whose territorial waters the ship is moored.

7. When the ship gets underway, enters, leaves or moors in foreign waters, it must fly the ensign of the host nation in whose territorial waters it is sailing from the ship’s main mast.

8. The national flag must be displayed in the open. On the day of the state funeral, the national ensign must be displayed in the manner of a funeral ceremony.

Article 4. Flying of ceremonial flags on Vietnamese ships

Ceremonial flags flown by ships that are at anchor in the harbor must follow the practices hereunder:

1. On the day of a significant ceremony: a string of international maritime signal flags is extended from the forwardmost mast in the ship’s prow to the aftermost mast in the ship’s stern over horizontal spars of the fore mast and main mast. The national ensign must be displayed on the topmost of the fore mast, main mast and aftmast while the ship owner’s signal flag is flown from the jack staff. Cargo handling aboard a ship shall not be obstructed by the flying of such flags;

2. On other ceremonial days: a string of international maritime signal flags is extended from the jack staff to the foremast, and the second string is running from the main mast to the ensign staff in the ship's stern. The national ensign must be flown on the topmost of the foremast, main mast and aftmast;

3. International maritime signal flags flown by the ship must have the suitable size and color to promote its eye-catching look and dignity;

...

Article 5. Reception of guests visiting ships

When guests stipulated in Clause 4 Article 3 hereof pay a visit to a ship:

1. If a prior notification is given, the master must order all of the ship’s crewmembers to dress formally like participating in a ceremony, stand in a queue alongside the end of the ship’s gangway and the master must stand at the end of the ship's gangway to welcome guests aboard;

2. If a prior notification is not given, the deck officer of the watch must stand at the end of the ship's gangway to greet guests and immediately advise the master to come to welcome visitors.

Chapter II

RANKS AND RANK-BASED DUTIES

Section 1. SEAFARER’S RANK

Article 6. Seafarer’s rank

1. Ranks and occupations of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese ocean-going vessels shall include: master, chief officer, deck officer (second officer, third officer), chief engineer, second engineer, engineering officer (third engineer, fourth engineer), chief steward, radio communications officer, electrotechnical officer, ship security officer, cooling system officer, bosun, bosun’s mate, watchstanding seaman, main engine machinist, machinist’s mate of the watch, electrotechnical engineer, radio and wireless communications crewmember, chief purser, medical doctor or medical assistants, messman, chief cook, cook’s mate, passenger service manager, steward, head waiter, waiter, luggage storage facility manager, laundryman, accountant, cashier, salesperson, ticket seller, security guard, refrigeration and air-conditioning engineer and pump engineer. Depending on the ship type, technical specification and use purpose, the shipowner can rank the ship crewmembers in conformity with the ship manning requirement.

...

Section 2. RANK-BASED DUTIES

Article 7. Master's duties

Master is the person having the supreme command of the ship. The master shall assume the following duties:

1. When the ship is transferred and received, the master shall take on the following duties:

a) The handover of ships between the receiving master and the transferring master must be directly carried out;

b) When transferring and receiving ships, the master must transfer the details of the ship hull, machinery, equipment, property and all documents, records or cash amounts as well as keep a tally of items;

c) The receiving master shall require the transferring master to provide detailed information about the special structure, technical capability and continuing completion plan. The transferring master shall required officers of each department to prepare a written report on all current activities of their departments and declaration of the ship’s assets. The receiving master in conjunction with the chief officer, chief engineer and second engineer to check and verify the current condition of the ship;

d) Time of commencement and end of such ship handover must be specified in the record signed by both parties as well as recorded in the marine logbook. The record on the handover of the ship shall be made into 04 copies: 01 copy sent to the shipowner and 02 remaining copies delivered to the transferring and receiving party;

dd) The transferring master must convene the general meeting with ship crewmembers to introduce the ship-receiving master and give the newly-appointed master a notification of the time of ship command transfer.

...

a) Follow the order of the shipowner to bring the ship into operation or suspend the ship's operation, repair or dispose of the ship;

b) Before voyage, the master is obliged to take measures to maintain the safety and security for passengers, ship and cargos, inclusive of technical equipment, fuel, fresh water, food or provisions aboard the ship;

c) Designate the chief officer and chief engineer to make essential preparations for the ship’s safe departure at the regulated time;

d) Check the availability of the nautical chart and other nautical documents relating to the whole itinerary;

dd) Update the weather condition of the zone where the ship is going to move past, formulate the journey plan and set a course by using the nautical chart in which nautical factors such as geographical, meteorological – hydrographical conditions as well as others may cause any impact on the journey;

e) Check whether the cargo handling conforms to the cargo hold diagram so that the quantity and quality of cargos are kept unchanged. Especially, the breakbulk or dangerous cargo handling and shipping are taken into particular consideration; the ship capacity and tonnage must be optimized but the stability and safety of the ship must be guaranteed;

g) At least 02 hours before leaving the harbor, the master must put all essential preparations under control and check the presence of ship crewmembers and others aboard the ship;

h) In case there is any absence of crewmembers, in order for the ship to depart at the right time, the master must promptly notify the director of the maritime administration and the shipowner when the ship is domestically moored, or notify the agent, Vietnam's competent diplomatic mission when the ship is moored in overseas countries, of full name, rank and shore-leave time of the absent crewmember. At the same time, the master must take necessary measures to call this absent crewmember back to the ship in time for the journey or require him/her to embark at the next harbor provided that such absence causes no impact on the ship safety;

i) Unceasingly maintain the shipping safety, security and environmental pollution prevention.

...

a) Guarantee the adequate and accurate number of crewmembers and passengers specified in the crew and passenger list;

b) Examine the implementation of the journey plan formulated before departure; carry out the regular inspection of the seafarer’s shift work at the nautical bridge in order to ensure that the ship is following the right route according to the journey plan and issue the order to the officer of the watch when necessary;

c) Except the master, no one has the right to change the specified course. In the event that there is a risk of crash or in order to serve the purpose of avoiding unforeseeable dangers, or if a person is seen falling off the ship, the deck officer of the watch shall exercise the right to change the course and then immediately report to the master;

d) Hurriedly turn up at the nautical bridge when the deck officer standing watch in the nautical bridge demands their presence and be regularly present at the bridge when the ship is sailing into the narrow navigable channels, straits, canals or near the coast, or when the ship is entering or leaving the harbor, or in dangerous zones, unfavorable weather conditions with restricted vision or passing zones where a large number of ships are getting underway. Under the abovementioned circumstances, the master is required to apply appropriate measures and place the anchor at the ready position as well as notify the bridge of these circumstances to get ready to take action upon request;

dd) If the ship is heading towards any iceberg, obstacle and is likely to face the direct danger or sailing into the tropical cyclone, the zone struck by below-zero-Celsius temperature along with the strong wind freezing the ship superstructure, or sailing against the wind force on the 9^th or above-9^th scale without receiving any information about such condition, the master is required to apply necessary measure to cope with it in an appropriate manner with the aim of protecting passengers, ship and cargos; concurrently, promptly keep ships operating nearby, shipowner and the competent authority that the ship can contact in the first attempt, informed of this situation;

e) In case the ship is led by an ice-breaking ship to get underway into the zone covered by icebergs, the master must follow the instructions of the master of this ice-breaking ship and send a prompt report on any related issue to ensure the safety for their ship voyage;

g) Carry out the daily examination and append their countersignature to authenticate the content written in logbooks in accordance with legal regulations;

h) Regularly perform the task of maintaining the shipping safety, security and environmental pollution prevention.

4. When the ship is guided by using the pilotage, the master shall take on the following duties:

...

b) Ensure the safety for the embarkment and disembarkment of pilots, arrange accommodations and meals for them as well as provide favorable conditions for pilots to accomplish their tasks;

c) Before pilots perform their tasks, the master shall notify them of the ship maneuvering characteristics, engine and equipment condition and other necessary information in order to provide the best conditions for pilots to act on their own initiative in guiding the ship;

d) Get ready to be present at the bridge to punctually deal with any situation, keep a sharper lookout and prepare the ship anchorage in the permitted casting position. If leaving the ship bridge is inevitable, the ship master shall introduce his authorized officer to pilots;

dd) The use of pilotage guiding the ship shall not lead to any exemption or exclusion of the master’s liability for operating the ship. The master shall take measure to promptly and accurately prevent and deal with any situation that may happen in order to ensure the absolute safety for the ship;

e) In case pilots make an inaccurate or unreasonable decision on dealing with such situation, the master is obliged to suspend these pilots’ actions and require pilots to take appropriate actions in order for their ship to sail at sea in a safe and sound manner. When necessary, the master shall be entitled to find any replacement for these pilots.

5. When a person is seen falling off the ship, the master shall take on the following duties:

In case there is a person seen falling off the ship, the master must take action in an immediate and efficient manner to search this person, concurrently notify the ship owner, manager or charterer, coastal radio station, marine search and rescue, maritime administration and the nearest competent authority as well as call for help with the search and rescue from other ships operating nearby; only make a decision to steer the ship away from the area where that person is falling off the ship when there is no hope for finding that person though all attempts have made, except when this decision may result in severe dangers posed to the ship and people aboard that ship. Time and measures which have been taken to search and rescue the victim must be recorded into the nautical logbook.

6. When the search and rescue is carried out, the master shall take on the following duties:

a) When receiving the distress signal or discovering a stricken ship, the master shall be responsible for quickly maneuvering their ship to assist in the search and rescue on condition that such action does not cause any serious danger to the ship and crewmembers. Time and position of the stricken ship along with reasons for agreeing or refusing to assist in the search and rescue must be recorded into the nautical logbook;

...

c) When discovering the abandoned ship, if possible, the master is obliged to tow such ship toward the nearest harbor and notify the competent port state control or maritime administration, ship owner, manager or charterer and diplomatic missions of Vietnam in the country where such harbor is located. In case it is impossible to tow the ship, the position of that ship must be recorded in the nautical logbook, reasons for failure to tow that ship, and the nearest port state control or the maritime administration must be notified as well.

7. When the ship has an accident or collision, the master shall take on the following duties:

a) In case the ship collides with the other ship, the master must require the master of the latter to provide information about name, serial number, IMO number, port of registration, port of departure, port of call, port of arrival and name of the shipowner. Simultaneously, the master shall take turn to provide such information for the master of the latter and report to the nearest ship owner, charterer and maritime administration. Within the permitted capability and condition, the ship shall be liable to rescue the stricken ship over which the rescue of people trapped on board the ship shall take priority;

b) After any accident, crash or collision occurs, the master must immediately keep a record of what have happened in which any loss or damage caused for both ships shall be validated by both ship masters and interested parties. Concurrently, they are required to proceed to improve their documentation about such event in accordance with legal regulations;

c) When the ship meets with accidents, if there is no likelihood of being rescued and it is inevitable that the ship must be abandoned, the master shall take all possible measures to save people and find the way to carry the nautical logbook, engine logbook, radio communications logbook and nautical chart indicating the accident area, cash and other necessary documents and records of the ship;

d) On seeing that the ship needs assistance from other ships, the master of the stricken ship is required to apply all possible measures to call for such assistance in which any assistance offered by ships flying the national ensign of Vietnam shall be considered the top priority;

dd) Whilst receiving assistance from other ships, the master shall be responsible for commanding ship crewmembers, passengers to strictly comply with regulations of the assistance-offering ship;

e) The master is required to prepare a comprehensive report on the nautical accident that happened to the ship in accordance with legal regulations.

