Technical Circular No: 007/2021
Download PDF1. Reference is made to Technical Circular No. 109/2020 & Technical Circular No. 133/2020 based on DGS Order No. 23 of 2020 & DGS Order No. 34 of 2020 in respect of extension to the validity of Ship’s Statutory Certificates, Periodical Surveys and Audits in view of COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Vide DGS Order No. 23 of 2020, Administration had granted extension to the validity of statutory certificates to ships whose statutory surveys were expiring between 1st September 2020 and 31st October 2020.
3. Subsequently, the Directorate, vide DGS Order No. 34 of 2020, had extended the extensions granted under DGS Order No. 23 of 2020 till 31st December 2020.
4. The Directorate, vide DGS Order No. 04 of 2021, has now decided to extend the extensions granted under DGS Order No. 23 of 2020 till 31st March 2021 subject to fulfilling following additional conditions:
a. Docking Surveys extension will only be granted upon submission of a firm Stemming Agreement with the dry dock, other conditions remain the same as per DGS order 23 of 2020. No further extension will be granted if the dock fails to adhere to the agreed / commitment date as per the stemming agreement.
b. In-case of all those vessels where an extension has already been obtained after submission of firm stemming agreement, no further extension will be considered unless valid reasons are furnished by the applicant towards the change in the stemming date. Also, the period of further extension sought will be within the maximum period considered under DCS Order 23 of 2020.
c. Owners sighting non-availability of BWM Management system complying with D-2 standard or delay in receiving from the supplier as the reason for getting DS extension will not be considered. In such circumstances of delay in receiving the BWM System, the owners must complete the dry-docking surveys of the vessel and will be permitted to operate the vessel on Indian coast only with compliance to D-1 standard of BWM System.
d. No extension will be granted for Annual Surveys and Intermediate/Renewal SMC Audits/MLC Inspections unless the mail correspondence between the Owner and RO can demonstrate that due-diligence was carried out to complete these surveys/audits/inspections well in advance, that is, at-least 3-months prior to expiry date/window-range date and no RO Surveyor could board due to lock-down/travel restriction.
e. Any request for extension beyond the maximum period indicated in DGS Order 23 of 2020 will only be considered under exceptional circumstances on a case to case basis, and will be based upon a satisfactory inspections / trials / structural assessment with regard to the type and age of the vessel, as decided between the RO and Directorate. In-case of any request under this clause, the owner is to undertake that the vessel will operate only in Indian coast.
5 .All other requirements/ conditions as per DGS Order No. 23 of 2020 remains the same.
6.Ship owners/ operators and managers of Indian flagged ships contemplating delay in carrying out mandatory periodical surveys, audits and inspections due to the COVlD-19 situation are advised to be guided by above and act accordingly.
7. This Technical Circular supersedes and revokes earlier Technical Circular No. 133/2020, dated 05th November 2020
Enclosure:
Disclaimer:
This Technical Circular and the material contained in it is provided only for the purpose of supplying current information to the reader and not as an advice to be relied upon by any person. While we have taken utmost care to be as factual as possible, readers/ users are advised to verify the exact text and content of the Regulation from the original source/ issuing Authority.