In order to meet the actual navigation needs of Xiamen waters, China MSA recently announced the revised Ship Routing System and Ship Reporting System in Xiamen Water Area, which will take effect on 01 March 2022.

According to the revised Ship Routing System, ships of 50,000 tons and above shall use the deep-water route for inward and outward journeys to and from Dongdu, Haicang and Zhaoyin Port of Xiamen. The current requirement for ships draft over 12.5 meters to use the deep water route will be removed but it requests ships going in or coming out from Houshi Port to use the South Channel and Houshi Channel of Xiamen port rather than the deep-water route. The deep-water route has been widened from 450m to 560-641m and the depth datum of main channel deepened from -15.0m to -16.70m. The navigation capacity is increased from 150,000 tons to 200,000 tons and the length of route is adjusted from 9.56 nm to 9.13 nm.

The revised Ship Reporting System is applicable to all foreign ships. It replaces the original reporting point of Jiujiejiao and sets up a new reporting line of the Qinqyu Lighthouse, and it specifies the longitude and latitude coordinates of reporting lines (points) including West Reporting Line, Qingyu Lighthouse Reporting Line, Zhenhaijiao Lighthouse and Tuyu Reporting Point. The revision is also applicable to ships of restricted maneuverability. Ships shall report their dynamic information to VTS under the following two circumstances:

aa. Ships having problem with the main engine, steering gear, positioning system or other key navigation safety equipment.

bb. Ship’s AIS system is out of order.

In addition, the revised Ship Reporting System change the VHF working channels. The Xiamen VTS area will be divided into two zones, i.e. inside and outside the port with the boundary of the Qingyu Lighthouse Reporting Line. The working channel outside the port is VHF 67 while that of outside the port is VHF 08.

Any ship violating the rules of the above 2 revised systems shall face the administrative penalty or other administrative compulsory measures imposed by MSA in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

Enclosed are the announcement made by the MSA and its three attachments in Chinese together with our free translation in English for your reference.

We hope the above is of assistance. If there is any query, please feel free to contact us at oasis@oasispandi.com at any time.

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Oasis P&I Services Company Limited