8. When the ship is abandoned, the master shall take on the following duties:

...

b) When abandoning the ship, the master shall be still charged with search and rescue of passengers (if any), missing crewmembers and apply necessary measures to take the remaining people to the safe place and repatriate them if the ship met with an accident abroad;

c) The master must be the last one to leave the ship.

9. When there is a patient aboard the ship, the master shall take on the following duties:

a) If it is impossible to cure the patient on board the ship, the master shall be responsible for finding all necessary measures to call for the medical assistance, even navigate their ship in the nearest harbor and immediately report to the port state control and ship owner, manager or charterer;

b) In case the master is seriously ill or is suffered from a sudden accident, the command of the ship shall be assigned to the chief officer and the ship owner, manager or charterer shall be notified to take prompt action; concurrently, the master shall report to the competent diplomatic mission of Vietnam at the host country if the ship is sailing abroad, and record this into the nautical logbook.

10. When the ship is entering, leaving the harbor or lays at anchor, the master shall take on the following duties:

a) When the ship is operating within the territorial waters or lays at anchor in the harbor or permitted anchorage areas in Vietnam or other overseas countries, the master shall comply with Vietnam's laws, International Agreements of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member as well as laws of that host country;

b) Before and whilst completing the customs inward clearance procedure, or whilst and after completing the customs outward clearance procedure, the master shall not allow crewmembers to contact other persons, except when such contact is actually necessary;

c) In case there is any dispute pertaining to the ship or any crewmember is arrested, the master must punctually file a nautical appeal and immediately report to the competent diplomatic mission of Vietnam in that host country and ship owner, manager or charterer so that they can find possible solutions to this;

...

dd) When the ship is operating in unfamiliar areas or restricted visibility or near the area full of obstacles, the master shall order other officers to be in place for their assigned tasks;

e) The master must appear at the bridge when maneuvering the ship to enter or leave the harbor, or tying or untying the ship at the dock or the anchorage. When the ship moors in the area where nautical safety requirements are not met, the master’s permanent presence is requested on board the ship. If the master must be absent from the ship, the master must order the chief officer to act on behalf of the master to cope with any situation that may arise;

g) Prior to this absence, the master must provide specific instructions on tasks that the chief officer or the deck officer of the watch is assigned to perform; as for important issues, the master shall clearly record them into the nautical logbook and notify the deck officer of the watch of his address, telephone number (if available) during his absence from the ship;

h) Carry out the daily examination and append their countersignature to authenticate the content recorded in the logbook in accordance with regulations;

i) Upon completion of voyage, the master must submit the report to the ship owner, manager or charterer on the voyage and the result of implementing the plan on the ship operation.

11. When the ship is carrying passengers, the master shall take on the following duties:

Take necessary measures to ensure the absolute safety of passengers, crewmembers, cargos, luggage and ship's property; give on-board training in life-saving, firefighting and anti-flooding practices to the crew and provide the safety drills for passengers in using life-saving and fire-fighting equipment as well as other safety devices.

12. On receipt of the newly-built ship, the master shall take on the following duties:

When receiving the newly-built ship, the master shall be responsible for taking the delivery of this ship by keeping a record of the ship hull, machinery, entire technical equipment, technical documentation, records, ship’s property, catering apparatus and supplies. a) When transferring and receiving the ship, a record on such transfer and receipt must be created with countersignatures appended by the transferring party and the ship master of the receiving party. Provide the crew with opportunities to get familiar with the ship in order to early bring the ship into operation.

...

a) Consider approving ship repair items prepared by the chief officer, chief engineer and report to the ship owner to seek their decision;

b) Submit a report to ask for permission from the ship owner for any change or supplementation to such items when necessary and carry out such change or supplementation only if receiving the written consent from the ship owner;

c) During the repair time, the master must apply necessary measures to ensure the safety of the ship and comply with rules and regulations set out by the ship repair service facility; work with the chief officer, chief engineer and other interested party to examine the ship's hull, seacock system, propeller, rudder and create a document confirming the current condition of these ones. This examination must be repeated before the ship leaves the ship repair service facility and this must be verified by the class society;

d) Examine and monitor the progress of repair work and quality of repair service, ensure the labour safety and facilitate the crew's best practice of ship repair and preservation in the process of ship repair;

dd) Upon completion of ship repair, the master shall conduct the acceptance testing on specific repair items in order to ensure the accepted quality as well as avoid causing any damage or loss for the ship owner.

14. Master's watchstanding duties:

a) If no one holds the third officer rank, the master shall be charged with standing watch as a third officer;

b) If there is none of the second officer and third officer aboard the ship, these rank-based duties shall be assumed by the master and chief officer in conformity with the assignment of the master.

Article 8. Chief officer's duties

...

1. Directly manage, operate the ship, human life activities and ensure the security for the ship; directly manage and oversee the deck, steward and medical department on board the ship, and assist the master in directing the work of the deck officer when the ship is stopped and making no way through the water. If the master is absent, the chief officer shall act on behalf of the master to take charge of general work aboard the ship; by order of the master, issue orders relating to the crew’s resumption of duties in accordance with regulations laid down in this Circular;

2. Stand watch from 4 am to 8 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm in a day. When maneuvering the ship to enter, leave the harbor or operate in the narrow channel, reach the anchorage, the chief officer must appear at the ship’s bow to command the execution of the master’s order;

3. Examine and control the compliance with the process and rule of technical and labor safety within their department on a regular basis;

4. Operate and preserve the ship’s hull, deck, derrick, superstructure, stateroom, work room, treasure chest, machinery system and deck equipment items such as cargo hold system, anchor, rudder, winch, derrick, lashing, fire safety system, water-level measurement system, ventilation, anti-flooding instrument and life-saving equipment in conformity with the technical operation procedure and rule; submit a timely report to the master on any damage or loss and recommend remedial measures; as for equipment items in the engineering department, inform the chief engineer of such damage or loss in order to find solutions;

5. Monitor man days and schedule the compensated time-off for the deck crewmembers; arrange meals, accommodations, work, study, rest and recreation period for crewmembers;

6. Collaborate with the chief engineer to formulate and submit the chart of the crew’s assigned tasks to the master when receiving fire, life-saving, ship flood and abandoning alarms; hold at least one safety drill on a monthly basis to train crewmembers in fire-fighting, life-saving and anti-flooding practices; directly command all of the crew's actions to be taken to save the ship when receiving alarms; check the number of crewmembers and passengers, and supervise, guide and help them to clamber down to lifeboats whenever there is any ship-abandoning alarm, and by all means, assist the master in protecting the nautical logbook, radio logbook, nautical chart, cash and other important papers; carry out the periodical examination of life-saving, fire-fighting and anti-flooding equipment and report to the master to find solutions; carry out the periodical survey of the ship's hull and deck equipment;

7. Create the deck equipment repair logbook and check the result of such repair; formulate the plan to provide technical spares, materials and equipment, fresh water, food and provisions as well as manage and utilize these ones;

8. Survey bilge water, ballast water tank, fresh water tank. When necessary, order the officer who stands watch of the water pump to make an adjustment to ensure that the ship is kept balanced when at sea; check lashings, area near the rudder before giving an order for the engineering department to perform the test run;

9. In the absence of the master, if there is any emergency case which may pose a risk to the safety of the ship, or when receiving an order given by the Director of Maritime Administration or ship owner, the chief officer shall be responsible for requesting the pilot to maneuver the ship in conformity with the accepted safety standard;

...

11. Before the ship leaves the harbor, the chief officer is obliged to check, review and report to the master on issues relating to the voyage such as tight closing of cargo hatch, water-tight door, lashing or fastening of deck equipment and cargos, the number of crewmembers aboard the ship and checking whether there are any stowaway; check the navigation system, anchor equipment, radio, sound and light signal transmitter, side light, bell and intercom equipment on board the ship. At least 02 hours prior to departure from the harbor, the chief officer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the master;

12. Manage the loading and unloading of cargos, mails, packages or parcels and prepare necessary cargo documents for submission to the master; send a daily report to the master on cargo handling and the volume of cargos handled on board the ship; before the handling of cargos, the chief officer shall be charged with setting up the cargo stowage plan upon the request of the master so as to take the most advantage of the ship's cargo carrying capacity and tonnage, conform to onboard cargo handling and shipping regulations; In particular, pay much attention to the handling of consolidated cargos, deconsolidated cargos unloaded at different ports of discharge, dangerous freight, break-bulk cargos, deck cargos and others. The cargo handling and stowage plan must be approved by the master before loading or unloading of cargos;

13. In the process of handling cargos, the chief officer must appear all the time aboard the ship so as to control the cargo handling progress; prevent any damage, loss or wastage in order to guarantee a sufficient number and quality of cargos on delivery; if the chief officer's absence is needed, the chief officer is required to notify the master of this and assign the task of monitoring the cargo handling to the deck officer of the watch as well as elaborate on significant requirements and notice;

14. When handling cargos, the chief officer shall examine the cargo dunnage, partitioning and air conditioning; comply with the process and rule of cargo shipping, especially for dangerous cargos, bulk-break cargos and deck cargos; guarantee the labor, engine and equipment safety for the cargo handling staff aboard the ship;

15. Control the closing and opening of cargo hold hatch in conformity with the technical regulations; directly monitor the sealing of the cargo hold and check all seals as agreed upon in the shipping contract;

16. If there is any impact on cargos, the chief officer must take all necessary measures to save cargos and immediately report to the master; carry out the regular inspection of lashing and fastening of cargos and cargo hatch; apply all appropriate measures to ensure the safety of cargos when the ship is getting underway in the bad weather condition; carefully check the cargo hold before cargo stowage and apply all proper measures to ensure the safety of the ship and cargos;

17. Ensure that the handling and shipping of dangerous, breakbulk, bulk, deck, oversized, heavy and other special cargos shall conform to statutory standards;

18. Take care of the passenger stewardship aboard the passenger ship without the chief steward;

19. Formulate, implement and examine the implementation of the deck survey and maintenance plan;

...

21. Assume other duties assigned by the master.

Article 9. Chief engineer's duties

The chief engineer is the person managed and supervised by the master. The chief engineer shall assume the following duties:

1. Manage and control work activities and compliance of crewmembers of the engine and electrical department with regulations on work, watchstanding and rest;

2. Manage and control the safe and cost-effective operation of all machinery and devices such as main engine, boiler, cooler, auxiliary engine, electrical machine, electrical appliances and other propelling devices and systems in uniformity with current procedure and regulations; ensure the technical safety in use, preservation, maintenance and repair of machinery, system or devices under the control of other departments such as anchoring equipment, mechanical components of steering machine, cargo handling gear, mooring, piping, ventilation and other systems, and guide this department's crewmembers through the correct operational procedure;

3. Examine and control the compliance with the process and rule of technical and labor safety within their department on a regular basis;

4. Supervise, monitor the compliance with the fire and explosive fighting and prevention practice in the engine room, power generation station, factory, treasure store, work room, stateroom and other areas managed by the engine and electrical engineering department on a regular basis;

5. When receiving the warning signal, the chief engineer must direct the crew of the engine and electrical engineering department to adhere to their assigned duties. In case of abandoning the ship, the chief engineer is required to carry along and guard the engine logbook as well as other related records;

6. Carry out the daily inspection of recording and append the countersignature on the engine, oil logbook and record books of operation of ship machinery and devices managed by the engine and electrical engineering department;

...

