The Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) on February 05, 2024, issued a notification inviting Comments on the draft DGS Order on vessels carrying Industrial Personnel in Indian Water
The following has been stated namely: -
• This has a reference to the DGS Order 20 of 2022 that laid down requirements for vessels carrying more than 12 persons on board other than the Master and crew, which further mandated compliance to Passenger ship, SPS Code, or MODU Code requirements for all such vessels operating in Indian water
• It is to be noted that the SPS Code is applicable to those vessels where special personnel are carried to work on board that vessel in connection with the special purpose of that vessel, such as pipe laying, construction vessel, etc.
• It states that it has issued specific guidelines for certification of such vessels transporting personnel and has brought amendments to SOLAS by adding new Chapter XV vide Res. MSC 521 (106) and released the Industrial Personnel (IP) Code which is Res. MSC 527 (106)
• It states that the above provisions are coming into force on July 01, 2024, and in view of the mandatory nature of the regulations, the following requirements shall be applicable to Indian vessels and foreign vessels operating in Indian waters.
• It states that the Vessels less than 500 GT due to its size limitations shall not carry more than 60 persons unless such vessels are certified as passenger ships.
Comments shall be forwarded in a tabular format as in Annexure I, to email id: [email protected] and [email protected] by February 26, 2024.
Kindly refer to the document to view the Draft and the Format
[Notification No. 26-11/4112023-NA – DGS]
