Council Regulation (EC) No 3051/95 of 8 December 1995 on the safety management of roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries (ro-ro ferries)

• Coming into Force: 01 January 1996,01 July 1996,01 January 1998
• End of Effective Date: 23 March 2006
• Celex Number: 31995R3051
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1995/3051/oj
• Published date: 30 December 1995
• Date: 08 December 1995
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 320, 30 December 1995

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Council Regulation (EC) No 3051/95 of 8 December 1995 on the safety management of roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries (ro-ro ferries)

Official Journal L 320 , 30/12/1995 P. 0014 - 0024

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 3051/95

of 8 December 1995

on the safety management of roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries (ro-ro ferries)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing he European Community, and in particular Article 84 (2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

Whereas the Community is seriously concerned by shipping casualties with loss of life;

Whereas the International Safety Management Code providing for the safe operation of ships and for pollution prevention, hereinafter referred to as the 'ISM Code', was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through Assembly Resolution A.741(18) of 4 November 1993 in the presence of the Member States and, through its incorporation into the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea 1974, will apply to ro-ro passenger vessels from 1 July 1998;

Whereas this represents one of a series of measures to improve safety at sea; whereas the ISM Code is not yet of a mandatory but of a recommendatory nature;

Whereas safety of human life at sea may be effectively enhanced by applying the ISM Code strictly and on a mandatory basis;

Whereas the Community's most urgent concern is for the safety management of ro-ro passenger ferries; whereas a uniform and coherent implementation of the ISM Code in all Member States can constitute a step towards the safety management of ro-ro passenger ferries;

Whereas in its resolution of 22 December 1994 on the safety of roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries (4), the Council invited the Commission to submit a proposal on the advance mandatory application of the ISM Code to all regular roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry services operating to or from European ports, in compliance with international law;

Whereas strict and mandatory application of the ISM Code is required to ensure the establishment and proper maintenance of safety management systems by companies operating seagoing ro-ro passenger ferries both at ship and at company level;

Whereas action at Community level is the best way to ensure advance mandatory enforcement of the provisions of the ISM Code and effective control of its application, while avoiding distortion of competition between different Community ports and ro-ro ferries; whereas only a regulation, which is of direct applicability, can ensure such enforcement; whereas advance implementation requires that the Regulation be applicable as from 1 July 1996;

Whereas the advance mandatory implementation of the ISM Code to all ro-ro ferries regardless of their flag also takes into account the request contained in point 2 of IMO Resolution A.741(18) which strongly urges Governments to implement the Code as soon as possible, giving priority inter alia to passenger ships;

Whereas the safety of ships is the primary responsibility of flag States; whereas Member States can ensure compliance with adequate safety management rules by ferries flying their flag and companies operating them; whereas the only way to ensure the safety of all ro-ro ferries, irrespective of their flag, operating or wishing to operate on a regular service from their ports is for the Member States to require effective compliance with safety rules as a condition for operating on a regular service from their ports;

Whereas companies operating ro-ro ferries exclusively in sheltered waters between ports in the same Member State constitute a more limited risk and will need to assume a proportionately greater administrative work-load than other companies, and should therefore enjoy a temporary derogation;

Whereas it is necessary to identify the requirements under which the provisions of the ISM Code are enforced and to define the conditions for the issue and verification of the document of compliance and of the safety management certificate;

Whereas Member States might find it necessary to delegate or rely upon specialized bodies in order to fulfil their obligations pursuant to this Regulation; whereas the appropriate way of ensuring a uniform and adequate level of control is to require that such bodies should only be those which meet the requirements of Council Directive 94/57/EC of 22 November 1994 on common rules and standards for ship inspection and survey organizations and for the relevant activities of maritime administrations (1);

Whereas a Member State must have the possibility of suspending the operation of certain ro-ro ferries from its ports where it considers that there is a risk of serious danger to safety of life or property or the environment, subject to a decision to be taken in the framework of a regulatory committee, to which the Member States must conform;

Whereas a simplified procedure involving a committee of a regulatory nature is necessary to amend this Regulation taking into account developments at international level;

Whereas the rapid introduction of these safety rules raises specific technical and administative problems for Greece because of the very large number of companies established in Greece operating ferries under the Greek flag and exclusively between Greek ports; whereas a derogation of limited duration to cover this situation should therefore be granted bearing in mind in addition that regular passenger and ferry services between Greek ports have been excluded until 1 January 2004 from the freedom to provide services granted by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December 1992 applying the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritime cabotage) (2),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The purpose of this Regulation is to enhance the safe management, safe operation and pollution prevention of ro-ro passenger ferries operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community on a regular service by ensuring that companies operating ro-ro ferries comply with the ISM Code through:

- the establishment and proper maintenance of shipboard and shore-based safety management systems by companies, and

- the control thereof by flag and port State administrations.

Article 2

For the purpose of this Regulation and with a view to the implementation of the ISM Code:

(a) 'ro-ro ferry'...