8. Directly operate the ship engine when maneuvering the ship to enter or leave the harbor, through the sea straits, narrow channels and dangerous areas or restricted visibility zones or by order of the master, and only if the master agrees, the chief engineer shall be allowed to leave the engine room or navigation room (if any) and assign the second engineer to act on his behalf to operate the engine;

9. Execute the ship maneuvering order of the master in a timely and accurate manner; if the chief engineer fails to execute or delay executing such order for some reasons, the chief engineer must promptly report to the master to find solutions. Under certain special circumstances, if executing the master's order poses a risk to the crew's life or causes any damage to ship machines or devices, the chief engineer must immediately report to the master and the master's order shall be implemented provided that the master makes a decision to allow the chief master to continue executing this order. The master’s order and execution of this order must be recorded in the nautical logbook and engine logbook;

10. Examine preparations of the engine and electrical engineering department for the voyage and report to the master on his department’s preparations in at least 02 hours before the ship’s leaving the harbor;

11. Send a report to the ship owner and charterer on the machinery and device condition in accordance with the reporting regulation;

12. Whilst maneuvering the ship in the harbor, narrow channels or underway at sea, if the chief engineer wishes to change the operational rule of machines or other technical devices or adjust fuel, fresh water or ballast water, the master's consent must be obtained;

13. Anticipate difficulties or breakdowns that may happen to machines or devices, and plan proper measures to be taken to deal with these ones in an effective manner when these situation actually happen; concurrently, report to the master to find solutions when these unexpected situations arise;

14. If there is any failure or breakdown that may happen to machines or devices, the chief engineer shall take advantage of his assigned duties and experience to deal with these ones and promptly report to the master on measures that have been taken and the next actions to be taken;

15. In case any crewmember of the engine and electrical engineering department damages onboard machines or devices, the master shall have the right to suspend that crewmember’s work and promptly report to the master;

16. When the ship is at anchor in the harbor, if the master agrees, the chief engineer can be absent from the ship but he must assign his duties to the second engineer and clearly state the contact address and telephone number (if any);

...

18. When taking delivery of the ship newly built, ship newly purchased or ship which has been completely repaired, the chief engineer shall conduct the acceptance testing and accept mechanical and electrical components when these components successfully pass such testing;

19. Formulate, implement and examine the implementation of the engineering preservation and maintenance plan;

20. The chief engineer shall perform the watchstanding duty under the following circumstances:

a) If there is no second engineer rank aboard the ship, the watchstanding duty shall be assumed by the chief engineer;

b) If there is none of the third officer aboard the ship, these rank-based duties shall be assumed by the chief engineer and second engineer under the assignment of the chief engineer;

c) If no one holds the fourth engineer rank aboard the ship, the chief engineer shall be charged with standing watch as a fourth officer;

21. Assume other duties assigned by the master.

Article 10. Second engineer's duties

The second engineer is the person next in rank to the chief engineer and is directly supervised by the chief engineer. The second engineer shall assume the following duties:

...

2. Ensure the normal technical condition and operation of the main engine, propeller shaft system, emergency diesel generator, freshwater distiller, mechanical component of the steering engine, machine used for towing firefighting machines and devices in the engine room and air compressor tank used for starting the engine; deck machines or devices such as winch, anchor; cargo handling gear, oily water separator, sewage treatment equipment and ballast water treatment system; automated equipment, inspection, measurement and test devices or instruments as well as other equipment used for machines or devices under the second engineer’s management;

3. Draw up the work plan of the engineering department; set up the watch system and record working hours, man days, and arrange leave and compensated time-off of crewmembers in the engine and electrical engineering department;

4. Be present when starting the main engine, and close the propeller drive as well as other important machinery items;

5. Formulate and provide the chief engineer with the repair, maintenance plan, bill of supplies, spare parts used for the main engine and machinery or devices put under their control as well as implement the approved repair plan;

6. Receive, store, distribute and calculate the volume of lubricating oil;

7. Monitor, record technical specifications, or items upon completion of repair and maintenance; manage different technical records, documents and machinery logbooks;

8. Directly provide professional training and instruction for crewmembers of the engine and electrical engineering department;

9. For the period of at least 03 hours prior to departure from the harbor, the second engineer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the chief engineer;

10. Provide professional instructions for the second engineer cadet;

...

12. The second engineer shall be tasked with standing watch from 4 am to 8 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm in a day;

13. Assume other duties assigned by the chief engineer.

Article 11. Second officer's duties

The second officer is directly managed and supervised by the master when the ship is getting underway, and of the chief master when the ship is stopped or making no way through the water. The second officer shall take on the following duties:

1. Directly manage and control the preservation and maintenance of nautical machinery and appliances, nautical chart and nautical documents or records or instruments on board the ship;

2. Manage the bridge, nautical chart room and nautical logbook; preserve and amend the nautical chart and other documents according to the incoming notification;

3. Set up the journey plan and prepare the nautical chart, documents useful for the voyage; check the side light, nautical machinery, appliances and devices within his scope of operation;

4. Preserve and maintain normal operation of marine chronometer, weather station or instrument, and take the measurements on a daily basis and write the weather station logbook;

5. Preserve, check the tolerance and calibrate marine machinery and appliances on board the ship; manage components and spare parts of nautical machinery and appliances; directly turn on and off the gyro compass by order of the master;

...

7. Assist the chief officer in receiving, delivering and handling cargos in conformity with the cargo stowage plan approved by the master;

8. When steering the inward or outward ship in the harbor, the second officer must be present in the aftmost part of the ship or in the position designated by the master in order to command crewmembers to execute the master’s order as well as take charge of several duties of the chief officer;

9. At least 03 hours before the ship leaves the harbor, the second officer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the chief officer;

10. Take over the duties assigned to the third officer if there is no third officer rank aboard the ship, except for the watchstanding duty assumed by the master;

11. Provide professional instructions for the second officer cadet;

12. Stand watch from 00 am to 04 am and from 12 pm to 4 pm in a day.

13. Assume other duties assigned by the master.

Article 12. Third officer's duties

The third officer is directly managed and supervised by the master when the ship is getting underway, and of the chief officer when the ship is stopped or making no way through the water. The second officer shall take on the following duties:

...

2. Regularly check appliances aboard the lifeboat, formulate the plan and periodically replace and add appliances, fresh water, food and emergency medicine after obtaining the master’s approval;

3. Directly take charge of administrative and managerial work aboard the ship if there is no chief purser;

4. Assist the master in preparing documents in order to apply for the ship's entering and leaving the harbor;

5. Assist the chief officer in examining and preserving ship anti-flooding equipment and appliances;

6. Assist the second officer in preserving and calibrating nautical instruments and appliances as well as adapt the nautical chart and other nautical guides;

7. At least 03 hours before the ship leaves the harbor, the third officer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the chief officer;

8. When navigating the ship to leave or enter the harbor, the third officer must be present at the bridge to execute the master’s order to operate the bell, write the ship maneuvering logbook, and identify the ship's position as well as perform other nautical tasks;

9. Provide professional instructions for the third officer cadet;

10. Stand watch from 08 am to 12 am and from 8 pm to 12 pm in a day;

...

Article 13. Third engineer's duties

The third engineer is directly managed and supervised by the chief engineer. The third engineer shall assume the following duties:

1. Directly manage and operate the machine towing the power generator, independent air compressor, fuel oil, lubricant purifier, fuel oil pump, fuel heater and other equipment items. Upon working aboard the steam ship, the third engineer shall be charged with operating the boiler and its peripheral equipment; directly take charge of the boiler engineer’s tasks if there is no chief boiler engineer aboard the ship;

2. Operate and manipulate the main engine, machinery and other appliances to ensure that they operate in conformity with the accepted technical standard, process and regulations;

3. Receive, store, distribute, adjust and calculate the fuel volume;

4. Formulate and provide the chief engineer with the plan for repair, maintenance of machinery and appliances within his scope of operation and carry out the approved repair plan;

5. Create the bill of technical materials used for machinery and appliances within his scope of operation, and manage, use such technical materials in accordance with current regulations;

6. Monitor and record technical specifications, and manage documents or records about machinery within his scope of operation;

7. At least 03 hours prior to the ship’s departure from the harbor, the third engineer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the chief engineer;

...

9. Provide professional instructions for the third engineer cadet;

10. Stand watch from 00 am to 04 am and from 12 pm to 04 pm in a day;

11. Assume other duties assigned by the chief engineer.

Article 14. Fourth engineer's duties

The fourth engineer is directly managed and supervised by the chief engineer. The fourth engineer shall assume the following duties:

1. Directly manage and operate the piping system, ballast water system, bilge pump, drainage pump and other equipment supporting such systems; engine-room ventilation system, sanitary water supply system, auxiliary boiler, engine of the lifeboat, independent pumps and sound signaling system; if there is no air-conditioning officer rank aboard the ship, the fourth engineer shall be charged with carrying out the technical operation of cooling equipment, air conditioning or cooling system;

2. Ensure that machines or appliances are operated in a proper manner, and in conformity with current operational procedure and regulations;

3. Formulate and provide the chief engineer with the plan for repair, maintenance of machinery and appliances within his scope of operation and carry out the approved repair plan;

4. Prepare the bill of technical materials used for machinery and appliances within his scope of operation, and manage, use such technical materials in accordance with current regulations;

...

6. Monitor and record technical specifications, and manage documents or records about machinery within his scope of operation;

7. At least 03 hours prior to the ship’s departure from the harbor, the fourth engineer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the chief engineer;

8. Provide professional instructions for the fourth engineer cadet on board the ship;

9. Stand watch from 08 am to 12 am and from 8 pm to 12 pm in a day;

10. Assume other duties assigned by the chief engineer.

Article 15. Chief steward's duties

The chief steward is directly managed and supervised by the master. The chief steward shall assume the following duties:

1. Manage and supervise the steward department and take charge of tasks relating to the shipping of cargos and passengers aboard the ship;

2. Guarantee that passenger room, club, recreational facility, galley and rooms used for storing passenger servicing appliances and equipment and accommodation room for crewmembers of the steward department are kept tidy and clean; before welcoming passengers aboard, the chief steward shall work with the medical doctor to check the passenger room;

...

4. Manage property of the department under his management, formulate the plan to additionally provide or replace instruments or appliances in order to ensure that they are sufficient enough and achieve the specified quality standard;

5. Examine and control the ship security, sanitation, technical, labor and fire safety within the department that falls within his jurisdiction on a regular basis;

6. Before passenger embarkment, the chief steward is required to check closing of water-tight doors, lashing, fastening and fixation of items of the department that falls within his jurisdiction;

7. Examine, inspect and supervise the passenger service provided by the department that falls within his jurisdiction;

8. Supervise the meal preparation so as to ensure that meals shall conform to food safety and hygiene standard and meet the requirement for an amount of food in a meal set per each passenger;

9. Work with the medical doctor to carry out the medical check for crewmembers in the department that falls under his jurisdiction; promptly detect and report to the master on any crewmember failing to meet the health requirements to work in the steward department;

10. Collect opinions from passengers and report to the master in order to find timely solutions;

11. Provide safe custody of stand-by keys of the passenger room in accordance with regulations;

12. Regularly check the preservation of treasury stores, property and items used for passenger services;

...

14. After 24 hours from the end of the voyage, the chief steward is required to submit the financial statement on receipts and expenses to the master for approval and then forward it to the ship owner.

