3.1 General
Clasification Society 2024 - Version 9.40
Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Circulars - Maritime Safety Committee - MSC.1/Circular.1216 – Revised Recommendations on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Cargoes and Related Activities in Port Areas – (26 February 2007) - Annex - Revised Recommendations on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Cargoes and Related Activities in Port Areas - 3 Warehouses, Terminal Areas and Infrastructure - 3.1 General

3.1 General

  3.1.1 This chapter relates to jetties, pipelines , cargo sheds, container stacking areas, warehouses and terminal areas for dangerous cargoes , access and transport roads, rail links and waterways in port areas .

  3.1.2 The regulatory authority should take every care that, in defining the port area , it covers only areas where dangerous cargoes are transported, handled or kept for the purpose of changing the mode or means of transport . Refineries, chemical plants, factories, etc., should not be included in the port area except for jetties or wharves relating to those activities.

3.1.2 All dangerous cargoes moving by road, rail, barge or ship are governed by transport legal requirements covering such matters as packing, marking, labelling or placarding, documentation and segregation. Worldwide, the transport legal requirements should be adequate to protect the population and the environment along the transport chain, including handling at the beginning or the end of the transport chain and during changes of the mode of transport. This applies to all dangerous cargoes.

As ports are places where there is an interchange between the modes of transport, the transport legal requirements to all the relevant modes of transport will apply in ports.

However, in many industrialized countries there are specific legal requirements and standards for the design, construction and operation of refineries, chemical plants, tank farms, factories, storage and distribution centres or similar installations. They may include legislation relating to labour, environment, pollution prevention, water protection or explosives.

These specific legal requirements and standards sometimes differ considerably from the legal requirements based on these Recommendations. To avoid conflict between the different legal requirements and the authorities responsible for their implementation, the Recommendations should not be applied to areas within or near a port that are not directly related to or involved in the transport of dangerous cargoes. The Recommendations may also be applied to marine terminals not situated in port areas.

Example 1

One way of defining areas to which legal requirements based on the Recommendations apply is to attach a plan to the port laws or port by-laws, showing the various areas in different colours, e.g., (see figure 1):

Blue = water areas to which the legal requirements apply;

Red = ship/shore interface areas (berth, jetties, wharves) to which the legal requirements apply;

Yellow = shore areas to which the legal requirements apply; and

White = shore areas to which the legal requirements do not apply.

Figure 1 Plan of Port area

  3.1.3 The regulatory authority should establish general legal requirements to be met for new facilities or for extensions or major changes to existing facilities.

3.1.3 The legal requirements and standards should cover, e.g.:

.1 public works planning procedures;

.2 zoning;

.3 planning/project approval procedures;

.4 environmental impact assessment;

.5 planning laws for towns and country;

.6 building, including standards for static and building materials and the carrying out of construction work;

.7 fire protection;

.8 environment protection, including protection from noxious substances, water pollution, explosives, ground pollution;

.9 factories; and

.10 labour safety.

For most of the above subjects, international conventions, guidelines or recommendations are available.

  3.1.4 The regulatory authority should also encourage the upgrading of existing facilities to meet such requirements.

  3.1.5 When establishing such requirements the regulatory authority should make every effort to prevent conflicts with established legal requirements relating to the transport of dangerous cargoes including environmentally hazardous substances and wastes.

3.1.5 Operative paragraph 2 of IMO resolution A.717(17) states: “Strongly urges Governments to co-ordinate their work in the different organizations to prevent conflicts with the established rules and regulations relating to the maritime transport of dangerous, hazardous and harmful cargoes, including environmentally hazardous substances (marine pollutants) and wastes.”

Parent topic: 3 Warehouses, Terminal Areas and Infrastructure
Copyright 2022 Clasifications Register Group Limited, International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization or Maritime and Coastguard Agency. All rights reserved. Clasifications Register Group Limited, its affiliates and subsidiaries and their respective officers, employees or agents are, individually and collectively, referred to in this clause as 'Clasifications Register'. Clasifications Register assumes no responsibility and shall not be liable to any person for any loss, damage or expense caused by reliance on the information or advice in this document or howsoever provided, unless that person has signed a contract with the relevant Clasifications Register entity for the provision of this information or advice and in that case any responsibility or liability is exclusively on the terms and conditions set out in that contract.