Transportation Ministry and Rosmorrechflot set to revamp passenger transport requirements
The Russian Ministry of Transport and the Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) are set to reconsider the approach to the organization of passenger traffic after the incident with M/V Poles'e-8. This is aimed at minimizing the risk of further tragedies in river transport, the Ministry said Thursday.
The two agencies meeting chaired by Transportation Deputy Minister Viktor Olersky was held today in Omsk. The meeting addressed the issue of navigation safety on the inland waterways of the country.
The meeting was attended by the chief of the Federal Service for transport supervision Alexander Kasyanov, the head of Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport Alexander Davydenko, authorities of river basins of Rosmorrechflot, Rostransnadzor. Among the participants of the meeting were representatives of Russian shipping companies, industry associations, the regional administration of the Omsk region.
The stakeholders discussed issues of control and supervision on river transport in the context of the passenger boat incident.
The meeting chairman Victor Olersky noted that the shipping safety is a very urgent issue. The country has 100,000 km of inland waterways, more than 30,000 units of river transport.
"It’s still too early to name reasons of the accident, but certainly we can say about the importance of the human factor", Victor Olersky was quoted as saying.
Alexander Kasyanov said that in 2013 Gosmorrechnadzor brought to light 520 facts of violations of navigation safety rules on inland waterways. The fines amounted to 403,000 rubles (an average of RUB 780).
The water transport regulator said he believes the penalties imposed for violation are too small to improve the situation. He urged the shipping companies themselves to pay due attention to the safety management system, without a formal approach.
To minimize the risk of new river tragedies, Alexander Davydenko said, the Ministry of Transport and Rosmorrechflot intend to revise the approach to the organization of passenger transport. This will create a Single register of captains and navigators.
The meeting participants decided to amend a number of regulations aimed at improving the safety of passenger ships sailing, and increasing accountability and qualification of officers of the vessels.
In particular, the meeting participants have proposed to amend the provision on minimum number of crew members on board of inland waterway transport and on their certification.
Besides, it was highlighted that the training programs for the crew of high-speed crafts needs improvements, that the regulatory authorities should have database of those engaged in passenger transportation.
The Port State Control for river ships came into force as of August 2012. The Unified system now incorporates 15 authorities of river basins waterways, who are authorized to perform inspection of inland waterway transport along the entire waterways network.
At the end of 2012, there were 7096 inspections completed, with 44% that led to 455 cases of vessel detention.