Article 16. Duties of radio communications officer

The radio communications officer is directly managed and supervised by the master. Radio communications officer shall take on the following duties:

1. Directly manage and operate the machinery system, radio communications equipment aboard the ship in conformity with specified procedure and regulations; manage and supervise the work activities of radio communications crewmembers;

2. Ensure that radio communications machinery and appliances aboard the ship conform to technical standards and operate in a normal condition; regularly examine the technical condition and conformity certificate of radio communications machinery and appliances as well as send a prompt report to the master; deal with breakdowns that may happen to radio communications machinery and appliances as well as ensure that such machinery and appliances properly work;

3. Ensure that the radio communication system must be thorough in conformity with the nautical information rule; comply with regulations on receipt of weather forecast bulletins and nautical notifications;

4. Thoroughly grasp the condition of machinery and appliances in the radio communication system aboard the ship; formulate and provide the master with the plan for repair and maintenance of machinery, radio communications facilities as well as implement the approved plan;

5. Create the bill of technical materials used for the radio communications system aboard the ship and bear responsibility to manage and use such technical materials;

6. In case the ship meets with accidents or if the distress signal is received from the automated alert equipment, the officer must immediately report to the master;

...

8. When being assigned duties aboard the ship, the officer shall receive the detailed report on radio communications equipment, telephone and radio communications machine on board the lifeboat, technical materials, records and documentation, radio communications logbooks and memos;

9. Radio communications officer shall stand watch depending on the operation of the radio communications system.

10. If there is no manning level applied to radio communications officers, radio communications crewmembers shall take over the duties of a radio communications officer; if there is none of radio communications officer rank or radio communications crewmember rank, the radio communication duties aboard the ship shall be assigned to crewmembers who have gained the respective certificate of professional qualification.

Article 17. Duties of the electrotechnical officer

The electrotechnical officer is directly managed and supervised by the chief engineer. The electrotechnical officer shall assume the following duties:

1. Manage and operate the work of the electrotechnical engineer;

2. Directly manage and operate all of electrical systems and appliances aboard the ship in conformity with current procedure and regulations such as power generator, automatic remote control system, intercom system, signal system and electrical source of nautical electrical machines and other equipment; operate the computer network; directly control electrical engine, converter, emergency generator, side light and battery;

3. Guarantee the normal technical condition of electrical machinery and appliances aboard the ship;

4. Create and provide the chief engineer with the plan for repair and maintenance of electrical machinery and appliances aboard the ship as well as implement such plan;

...

6. Supervise the operation of electrical machinery and appliances aboard the ship;

7. Be present at the main distribution panel when the ship enters or leaves the harbor or operates through narrow channels or in restricted visibility areas, operating pumps, or pre-operating cargo gear or choose the running mode of the power generator;

8. Monitor and record technical specifications, and manage documents or records about machinery within his scope of operation;

9. Carry out the work assignment, set up the plan for work and rest of electrotechnical engineers;

10. At least 03 hours prior to the ship’s departure from the harbor, the officer is obliged to send a detailed report on preparations for the voyage to the chief engineer;

11. If there is electrotechnical officer rank aboard the ship, all duties to electrical work aboard the ship shall be performed by the electrotechnical officer. If there is only electrical engineer rank aboard the ship, all duties relating to electrical work shall be assumed by the electrotechnical engineer. If there is neither of electrotechnical officer or electrical engineer, all duties relating to electrical work aboard the ship shall be assigned by the chief engineer.

Article 18. Duties of the ship security officer

The ship security officer is the senior officer appointed by the ship owner and is directly managed and supervised by the master. The ship security officer shall assume the following duties:

1. Carry out the regular examination of ship security according to the approved ship security plan; supervise the implementation of the ship security plan, inclusive of any amendment or supplementation to such plan;

...

3. Propose any amendment or supplementation to the ship security plan;

4. Whenever detecting any defect and unsuitability of the ship security plan, the ship security officer must report to the security officer of the shipping company and make any correction or amendment;

5. Be always conscious of the ship security; train people on board the ship for security tasks; report to the shipping company's security officer on any security risk that may occur aboard the ship;

6. Collaborate with the security officer of the shipping company and the port where the ship arrives to implement the ship security plan;

7. Carry out the regular inspection so as to ensure that all security equipment aboard the ship work, maintained and calibrated in a proper manner.

Article 19. Cooling system officer’s duties

The cooling system officer is directly managed and supervised by the chief engineer. The cooling system officer shall assume the following duties:

1. Keep cooling machinery and appliances aboard the ship in a normal working condition and conform to the technical standard; stand watch depending on the operational mode of the cooling system aboard the ship;

2. Directly manage and take advantage of the engine capacity and ensure that cooling machinery, appliances, air cooling and conditioning system aboard the ship shall be operated in conformity with current procedure and regulations;

...

4. Create and provide the chief engineer with the plan for repair and maintenance of cooling equipment aboard the ship; implement such plan;

5. Create the bill of technical stores and take responsibility to manage and use such technical stores and spares;

6. Monitor and write the logbook of cooling equipment operation; set up the watch system and the plan for work and rest of cooling system engineer;

7. Manage technical records or documents of the cooling system aboard the ship;

8. If there is no cooling system officer aboard the ship, duties of a cooling system officer shall be assumed by the second engineer.

Article 20. Bosun's duties

Bosun is directly managed and supervised by the chief officer. The bosun shall take on the following duties:

1. Assign and manage the work of seafarers;

2. Monitor and supervise the preservation of the ship’s hull, different types of rope and equipment used for the anchor system, derrick, life-saving, fire-fighting and anti-flooding equipment, stores of technical spares and other property of the ship that fall under the management of the deck department;

...

4. Prepare and submit the daily work plan of the deck department to the chief officer and implement such plan in an effective manner;

5. Monitor and examine the piping system on the ship deck, hold bilge soundings, hawse pipe and valve system;

6. Prepare and submit the bill of technical materials, spares or stores used in the deck department to the chief officer, and manage and use such items;

7. Prepare and submit the plan for repair and maintenance of winch, derrick, chain hoist, chain block, swivel or shackle, cargo handling cable, lashing and other deck equipment;

8. Manage and use machinery, appliances and instruments in the department that fall under his jurisdiction in conformity with technical procedures;

9. Before the ship leaves the harbor, the bosun is required to tightly lash or fasten shipboard instruments, equipment and cargos, close cargo holds, watertight doors, cover cargo holds, and hammer the chock and turn the rigging screw to secure cargos in accordance with regulations;

10. Regularly check the technical condition of the life-saving, fire-fighting and anti-flooding equipment and others;

11. When the ship is getting underway in the bad weather condition, the bosun must examine deck cargos and materials or in stores, lifeboats, watertight doors. When necessary, the bosun must have it lashed or resecured;

12. When handling the oversized or heavy cargos, the bosun must prepare the lifting equipment and directly take control of the cargo lifting activities of the chief officer or the deck officer of the watch;

...

14. Take over the duties of a bosun’s mate if there is no bosun’s mate aboard the ship;

15. When necessary, the bosun can take charge of standing watch or supervise the watch as assigned by the chief officer.

Article 21. Duties of the bosun’s mate

The bosun’s mate is directly managed and supervised by the bosun. The bosun’s mate shall take on the following duties:

1. Manage stores, preserve cargo hold covers, deck machinery and appliance covers, other instruments and property in the deck department; receive, preserve, dispense and retrieve materials;

2. Preserve fire-fighting equipment and instruments, except for fire-fighting equipment in the engine room;

3. Manage ropes or wires, prepare paints, and operate ship deck machinery, such as winch, derrick, and monitor the flood light, masthead light and side light;

4. Do the woodwork, make rope ladders and operate lifeboats;

5. Directly receive fresh water, examine and take the soundings of fresh water, ballast water, cargo hold bilge and record data and figures on a daily basis;

...

7. When necessary, the bosun’s mate can stand watch and supervise the watchstanding activities according to the assignment of the bosun's mate.

Article 22. Duties of the able or ordinary seaman

The able and ordinary seaman is directly managed and supervised by the bosun. The able and ordinary seaman shall take on the following duties:

1. Stand watch and execute the order of the deck officer of the watch;

2. Preserve, maintain the ship’s hull, deck and other equipment as assigned by the bosun or the bosun's mate;

3. Keep track of cargo handling, and find out any torn, wet or mishandled package and report to the deck officer of the watch to seek any possible solution. Grasp his assigned tasks as the ship is entering or leaving the harbor, do the rope work, life and lower the derrick, take the soundings of water level, preserve and help pilots embark on or disembark from the ship, and have a good command of messages conveyed by signal flags and lights;

4. Grasp the technical structure, configuration and specification of the ship, and locations of fire-fighting, life-saving and anti-flooding equipment, and preserve and use such equipment in accordance with regulations;

5. Strictly comply with the rules of working, eating, living, security, order and sanitation aboard the ship;

6. If the able or ordinary seaman has trained and drilled in diving techniques, when working underwater as assigned by the chief officer or the bosun, the able or ordinary seaman must ensure the safety and fulfillment of his assigned task;

...

Article 23. Duties of the main engine machinist

The main engine machinist is directly managed and supervised by the second engineer. The main engine machinist shall take on the following duties:

1. Preserve, repair machinery and equipment upon the request and instruction of the chief engineer and engineering officers;

2. Masterly manage and use instruments and repair toolkit equipped for the engineering department;

3. Carry out the industrial cleaning of machinery and equipment in the engineering department;

4. When necessary, the main engine machinist can stand watch as a machinist as assigned by the chief engineer.

Article 24. Duties of the watchstanding machinist

The watchstanding machinist is directly managed and supervised by the second engineer and directly assigned by the engineering officer of the watch. The watchstanding machinist shall take on the following duties:

1. Carry out the work of preserving, maintaining and repairing machinery and equipment, clean the engine room, work room, receive spare components or materials as assigned by the second engineer; stand watch upon the request of the engineering officer of the watch;

...

3. Assume other duties assigned by the second engineer.

Article 25. Duties of the electrotechnical engineer

The electrotechnical engineer is directly managed and supervised by the electrotechnical officer or the engineering officer of the watch if there is no electrotechnical officer aboard the ship. The electrotechnical engineer shall assume the following duties:

1. Ensure the conformity with the technical procedures for operating electricity-driven engine and other electrical equipment. Guarantee the continual supply of electricity to the entire ship. Whenever the power generator and other equipment are not working properly, the electrotechnical engineer must send a timely report to the engineering officer of the watch or the electrotechnical officer to be advised on possible remedial action to be taken;

2. Ensure the conformity with technical procedures for operating the power generator, emergency power generator, power-driven engine of the derrick, windlass, auxiliary electrical engine of the diesel machine, emergency battery, automated electrical engine of the boiler, electrical fans, and other electrical equipment items and lighting systems aboard the ship;

3. Preserve electrical equipment such as automatic steering system, telephone communication system, and repair and replace household electrical equipment under the instruction of the electrotechnical officer.

Article 26. Duties of the radio communications crewmember

The radio communications crewmember is directly managed and supervised by the radio communications officer. Radio communications crewmembers shall take on the following duties:

1. Ensure the thorough communication with other ships and shore-based stations; receive information, distress signal, nautical notification and weather forecast bulletins;

...

Article 27. Chief purser’s duties

The chief purser is directly managed and supervised by the chief officer. The chief purser shall take on the following duties:

1. Manage and operate the activities of the steward department aboard the ship. Draw up the plan for work and rest of crewmembers in the steward department, and receive and pay salary to crewmembers;

2. Prepare and provide the chief officer with the plan for procurement of food and provisions aboard the ship, and manage the sale, preservation and proper use of such food and provisions;

3. Examine, monitor and establish the plan reported to the chief officer for replacement or addition of appliances and equipment for the galley, dining room, accommodation room, work room and club. Manage and use instruments and equipment and other property aboard the ship that fall within his jurisdiction;

4. Undertake financial tasks aboard the ship and perform financial transactions in conformity with current laws;

5. Assist the master with transactions, and hold the guest welcome and party aboard the ship;

6. Assist the third officer in carrying out tasks relating to application for permission for the ship's entering and leaving the harbor;

7. After each voyage, prepare the general financial report on receipts and expenses for submission to the master;

...

