RS clarifies in which cases ship calls may be authorized
The Bulgarian Maritime Administration has announced that sea and river ports of Bulgaria would be closed for all vessels certified by Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) regardless of the vessels’ flag of registry from 8 April 2023. As RS told IAA PortNews, ships calls are possible in some cases and for vessels carrying certain types of cargo.
RS says that after 8 April 2022, in compliance with Article 3ea of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, vessels certified by RS may be authorised to access EU ports and locks in the following cases:
- ships need assistance, a place of refuge, a port for emergency entry for safety reasons or for saving of lives at sea;
- entry to a lock is needed for leaving the EU territory;
- a call is authorized for the following purposes: purchase, transfer or import of certain goods, including natural gas, oil and refined petroleum products, titanium, aluminum, copper, nickel, palladium, iron ore, certain chemical and iron products (not prohibited by Articles 3m and 3n of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014); purchase, transfer or import of pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilizers whose import, purchase and transport is allowed under the Regulation; humanitarian purposes; transport of nuclear fuel and other goods strictly necessary for the functioning of civil nuclear capabilities.
In October 2022, RS issued detailed clarifications for its clients regarding the 8th package of EU sanctions.
Established in 1913, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) is one of the leading classification societies working in all areas of the maritime industry. The RS main objectives are: improvement of standards of safety of life at sea; improvement of ship safe navigation standards; improvement of standards of safe carriage of goods by sea and in inland waters; development of measures and standards to prevent environmental pollution.
RS provides the following services: design technical appraisal, survey and issue of documents, certificates and reports to ships and offshore installations as well as to ship machinery, equipment; tonnage measurement of ships and offshore installations; survey for compliance with the requirements of international conventions; certification of industrial products and processes; certification of quality management, environmental management and health and safety management systems for compliance with the ISO International Standards.