The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways vide its notification dated 22nd February 2022, has published the Draft Inland Vessels [Life Saving Appliances] Rules 2022 and has invited Objections/ suggestions from the public which shall be addressed to the Director (IWT), Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Room No. 439, Transport Bhawan, 1-Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001, or by email at abhay.sarode@gov.in and uttam.mishra27@gov.in within a period of 30 days.
As per the Draft Rules, The owner/operator and master of any new inland vessel, shall ensure that the vessel is constructed, maintained and operated in accordance with the requirements of these Rules and that the vessel is suitable for its intended service.
No new inland vessel shall be issued with the certificate of survey under the Act and the Inland Vessels (Survey and Certification) Rules, 2022, unless such vessel complies with the design and carriage requirements for Life Saving Appliances that the inland vessel must carry, or those standards or requirements that are operational or procedural in nature.
The inland vessels shall be classified as per the following:
(1) Class I – Passenger vessels
(2) Class II – Cargo vessels and vessels other than those falling under Class I, Class III.
(3) Class III – Non-self-propelled vessels.
Vessels are to be provided with a public address system, operable from at least one point that can be heard by all persons onboard and all vessels carrying more than 100 passengers or more than 30 metres in length shall have a public address system operable from at least two well separated points.
Further Passenger Emergency Instructions notices shall be displayed in each passenger compartment and the number to be displayed will depend on the layout of the compartments and the service the vessel is engaged in.