9. If there is no chief purser rank aboard the ship, the chief purser's duties shall be assumed by the third officer.

Article 28. Duties of the medical doctor or medical assistant

The medical doctor or medical assistant is directly managed and supervised by the chief officer. The medical doctor or medical assistant shall take on the following duties:

1. Undertake the healthcare and hygiene tasks aboard the ship, monitor health condition, give emergency aid to crewmembers , passengers and other people on board the ship; when necessary, the medical doctor or medical assistant can prescribe patients a rest or take them to hospital for medical treatment;

2. Receive and offer medical treatment to patients aboard the ship; directly examine and report to the chief officer on sanitation of accommodation rooms of the crew and passengers, dining room, club and other mess rooms; report to the chief officer on the patient treatment progress;

3. Carry out the quality control of food, provisions and fresh water aboard the ship, and check the hygienic condition of the galley, dining room and restaurant. Get involved in choosing the daily menu offered to crewmembers and passengers;

4. Provide periodical health check-up for crewmembers, report to the master on those who contract infectious diseases, use additive substances; examine and supervise the environmental pollution prevention;

5. Manage the immunization record of crewmembers;

6. Prepare the bill of stores used for supplementing and replacing medical equipment and supplies; carry out the stocktaking of medicine cabinet on a monthly or quarterly basis, and report to the master; store and preserve medicines and medical equipment in conformity with regulations;

...

8. Before each voyage, the medical doctor and medical assistant is obliged to check the health certificate, immunization record of crewmembers, sanitation control exemption certificate of the ship, and animal vaccination certificate (if available);

9. Ensure that healthcare and labor protection aboard the ship shall conform to Vietnam’s laws and International Agreements;

10. Look after people who have delivered babies, and keep safe custody of the dead aboard the ship;

11. At least 03 hours before the ship leaves the harbor, the medical doctor and medical assistant are obliged to send a detailed report on preparations of the medical department for the voyage to the chief officer;

12. After each voyage, compile a report on health conditions of crewmembers. When necessary, prepare the list and report to the master and ship owner on those required to undergo medical tests;

13. Manage the health check room, surgery room, quarantine room, patient room and other medical equipment and medicines. If there is no medical doctor or medical assistant rank aboard the ship, healthcare duties shall be assigned by the master.

Article 29. Duties of the messman

The messman is directly managed and supervised by the chief officer. The messman shall take on the following duties:

1. Offer onboard services; if there are more than two messmen aboard the ship, the duties shall be specified by the chief officer;

...

3. Launder table cloths, bed sheets, blankets, mats and drapes and prepare the bill of stores used for replacing or supplementing such items for submission to the chief officer.

Article 30. Chief cook's duties

The chief cook is directly managed and supervised by the chief purser. The chief cook shall take on the following duties:

1. Manage activities performed in the galley and directly prepare daily meals for crewmembers and passengers;

2. Manage the storage and use of food, provisions supplied to crewmembers and passengers;

3. Receive and distribute food, provisions to the cook mate to prepare daily meals and menu in conformity with the rations and hygiene standards;

4. Manage the food store, instruments and equipment used in the galley. Supervise the repair of damaged items and prepare the bill of spares used for replacing and supplementing such items;

5. Keep the galley, appliances and equipment in the dining room clean and hygiene.

Article 31. Duties of the cook mate

...

1. Perform assigned tasks in the galley, and adhere to the meal plan of crewmembers;

2. If there is no chief cook aboard the ship, duties of the chief cook shall be assumed by the cook mate. If there is nether chief cook or cook mate aboard the ship, the chief officer shall assign other crewmember to undertake such steward duties.

Article 32. Duties of the passenger service manager

The passenger service manager is directly managed and supervised by the chief steward. The passenger service manager shall take on the following duties:

1. Directly supervise passenger-room service attendant; prepare and provide the chief steward with the plan for work and rest of passenger-room service attendant and the rules of bedrooms;

2. When passengers embark or disembark, the chief steward's assistant must be present at the accommodation ladder to greet or say goodbye to passengers and assign stewards to take passengers to their rooms;

3. When the ship leaves the harbor, the passenger service manager must check passenger rooms, list out the number of abundant or deficient beds and then submit it to the chief steward;

4. Announce the rules of journey, interior furniture and stuff for use as well as the method of using and preserving such interior furniture and stuff;

5. Examine and improve the compliance of the passenger-room service attendant with their assigned tasks, and advise passengers to comply with the rules aboard the ship on a daily basis;

...

7. Cooperate with the chief steward in dealing with any violation against rules, infringement upon property of the ship, passengers and other events that may happen between passengers and stewards aboard the ship;

8. Create the record and pay compensation for any damage to interior stuff and furniture caused by passengers;

9. Before the ship leaves the harbor, the passenger service manager shall report to the chief steward on fulfillment of his task of making preparations for the voyage.

Article 33. Duties of the steward

The steward is directly managed and supervised by the passenger service manager. The steward shall take on the following duties:

1. Serve passengers, manage property and amenities provided for passengers in the bedrooms that fall within his jurisdiction on a daily basis;

2. Clean passenger rooms, bathrooms, restrooms and balcony areas;

3. Welcome passengers aboard, guide and help passengers check in their rooms, make the correct room arrangement according to the room number identified on the ticket; give amenities and room keys to passengers, guide them through the procedures for using life jackets and show them the way to find lifeboats in the event there is any ship-abandoning alert;

4. Before passengers disembark, the steward shall check amenities provided in the passenger room. If all of amenities are not changed in quantity and remain undamaged, the steward shall return the room slip to passengers and hold back the room key; if there is any damage, passengers shall not be allowed to leave the ship until decisions have been made by the chief steward and the passenger service manager;

...

6. Regularly visit the assigned passenger rooms in order to give assistance to passengers on a timely basis upon request;

7. Promptly report to the passenger service manager on damaged amenities in the passenger room to seek any possible solution;

8. In the strong wind and huge waves, the steward shall close side scuttles, watertight doors in the staterooms that fall within his jurisdiction;

9. Perform other duties as assigned by the passenger service manager after obtaining approval from the chief steward.

Article 34. Duties of the head waiter

The head waiter is directly managed and supervised by the chief steward. The head waiter shall take on the following duties:

1. Supervise and manage attendants working in the dining room, refreshment room, and manage instruments used in the dining room and refreshment room;

2. Dispense instruments and appliances to waiters serving passengers at the dining room and refreshment room;

3. Keep safe custody of instruments and appliances inside the dining room and refreshment room;

...

5. Directly serve passengers in the ship’s party in collaboration with the ship’s stewards;

6. Prepare and provide the chief steward with the plan for work and rest of waiters serving passengers in the dining room and refreshment room;

7. Issue the note on compensation paid by passengers who cause any damage or loss to property and furniture provided in the staterooms that fall within their jurisdiction; when necessary, the head waiter must report to the chief steward on this matter.

Article 35. Duties of the waiter

The waiter is directly managed and supervised by the passenger service manager. The waiter shall take on the following duties:

1. Serve meals offered in the menu to passengers;

2. Manage the dining room, refreshment room and other instruments or appliances that fall within his jurisdiction;

3. Clean the dining room, refreshment room and instruments or appliances placed inside these rooms.

Article 36. Duties of the luggage storage facility manager

...

1. Manage property, useful items, stores and passenger saloon;

2. Receive and hand over passengers' luggage carried along the voyage;

3. Receive, dispense and manage useful wooden items, instruments and other interior furniture in the stateroom, dining room, refreshment room, bathroom, restroom and club;

4. Keep a property record book and other documents that fall within his jurisdiction;

5. Manage the repair of any damaged items used in the department that falls within his jurisdiction;

6. Hand over and store passengers’ luggage; if there is any damage or loss, the compensation is required;

7. Assume other duties as assigned by the chief steward.

Article 37. Laundryman’s duties

The laundryman is directly managed and supervised by the chief steward. The laundryman shall take on the following duties:

...

2. Manage and operate laundry machine and iron. If there is any damage to them, the laundryman must report to the passenger service manager to have them repaired or replaced;

3. Prepare the bill of materials and useful items supporting the laundry work;

4. Perform other duties as assigned by the passenger service manager or the chief steward.

Article 38. Accountant's duties

The accountant is directly managed and supervised by the chief steward. The accountant shall assume the following duties:

1. Make a financial report on passenger-related receipts or expenses;

2. Set up the regular or occasional plan to purchase useful items, cultural products, food, provisions and other goods used for serving passengers, crewmembers so that the chief steward shall submit it to the master;

3. Write the note on receiving and dispatching useful items, cultural products, food and provisions in the stores of the steward and crew department by executing the order of the chief steward;

4. Issue the note of receipts gained from sale of tickets and provision of food and beverage services as well as other sums;

...

6. Make a final financial report on receipts or expenses for submission to the chief steward after each voyage.

Article 39. Duties of the cashier

The cashier is directly managed and supervised by the chief steward. The cashier shall take on the following duties:

1. Manage passenger-related budget;

2. Collect and pay cash according to the note of receipts and expenses issued by the accountant;

3. Retain accounting documents or records indicating receipts and expenses;

4. Manage and complete the procedure for receiving and dispatching different types of tickets aboard the ship;

5. Assume other duties as assigned by the chief steward.

Article 40. Duties of the salesperson

...

1. Sell products to passengers;

2. Create records, documents and vouchers used for management of property in kiosks or shops, and different types of commodities sold to passengers in accordance with regulations;

3. Plan to purchase various types of commodities sold to passengers and submit such plan to the chief steward for approval;

4. Ensure that a full amount of and quality of goods must remain unchanged compared with its original condition;

5. Sell goods with price specified on the price list approved by the chief steward and complete the transfer of cash to the cashier in accordance with regulations;

6. Ensure that all shops or stores aboard the ship must be clean and tidy;

7. Assume other duties as assigned by the chief steward.

Article 41. Duties of the ticket seller

The ticket seller shall be appointed by the chief steward upon receipt of the master's approval. The ticket seller shall take on the following duties:

...

2. At the day-end, the ticket seller shall transfer all cash sums to the ship's cashier;

3. Keep the ticket-selling area clean;

4. Assume other duties as assigned by the chief steward.

Article 42. Duties of the security guard

The security guard is directly managed and supervised by the chief steward. The security guard shall take on the following duties:

1. Guarantee the safety and security of passengers when they are embarking or disembarking and when the ship is getting underway;

2. Deal with and prevent any illegal action or any events that may pose risk to the ship security in a timely manner;

3. Carry out the on-the-spot search and issue the note of violations witnessed aboard the ship. Document any violations against laws reported by passengers;

4. Get involved in writing the record on passengers suffering from accidents or dead passengers or other passenger-related cases;

...

6. If there are many security guards aboard the ship, the chief steward shall appoint one leader to carry out the general management.

Article 43. Duties of the refrigeration and air-conditioning engineer

The refrigeration and air-conditioning engineer is directly managed and supervised by the refrigeration and air-conditioning officer. The refrigeration and air-conditioning engineer shall take on the following duties:

1. Preserve, maintain and operate cooling machinery, appliances in cargo holds, food stores, temperature controlling system, air-conditioning system, cooling system and others in accordance with the procedure and regulation;

2. Repair machinery, cooling system aboard the ship as assigned and guided by the refrigeration and air-conditioning officer or the second engineer.

