We have received the following information from the law firm in Shanghai, China, Sloma & Co.

In China, Maritime Traffic Safety Law was enacted in 1983 and came into effect in 1984. It is now newly amended and will come into effect from 1 September, 2021. It provides more detailed guideline/requirements on every aspect of the actions relating to navigation, operation of vessels and handling maritime accidents.

The main contents of the revision are as follows;

1. Optimizing the maritime traffic safety conditions and improving the security level.
2. Strengthening the administration of ships and crew members and standardizing the maritime traffic behaviors.
3. Strictly controlling administrative licensing matters and standardizing administrative acts of relevant authorities.
4. Improving the maritime search and rescue mechanism and the accident investigation and handling system.
5. Stipulating clear responsibilities for illegal acts, strengthening responsibility investigation, clarifying the arbitration procedures of civil disputes.

The newly amended Maritime Traffic Safety Law contains many new provisions including the rules concerning infectious disease of the crewmembers onboard and the classification of accident grade.

For further details, please refer to the attached notice and English translation issued by the law firm.