Recently, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs jointly issued the "Three-Year Action Program on ‘Commercial-Fishing Collaboration’ (2024-2026)” to deepen the prevention and control of collision risks of commercial and fishing vessels. According to the latest data from the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry, from January to May this year, the number of collision accidents involving commercial and fishing vessels of general grade and above, and the number of dead and missing persons decreased by 66.7% and 63.6% respectively year-on-year.
To further enhance the continuity and stability of water transportation safety management initiatives, and to continuously crack down on the prominent violations that are prone to cause collisions between commercial and fishing vessels, fundamentally solve the deep-rooted problems of accidents, and defuse the risk of major accidents, the two ministries have jointly launched a three-year action plan for “commercial-fishing collaboration.” The plan proposes establishing and improving a joint responsibility system that leads the overall situation, a pre-event prevention model for risk management, and orderly breakthroughs in multiple fundamental tasks, forming a comprehensive governance pattern of "1+1+N". By 2026, it is planned to achieve a series of distinctive, strongly controlled and well-equipped outputs of the “commercial-fishing collaboration”, significantly reducing the number of collisions and casualties of commercial and fishing vessels in key areas.
In accordance with the requirements outlined in the Plan, we shall establish and consolidate a comprehensive system of collaborative governance responsibilities, centering on the prevention of collisions between commercial and fishing vessels, to firmly enforce safety management responsibilities across the entire chain and every link. Furthermore, we will systematically construct a proactive prevention model aimed at eradicating prominent violations of laws, reinforcing safety awareness and capabilities. A concerted effort will be made to address deep-rooted issues causing accidents, such as communication barriers between commercial and fishing vessels, overdue vessel inspections, and irregular use of AIS (Automatic Identification System) net monitors.
Source from: China Transport News