Article 44. Duties of the pump engineer

The pump engineer is directly managed and supervised by the second engineer. The pump engineer shall take on the following duties:

1. Pump oil or water into cargo holds by order of the chief officer and be subjected to the professional supervision and instructions of the engineering officer of the watch;

2. Clean and preserve the piping system and equipment supporting pumps in conformity with the technical procedure, and masterly operate machine, equipment that fall within his jurisdiction; repair such machinery and equipment under the instruction of the chief engineer, second engineer and engineering officer;

...

Section 3. WATCHSTANDING ABOARD THE SEAGOING SHIP

Article 45. Seafarer’s watchstanding

1. The master is the person responsible for running the 24-hour watch system. The chief officer, chief steward and chief engineer shall be responsible for assisting the master in examining the conformity of the department within their management with the watch system in accordance with regulations.

2. Watchstanding is considered the duty of crewmembers and must be sustained in a proper and efficient manner so as to ensure the safety, security and environmental pollution prevention aboard the ship. The watch system applicable to each crewmember shall be divided into the at-sea and in-port watch:

a) At-sea watch period shall be 04 hours and each day is divided into 02 watches with 8-hour off-watch duration; in case there is any change to the time zone, the at-sea watch period shall be decided by the master;

b) The in-port watch period shall be decided by the master, depending on the specific conditions when the ship is at anchor.

3. The watchstanding seafarer shall take on the following duties:

a) Do not leave the position or hand over the watch to others if there is no consent from the master, chief engineer or watchstanding officer;

b) When noticing the alert, keep on standing watch, and be allowed to leave the position only if the substitute watchstander comes in accordance with the regulation laid down in the emergency task assignment;

...

d) Strictly prohibit seafarers from doing other work which is not within their assigned task in the watchstanding period.

4. Transfer watch at the watchstanding spot. The watchstanding officer is required to take over watch at least 15 minutes prior to the commencement of watch. Other seafarers are required to take over watch at least 5 minutes prior to the commencement of watch. The watch-transferring seafarer is required to notify the watch-receiving seafarer at least 15 minutes prior to the commencement of watch. The watch-receiving seafarer shall accept watch duty only when the ship condition is entirely assessed. In case there is any action to be taken to prevent the ship from any danger, the transfer of watch duty shall occur only after such action is completed.

Where the watch-transferring seafarer proves that the watch-receiving seafarer is incapable of standing watch in an efficient manner, the watch-transferring seafarer shall be entitled to refuse to transfer watch to the watch-receiving seafarer and concurrently report this to the master.

5. Based on the technical condition and operational requirements of the ship, the master shall specify the watch system applicable to crewmembers who work in the radio communications, cooling system and electrotechnical department aboard the ship.

Article 46. Watchstanding uniform

1. The watchstanding seafarer is required to wear uniform. As for the in-port watch, the watchstander is required to wear the armband on the left hand and watchstanding name. Watch armband shall include 3 horizontal stripes with a width of 45 mm and each stripe has 15 mm in width. The color of stripes shall be regulated as follows:

a) Armband of the watchstanding officer shall have the color pattern such as deep blue - white - deep blue;

b) Armband of other watchstanding seafarers shall have the color pattern such as red – white – red.

2. The ship owner shall take responsibility to provide uniform and armband.

...

1. The master, deck officer of the watch and security officer shall have the authority to allow people to get on the ship.

2. The master shall have the authority to allow people to come inside the nautical bridge, chart room and radio room but this permission must match the ship security plan.

3. The master and chief engineer shall have the authority to grant permission to people to come inside the engine room and other areas that fall within the engineering department’s jurisdiction but this permission must conform to the ship security plan.

Article 48. Duties of the deck officer of the watch

1. The deck officer of the watch is put under the direct command of the master. When the ship is made fast to the port or is at anchor, if the master is absent, the deck officer of the watch shall be put under the command of the chief officer; except for the master, there is no one having the authority to cancel or change the watch duty of the deck officer of the watch; the deck officer of the watch shall not allow to leave his position at his own discretion without permission from the master or chief officer authorized by the master.

2. The deck officer of the watch shall take on the following general duties:

a) Manage watches in order to ensure the safety and security of onboard people, ship and cargos; the order and hygiene of the ship and environmental pollution prevention;

b) Carefully observe and monitor the condition around the ship; apply any necessary measure to ensure the safety, security and environmental pollution prevention of the ship;

c) Whenever any threat to the security, safety and environmental pollution prevention of the ship occurs, this officer shall act on his own to send alerts and apply proper measures to remove such threat; under any circumstance, the officer is required to report to the master or chief officer;

...

dd) Stand communications watch; keep track of and deal with the nautical notification in a timely manner so as to ensure the safety and security of the ship voyage.

3. The deck officer of the watch, when the ship is getting underway, shall take on the following duties:

a) Grasp the ship operations, conditions relating to the area where the ship is getting underway in order to receive watch; carry out the receipt of watch in accordance with regulations;

b) When receiving watch, the officer must examine the ship position on the nautical chart, check indicators shown in the speedometer, direction shown on the compass, compass errors and side lights; check the navigational course shown on the gyro compass and magnetic compass, and compare these indicators with one another;

c) During the at-sea watch period, the deck officer of the watch shall be present all the time in the nautical bridge, and only allow entering the chart room to serve the work purpose for a short time after having transferred the monitoring and observation in the ship foredeck to the watchstanding seafarer; identify the ship position; regularly monitor the operation of nautical equipment and side lights;

d) After every hour and course change, the officer must compare the indicator shown on the magnetic compass with the indicator shown on the gyro compass, and adapt the ship course for the identified ship route and reposition the ship;

dd) When facing with mist, downpour, snow rain and other weather conditions which cause low visibility, the officer must report to the master in a timely manner and notify the engineering officer of the watch. Use nautical equipment, examine mist signaling equipment, and assign one person to stand watch in the foredeck and calibrate meters in the nautical bridge and engine room; identify the ship position and take action by executing the master's order. If the visibility is suddenly restricted, when the master does not appear in the nautical bridge, the deck officer of the watch can reduce the ship speed and send the fog signal;

e) When underway at the turbulent sea, the officer must take necessary measures to ensure the safety for the ship voyage;

g) Check the cargo hold bilge and record the result into the nautical logbook; if the level is not in a normal condition, the officer must send a timely report to the master and chief officer in order to find any possible solution; as for each at-sea watch, the officer must take soundings of cargo hold bilge at least once at the end of watch duty;

...

i) Pay particular attention to the safety of lifeboats, materials, equipment and cargos placed in the ship deck, cargo hold cover or cargo hold hatch;

k) In case there is a man overboard, the officer must issue an alert in the entire ship and apply proper measures on his own initiative to save this person and inform the master;

l) When the ship is at anchor, the officer must identify the anchoring position, detect and deal with slipping and torn-apart anchor and promptly inform the master;

m) Prepare the essential report, checklist of items need to be checked in the nautical bridge and record nautical operations in the nautical logbook. Keep track of and record meteorological and hydrographical conditions.

4. The deck officer of the watch, when standing in-port watch, shall assume the following duties:

a) Receive the report on general condition of the ship, cargo handling, repair work and the number of crewmembers present aboard the ship, other essential work activities relating to the ship safety; when the ship moors, this officer is required to keep track of weather conditions, ship surroundings and examine the anchoring position by employing all necessary methods and take essential measures to prevent the ship anchor from slipping;

b) When the ship moors in the harbor, it is necessary to keep watch of the ship draught, lashing, mouse control sheet, accommodation ladder and strictly comply with the port regulations; monitor the cargo handling and report to the master of the chief officer on any event that may cause any damage to cargos and bad impact on the safety of the ship in a timely manner; ensure that the gangway and accommodation ladder must have the safety net with life buoys placed nearby and are brightly illuminated at night; take charge of taking proper measures to maintain the ship security;

c) Before performing the test run of the main engine, the officer must keep careful watch of any obstacle in the stern; when running the ship engine, the officer should pay attention to lashings or ropes;

d) When underway in the bad weather conditions and receiving the warning of a storm, the officer is required to take proper measures to protect the ship from such storm;

...

e) Supervise daily work and repair activities assigned to the department under his management; check and monitor the compliance with rules of the fire fighting and prevention and labor safety practice aboard the ship;

g) Carry out the night patrol and keep watch of ship surroundings;

h) List out the number of seafarers getting ashore and returning to the ship from the shore, supervise a number of seafarers permitted to get ashore and report to the master the number of seafarers returning late to the ship from the shore;

i) During the time off, if there are a lot of seafarers getting ashore, the deck officer of the watch must assign the remaining number of onboard seafarers to protect the ship safety;

k) If there is any person getting on the ship to do his work, the deck officer of the watch must monitor the working progress of that person;

l) When not handling cargos, the deck officer of the watch can rest at his own bedroom at night but is required to wear the watch uniform;

m) Keep track of closing and opening the cargo hold, covering the cargo hold or the ventilation system in the cargo hold, lashing, securing and stowing cargos.

Article 49. Duties of the engineering officer of the watch

1. The engineering officer of the watch is put under the direct command of the chief engineer; bear full responsibility for actions relating to operation of machinery and appliances in conformity with technical procedure, and ensure that all machinery and appliances shall be in normal condition. The engineering officer of the watch shall not be allowed to abandon his watch duty at his own discretion without consent from the chief engineer or second engineer authorized by the chief engineer.

...

a) Manage the machinist, electrotechnical officer and engineer; frequently monitor the operational mode of machines, equipment, steam furnace and boiler in conformity with technical procedures;

b) Manage the fulfillment of duties of watchstanders in the engine room, furnace room, and ensure the security and industrial cleaning in the engine room;

c) Ensure that machinery of the engineering department shall be working properly, safely and deal with any technical problem that may happen in a timely manner;

d) Keep track of repair work of people ashore getting on the ship to work in the department that falls within his jurisdiction, ensure the labor safety, fire and explosive prevention, technical safety of the ship and environmental pollution control;

dd) Monitor the energy and technical material consumption of the ship;

e) Take soundings of oil, water contained in tanks; pump the bilge water in the engine room, ballast water and fuel so as to make any adjustment upon the request of the deck officer of the watch; when pumping wastewater of all kinds, this officer must adhere to the regulations;

g) When the ship is getting underway, the engineering officer of the watch shall be charged with strictly follow the order of the steering room of the master or the deck officer of the watch;

h) The engineering officer of the watch shall not be entitled to change the operational mode of the main engine or others. When necessary, if there is any change to the operational mode or operational stop, the engineering officer of the watch must send a prior notification to the deck officer of the watch and the chief engineer;

i) When there is any breakdown or threat to human lives, the engineering officer of the watch shall be entitled to stop the main engine or other engines, and promptly report to the deck officer of the watch and the chief engineer. Since it is possible that stopping the main engine or other engines may pose the serious risk to the ship, the master shall have the power to order the engineering officer of the watch to continue operation and bear full responsibility for any potential consequence. In such case, the engineering officer of the watch must record the order of the master into the engine logbook while the master must also write this event in the nautical logbook;

...

l) Do not allow to transfer, receive the watch duty without the consent from the chief engineer while the ship is maneuvering to be tied up to or unfastened from the dock or while the accident, problem is being prevented from taking place;

m) During the transfer of the watch duty, the watch-receiving officer shall be responsible for examining the operational principle of machinery and motorized equipment and the technical condition of these ones. The watch-transferring officer shall take responsibility for specific transfer and clarification of necessary recommendations to the watch-receiving officer;

n) Prepare necessary reports, complete the checklist of items required to be checked in the engine room and record operations in the engine room in the engine logbook.

