New rules for shipowners and ship operators regarding machinery failure in Shanghai Port’s territory come into effect on 1 July 2022 and are applicable for two years.

The Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of People’s Republic of China emphasizes that shipowners, managers, and operators are responsible for ensuring the sea worthiness of their ships. They must implement ship safety management systems and test a ship’s main and auxiliary machinery before calling at Shanghai Port.

Actions in case of Failure

In case of machinery failure, the ship’s master should take emergency measures to ensure safety and avoid accidents, report to vessel traffic services (VTS) and follow instructions. When the vessel is stable, a written report should be submitted to the local MSA with details of the incident, emergency measures and corrective and correct actions, as well as ship information on the owner, management, agent, and classification.

Any machinery failure in Shanghai’s territorial waterway, incident causing risk of traffic safety or repair requiring more than two hours will require an onboard incident root cause investigation and safety inspection by the Port State Control.  SMS should be reviewed, and additional SMC conducted, if needed.

High risk list

Ships and ownerships with two or more machinery failures in 12 months in Shanghai waters will be listed by the Shanghai MSA. They will also be subject to additional measures, which may include detention, suspension, or removal from port.

Additional action will be taken for owners or managers with 3 or more machinery failures.

Preventive measures

It is very important to implement a SMS with procedures to maintain the ship´s machinery.  Propulsion, steering and navigational systems must be pre-checked and tested before entering Shanghai’s territorial waterway.