A staff member of the Xiamen Maritime Safety Administration processes certificates for a company. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]
Xiamen's pioneering implementation of the "non-stop operation certification" for ships has shown significant results nationwide, with improved departmental efficiency and reduced operating costs for vessels.
The "certification" in "non-stop operation certification" refers to all certificates required for ship operation. When there are changes in the ownership, registration, or routes of a vessel, relevant certificates need to be reissued.
Previously, to ensure the safe operation of ships, a sea vessel required over 30 different certificates from purchase to operation, with processing times sometimes as long as 28 working days.
In response to this issue, the Xiamen Free Trade Zone Management Committee and Xiamen Maritime Safety Administration have worked together to leverage the establishment of the Xiamen International Trade Single Window to create a joint certification platform for maritime affairs, water transport, and ship inspection, as well as a cross-departmental collaboration mechanism.
This initiative marks the first nationwide achievement in cross-departmental cooperation among related units in the ship registration transfer process.
The registered shipping tonnage at Xiamen Port has increased from four million metric tons in 2021 to 5.3 million tons in 2023, with a total of 34 vessels benefiting from the reform.
Among them, 22 tourist vessels efficiently transferred to local tourism passenger transport companies through the reform, becoming a new model for the integrated development of ports.