Article 50. Duties of the watchstanding seafarer

1. The watchstanding seafarer shall be put under the command of the deck officer of the watch. The receipt and transfer of the watch duty of watchstanding seafarer shall be decided by the deck officer of the watch.

2. The watchstanding seafarer shall take on the following duties:

a) Do not leave his position and fulfill the assigned tasks in an enthusiastic manner; verify what has happened in the watch before agreeing to receive the watch duty;

b) When receiving the navigation watch, the watchstanding seafarer is required to be well informed of the steering course and keep the ship course unchanged in comparison with the specified route. Whilst navigating the ship, the watchstanding seafarer must regularly examine the navigational direction and monitor operations of the steering system; send a timely report to the deck officer of the watch on any variation to the navigational direction and problems to the steering system;

c) When the ship is at anchor in the harbor, the watchstanding seafarer must be present in the position appointed by the deck officer of the watch and execute the orders of the deck officer of the watch;

...

dd) Keep track of cargo handling, and punctually find out any torn, wet or mishandled package and report to the deck officer of the watch to seek any possible solution;

e) Turn on, off the lights, and those used for illuminating the ship’s emblem painted on the funnel at night during the time when the ship is at anchor in the harbor; raise and lower the flag in accordance with regulations; carry out the patrol upon the request of the deck officer of the watch.

Article 51. Duties of the watchstanding machinist

1. The watchstanding machinist shall be put under the direct command of the engineering officer of the watch; receiving and transferring the watch duty shall be decided by the engineering officer of the watch.

2. The watchstanding machinist shall take on the following duties:

a) Grasp the technical condition and operational mode of machinery and appliances in the engine room;

b) Receive the report on the operational condition of machinery and appliances made by the previous watchstander and recommendations or orders that the previous watchstander has yet to complete; report to the engineering officer of the watch on the receipt of the watch duty;

c) When on watch duty, the machinist is required to ensure the normal operation of assigned machinery and appliances; adhere to the procedure for operation of machinery, appliances and carrying out the industrial cleaning in the engine room;

d) When any abnormal operation or technical problem of machinery or appliances is detected, the watchstanding machinist must take appropriate measures to deal with this and report to the engineering officer to seek any possible solution in a timely manner.

...

1. The electrotechnical engineer is put under the direct command of the engineering officer of the watch or the electrotechnical officer if there is the electrotechnical officer rank aboard the ship. If there is no the electrotechnical engineer rank aboard the ship, the electrotechnical watch shall be stood by the electrotechnical officer.

2. The electrotechnical engineer of the watch shall assume the following duties:

a) Accept the transfer of the working condition of electrical and electronic machinery and appliances;

b) Inform the engineering officer of the watch or the electrotechnical officer of the receipt of the watch duty;

c) Ensure that the operational mode of electrical machine and other power-driven appliances shall conform to the specified technical procedure;

d) Do not switch on or off the main circuit breaker without the consent from the electrotechnical officer or the engineering officer of the watch;

dd) Guarantee the continual supply of electricity to the ship; whenever any abnormal operation of electrical machines or other power-driven machines is detected, the electrotechnical engineer must send a timely notification to the engineering officer of the watch or the electrotechnical officer so as to find any possible solution.

Article 53. Duties of the radio communications crewmember of the watch

1. The radio communications crewmember of the watch is put under the direct command of the radio communications officer and stands watch in conformity with the regulation on nautical radio communication system. If there are not a sufficient number of radio communication crewmembers aboard the ship to meet the manning requirement, the radio communications officer shall be obliged to stand watch. If there is no one assigned as the radio communications crewmember aboard the ship, the radio communications officer shall be responsible for standing watch.

...

a) Take care of the ship’s communication with other ships and the coast radio stations. Receive any emergency alerts, distress signals, nautical notifications and weather forecast bulletins.

b) When accepting the transfer of the watch duty, he must grasp the operational condition of the radio or wireless communication devices, especially automated distress signal receiver and transmitter;

c) Carry out the receipt of such message or signal in conformity with the international nautical radio communications principle;

d) When receiving any emergency message or signal, he must promptly notify the deck officer of the watch and the radio communications officer; concurrently, execute the master’s order in conformity with the international nautical radio communications principle;

dd) Send the warning signal or distress signal only after obtaining the approval from the master or the master’s authorized person;

e) Adhere to regulations of distress or emergency signaling frequency when calling or responding to other radio stations. During the communication process, private talk or issue shall be prohibited;

g) Comply with regulations on use of radio frequencies upon the request of the coast radio stations or inspecting stations.

h) Examine the radio and navigation room to calibrate the onboard time to make it align with the time specified by the time-telling radio stations at least once each day;

i) Do not leave the watch position or do private work during the watch period. Allowing any person or crewmembers who do not undertake any tasks in the radio room shall be strictly prohibited. Radio communications crewmembers shall be permitted to leave the watch when obtaining the consent from the master or radio communications officer;

...

l) If the ship has the radio station designed with high capacity or more convenient communication, this ship must be ready to give assistance to other stations upon request;

m) The content of all radio messages or signals must be treated with complete confidentiality. The master is the only person who has access to such content.

n) Notify the radio communications officer of any breakdowns or abnormal working condition of the radio communications system; concurrently, immediately take remedial measures or have it repaired;

o) At least 01 hour prior to the transfer of the watch duty, the radio communication crewmember of the watch must inspect the operational condition of the radio communications devices and record the inspection result into the radio communications watch logbook;

p) Write the radio communications logbook; carry out the checking and marking on the list of items required to be inspected.

Section 4. GUARANTEE OF THE SAFETY, CONFORMITY WITH THE RULE ON REST AND DAILY ROUTINE ABOARD THE VIETNAMESE SHIP

Article 54. Duty assignment and instruction in the emergency situation

1. The duty assignment must be available aboard the ship when any emergency situation happens, when there is any firefighting, man-overboard, ship flood and abandonment alarm (hereinafter referred to as the duty chart).

2. The duty chart must specify the followings:

...

b) The general duties of each crewmember and passenger after receiving the distress signal;

c) Muster station and specific duties of each crewmember, passenger in terms of specific warning signals aboard the ship;

d) Members of commander team, engine team, emergency response team, assistance, security, healthcare and order team (aboard the passenger ship) and duties of each team in the event of distress signals;

dd) Substitute persons standing watch in the key position and persons who operate lifesaving and firefighting equipment.

3. The duty chart must be posted on the notice board placed along the balcony, nautical bridge, machinery space and muster stations.

Article 55. Personal emergency duty note

1. In each stateroom of crewmember and passenger, the personal emergency duty note is posted in a conspicuous place and written in Vietnamese and English.

2. Personal emergency duty note shall include the following information:

a) Different distress signal types;

...

c) Lifeboat number and seating position within the lifeboat.

Article 56. Onboard distress signals

1. The distress signal must be sent by means of electrical bells and sound signaling system aboard the ship. Short blast is the electrical bell ring prolonged from 01 to 02 seconds; long blast is the electrical bell ring prolonged from 04 to 06 seconds; there is a break prolonged from 02 to 04 seconds between two blasts.

2. Electrical alarms shall be stipulated as follows:

a) General alarm is recognized by 7 short blasts on the ship's horn followed by one long blast. This shall be repeated in several times (………. -----)

b) Fire alarm shall be sounded as a continuous ringing of the ship’s bell prolonged from 15 to 20 seconds. This shall be repeated in multiple times (-------

c) Man-overboard alarm shall be recognized by 3 long blasts. The repetition frequency shall vary from 03 to 04 times (----------------

d) Ship flood alarm shall be recognized by 3 long blasts. The repetition frequency shall vary from 02 to 03 times (----------------);

dd) Ship abandonment alarm shall be sounded as a short blast and a long blast. This shall be repeated in multiple times (------- . . . . . -----);

...

3. The ringing of the ship’s bell must be followed by the oral notification. As for the fire or ship flood alarms, the emergency position must be located. If the electrical bell and sound transmitter system of the ship is out of order or is not in place, any similar device can be used to sound to warn crewmembers and passengers.

Article 57. Emergency drills

1. In order to improve the emergency response practice, the master must hold emergency drills for each type of alarm aboard the ship in accordance with regulations. As for the passenger ship, the master must provide instructions for passengers to get familiar with different alarm types.

2. The master is the only person who can order the emergency drills. The emergency drills must be written in the nautical logbook and record book aboard the ship.

Article 58. Use of lifeboats

1. Lifeboats shall only serve the purpose of guaranteeing the safety of onboard people, passengers, crewmembers and holding the man-overboard emergency or ship abandonment drills.

2. Equipment attached to lifeboats must be checked, preserved and punctually replaced or further provided in accordance with regulations.

3. The lifeboat shall be commanded by the chief officer or one deck officer. Crewmembers who are charged with navigating the lifeboat must hold the lifeboat navigation certificate. Lifeboats shall only be launched by order of the master. When retrieving lifeboats, the deck officer-in-command must report the result to the master.

Article 59. The crew’s daily routine aboard the Vietnamese ship

...

2. Crewmembers must strictly comply with the rules set on board and conform to the regulations on hygiene and disease prevention aboard the ship. Staterooms of the crewmember, work rooms, club, balcony, gangways, bathrooms, restrooms and other mess rooms, must be kept clean and tidy.

3. Gambling, illegal drug use and unhealthy ways of life shall be strictly prohibited aboard the ship;

4. Use of alcoholic substance is restricted. The blood alcohol content is not allowed to exceed 0.05% or the breath alcohol content is not allowed to exceed 0.25 mg/l;

5. All daily and entertainment activities must end by 22:00 within a day; other exceptions shall be decided by the master.

Article 60. Use of cabins and rooms aboard the ship

1. Based on the actual condition, the master shall provide regulations on management and use of onboard cabins and rooms. The chief officer shall be responsible for arranging staterooms for crewmembers.

2. Storage of explosives, weapons, inflammable substances, dangerous and other prohibited goods in staterooms, workrooms and mess rooms shall be strictly banned.

3. One room key shall be handed to the room dweller, the second room key shall be numbered and managed by the chief officer. Crewmembers and passengers shall not be allowed to change their room keys.

4. Crewmembers shall be assigned to manage work rooms, club and other mess rooms, and take responsibility for protecting property inside these rooms.

...

Article 61. Meal time and dining room aboard the ship

1. The daily meal time shall be decided by the master. The officer shall be served meals at the dining room intended for the officer while meals are ready to other crewmember in the dining room intended for the crewmember. All crewmembers are required to strictly adhere to the meal schedule, except for those who stand watch. All crewmembers coming to the dining room must dress tidily and be prohibited from wearing short pants and singlets. During meal time, noisy talks are not allowed and crewmembers must be aware of keeping the dining room clean. Sick seafarers or those following instructions of the medical doctor or medical assistant shall be allowed to eat their meals in the stateroom.

2. The dining room must be kept clean and there must be table mats and other necessary stuff. The dining-room attendant must wear uniform.

Article 62. Compensated time-off, shore leave and leave of seafarers

1. Compensated time-off and shore leave of the seafarer shall be approved by the master. When necessary, the master shall exercise his right to designate any crewmember to stay on board to perform their duties.

2. When the crewmember is taking shore leave or returning to the ship, he must report to the in-charge watchstanding officer.

3. When the ship is going to leave the port, the crewmember must turn up on time in accordance with the master’s regulations.

4. When the ship is made fast to the dock, at least one-third of total crewmembers working in each ship department must be present on board. When the ship is at anchor, at least two-thirds of total crewmembers working in each ship department must be present on board. When the ship is in port or at anchor, the master shall have the right to assign the watch duty to any crewmember to meet the task requirements aboard the ship.

5. Each crewmember, before leaving the ship to take their leaves or moving to other ships or transferring their ranks, must carry out the handover of his duties to the substitute by giving the record with the endorsement of the in-charge officer on the followings:

...

b) Assigned machinery, appliances, instruments and any necessary remark;

c) Property and articles of the ship distributed for use, including the stateroom key.

Chapter III

REGISTRATION OF SEAFARERS, ISSUANCE OF MARINER CREDENTIALS AND PASSPORT

Section 1. REGISTRATION OF SEAFARERS AND ISSUANCE OF MARINER CREDENTIALS

Article 63. Registration of seafarers and issuance of mariner credentials

1. Vietnamese crewmembers working aboard Vietnamese ships, overseas vessels and foreign crewmembers working aboard Vietnamese ships must make registration with the crew register and shall be issued with the mariner credential.

2. The crew register shall include Vietnam Maritime Administration in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh city; Maritime Administration of Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Vung Tau, Can Tho, Kien Giang, Ca Mau and Dong Thap.

The Director of Vietnam Maritime Administration shall decide to allow more Maritime Administrations to process applications for seafarer’s registration when necessary.

...

a) Preparing and managing the crew registration book;

b) Recording the crew registration in the crew registration book;

c) Issuing the mariner credential to crewmembers;

d) Examining the management and use of the mariner credential.

Article 64. Responsibility of the mariner credential holder

Each seafarer shall be issued with only one mariner credential. Seafarers shall be responsible for keeping and retaining their mariner credentials; do not erase or change any content provided in the mariner credential; do not give the mariner credential to others or use it in breach of the legal regulations.

Article 65. Responsibility of the ship owner and the master

1. The ship owner shall be responsible for deciding the ranks of crewmembers working aboard the ship and providing sufficient and accurate confirmation of such ranks in the mariner credential and bear responsibility for such confirmation.

2. The ship master shall be responsible for authenticating the onboard and offboard time of each crewmember in the mariner credential and assume liability for his authentication.

...

1. Organization or individual shall be required to submit one (01) set of documents in person or by mail to one of the crew registers stipulated in Clause 2 Article 63 hereof. Documentation shall include:

a) Application form for issuance of the mariner credential by completing the form given in the Appendix II hereof;

b) A copy along with the original or authenticated copy of the certificate of professional qualification applied to ranks within the minimum safety manning framework; authenticated copy of the marine practicing certificate and certificate of completion of basic safety training applied to ranks that fall outside of the minimum safety manning framework, such as messman, cook’s mate, electrotechnical engineer, main engine machinist, and ranks of crewmembers working on the backhoe dredger such as backhoe dredger staff and mechanical technician;

c) Two color photos size 4x6 cm which is the same one as used for ID card and taken within 06 months.

2. The crew register shall receive and verify such documentation and carry out the followings:

a) In case of in-person submission, if the applicant has submitted all required documents, the documentation-received note and note of appointment of receiving the result shall be issued in accordance with regulations; if the applicant has not submitted all required documents in accordance with regulations, the crew register must immediately return it to this applicant and provide guidance for this applicant to improve their documentation;

b) In case of by-mail submission, if the applicant has not submitted all required documents, within two (02) days at the latest from the receipt of such documentation, the crew register must send a written response to the applicant in which the reason for refusal must be clearly stated.

3. Within the permitted period of three (03) working days from the receipt of all required documents, the crew register must write the content in the crew registration book and issue the mariner credential according to the form given in the Appendix I hereof. If issuance of the mariner credential is refused, the crew register must send a written response within the permitted period stipulated in this Clause and clarify reasons for the refusal.

4. The fee for issuance of the mariner credential shall be specified by the Ministry of Finance.

...

1. The crewmember shall be reissued with the mariner credential if the mariner credential which was issued has been lost, damaged or run out of pages or included the wrong information.

2. Organization or individual shall submit one (01) set of documents to apply for reissuance of the mariner credential in person or by mail to the crew register that has issued the initial mariner credential. Documentation submitted to apply for reissuance of the mariner credential shall include:

a) Application form for reissuance of the mariner credential by completing the form given in the Appendix II hereof;

b) The mariner credential which has been issued. This requirement shall apply to the damaged or wrong-content mariner credential;

c) Valid documents stating evidence of any adjustment to the wrong content provided in the mariner credential;

d) Two color photos size 4x6 cm which is the same one as used for ID card and taken within 06 months.

3. The crew register shall receive and verify such documentation and carry out the followings:

...

5. The fee for reissuance of the mariner credential shall be specified by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 68. Revocation of the mariner credential

The mariner credential shall be revoked if it breaches one of the followings:

a) It is counterfeited or its contents have been changed, erased or falsified;

b) It is used for sale, rent or free-of-interest lease;

c) The holder of the mariner credential has declared false information or use modified or counterfeit documents for applying for issuance of the mariner credential.

Section 2. SEAFARER’S PASSPORT

Article 69. Issuance of the seafarer’s passport

1. The seafarer’s passport shall be issued to Vietnamese crewmembers working aboard the seagoing ship operating in the international route and shall be used for getting on board the incoming or outgoing ships.

...

Article 70. Responsibility of the seafarer's passport holder

1. Use the seafarer’s passport to serve the right purpose and ensure the compliance with legal regulations.

2. Keep safe custody of the seafarer’s passport; avoid erasing or modifying contents of the seafarer's passport; do not give it to other people.

Article 71. Procedure for issuance of the seafarer’s passport

1. Organization or individual shall submit one (01) set of documents in person or by mail to Vietnam Maritime Administration. Documentation submitted to apply for seafarer’s passport shall include:

a) Application form for issuance of the seafarer’s passport by completing the form given in the Appendix IV hereof;

b) Copy of the ID card;

c) Two color photos size 4x6 cm which is the same one as used for ID card and taken within 06 months.

2. The Vietnam Maritime Administration shall receive and verify such documentation and carry out the followings:

...

b) In case of by-mail submission, if the applicant has not submitted all required documents, within two (02) working days at the latest from the receipt of such documentation, the Vietnam Maritime Administration must send a written response to the applicant in which the reason for refusal must be clearly stated.

3. Within the permitted period of three (03) working days from the receipt of all required documents, the Vietnam Maritime Administration must issue the seafarer’s passport according to the form given in the Appendix III hereof. If issuance of the seafarer’s passport is refused, the Vietnam Maritime Administration must send a written response within the permitted period stipulated in this Clause and clarify reasons for the refusal.

4. The fee for issuance of the seafarer’s passport shall be specified by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 72. Reissuance of the seafarer’s passport

1. The seafarer shall be eligible to be reissued with the seafarer’s passport if the seafarer’s passport that was issued has been lost, damaged or run out of pages or included the wrong information or ended its validity.

2. Organization or individual shall submit one (01) set of documents in person or by mail to Vietnam Maritime Administration. Documentation submitted to apply for the seafarer’s passport shall include:

a) Application form for reissuance of the seafarer’s passport by completing the form given in the Appendix V hereof;

b) The mariner credential which was issued. This requirement shall apply to the seafarer’s passport that has been damaged or contained wrong information or ended its validity;

c) Valid documents stating evidence of any adjustment to the wrong content provided in the seafarer’s passport;

...

3. The Vietnam Maritime Administration shall receive and verify such documentation and carry out the followings:

4. Within the permitted period of three (03) working days from the receipt of all required documents, the Vietnam Maritime Administration must issue the seafarer’s passport according to the form given in the Appendix III hereof. If issuance of the seafarer’s passport is refused, the Vietnam Maritime Administration must send a written response within the permitted period stipulated in this Clause and clarify reasons for the refusal.

5. The fee for reissuance of the seafarer’s passport shall be specified by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 73. Revocation of the seafarer’s passport

The seafarer’s passport which was issued shall be revoked if it breaches one of the followings:

a) It is counterfeited or its contents have been modified, erased or falsified;

b) It is used for sale, rent or free-of-interest lease;

...

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 74. Effect

1. This Circular shall come into force from May 20, 2012 and replace the Decision No. 29/2008/QĐ-BGTVT of The Minister of Transport dated December 16, 2008 on stipulating ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships.

2. This Circular shall enclose 05 appendices:

a) Application I: the sample of the mariner credential;

b) Appendix II: the form of the declaration for application for issuance of the mariner credential;

c) Appendix III: the sample of the seafarer’s passport;

d) Appendix II: the form of the declaration for application for issuance of the seafarer’s passport;

...

3. The seafarer’s passport which was issued under the Decision No. 65/2005/QĐ-BGTVT of the Minister of Transport dated November 30, 2005 on stipulating ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships and the Decision No. 29/2008/QĐ-BGTVT of the Minister of Transport dated December 16, 2008 on ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships shall remain valid until the expiry date specified in the seafarer's passport.

4. The mariner credential which was issued under the Decision No. 65/2005/QĐ-BGTVT of the Minister of Transport dated November 30, 2005 on stipulating ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships and the Decision No. 29/2008/QĐ-BGTVT of the Minister of Transport dated December 16, 2008 on ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships shall remain valid until it is reissued or replaced by the new mariner credential.

5. The Vietnam Maritime Administration shall print and issue the mariner credential and seafarer’s passport in accordance with this Circular.

Article 75. Implementation

1. The Vietnam Maritime Administration shall be responsible for presiding over and collaborating with relevant agencies in implementation of this Circular.

2. The Chief of the Ministry Office, the Ministry’s Chief Inspector, the Directors of the Departments, the Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, heads of relevant organizations, agencies and individuals shall be liable to implement this Circular./.

THE MINISTER

Dinh La Thang

...

You are not logged!

So you only see the Attributes of the document.
You do not see the Full-text content, Effect, Related documents, Documents replacement, Gazette documents, Written in English,...

You can register Member here

You are not logged!

So you only see the Attributes of the document.
You do not see the Full-text content, Effect, Related documents, Documents replacement, Gazette documents, Written in English,...

You can register Member here

You are not logged!

So you only see the Attributes of the document.
You do not see the Full-text content, Effect, Related documents, Documents replacement, Gazette documents, Written in English,...

You can register Member here

You are not logged!

So you only see the Attributes of the document.
You do not see the Full-text content, Effect, Related documents, Documents replacement, Gazette documents, Written in English,...

You can register Member here

Circular No. 07/2012/TT-BGTVT dated March 21, 2012, stipulating ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships

Official number:	07/2012/TT-BGTVT	Legislation Type:	Circular
Organization:	The Ministry of Transportation and Communications	Signer:	Dinh La Thang
Issued Date:	21/03/2012	Effective Date:	Premium
Gazette dated:	Updating	Gazette number:	Updating
		Effect:	Premium

You are not logged!

So you only see the Attributes of the document.
You do not see the Full-text content, Effect, Related documents, Documents replacement, Gazette documents, Written in English,...

You can register Member here

Circular No. 07/2012/TT-BGTVT dated March 21, 2012, stipulating ranks, rank-based duties of seafarers and registration of seafarers working aboard Vietnamese seagoing ships

Download document in VN

Download document and table of contents in Vietnamese

Download document in EN

You are not logged!

So you only see the Attributes of the document.
You do not see the Full-text content, Effect, Related documents, Documents replacement, Gazette documents, Written in English,...

You can register Member here

FeedBack For THƯ VIỆN PHÁP LUẬT New
Full Name:
Email:
Tel:
Content:

FullName:
Email:
Phone:
Content: