The Regulation on Amending the Regulation on Authorized Organizations for Ships, prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministry“), was published in the Official Gazette No. 32163 on April 14, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulation”).

The Regulation has come into effect on the date of its publication, April 14, 2023. The implementation of the Regulation is the responsibility of the Ministry. The changes made to the main regulation, the Regulation on Authorized Organizations for Ships (hereinafter referred to as the “Same Regulation”), are as follows:

ARTICLE 2 – With the amendment made to Article 7 of the Same Regulation, the Decision Commission will consist of at least four (4) members, chaired by the relevant Deputy Minister, including the Director General of Maritime Affairs, the Director General of Legal Services, and the Director General of Shipyards and Coastal Structures. Thus, the commission chair may invite additional members to the commission if deemed necessary. The Decision Commission convenes with the presence of all members and makes decisions by a simple majority of the members. If the votes are tied, the majority will be determined by the vote cast by the chair. With the amendment made, it has been arranged that the secretarial services of the Decision Commission will be carried out by the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs.

ARTICLE 3 – With the amendment made to the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Same Regulation, in the event that a Turkish-flagged ship transitions from one Authorized Organization to another, the following information related to the ship must be transferred within 30 days from the old organization to the new authorized organization that will register the ship: all expired surveys of the ship, recommendations made for the ship that have not been fulfilled by the ship’s owner or operator, the classification conditions of the ship, the operational conditions of the ship, published instructions that limit the operation of the ship, the file showing the entire history of the ship, and all similar information. After the transfer process is completed, this transaction will be promptly reported to the administration, and the transferred information will be submitted to the administration upon request.

ARTICLE 4 – In light of the paragraph added to Article 11 of the Same Regulation, it is stated that the Authorized Organizations (YKs) are required to prepare and report to the administration, on a monthly basis, lists confirming the collection of fees related to the documents subject to fees under the Fee Law No. 492 dated 2/7/1964.

ARTICLE 5 – The subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 12 of the Regulation has been amended as follows:

“a) All correspondence related to the tasks and processes defined by this Regulation and the authorization protocol shall be conducted with the administration by the Authorized Organizations (YKs). In this correspondence, it is mandatory for the YKs to use Registered Electronic Mail (KEP).”

♦ The subparagraph (d) of the same paragraph has been repealed.

ARTICLE 6 – With the amendment made to Article 15 of the Regulation, the Administration may request non-scheduled inspections from Authorized Organizations in cases where Turkish-flagged vessels or companies operating such vessels, which are under the registry of the Authorized Organizations and hold certificates under the International Safety Management Code (ISM), the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), and the International Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), are subject to port state/flag state inspections and the inspection reveals a detention of the vessel or a decrease in the performance of the vessel or the company operating the vessel. The Administration may also request reports and documents related to these inspections.

ARTICLE 7 – In the first paragraph of Article 17 of the same Regulation
“At least one project is prepared by the Authority together with or by the YK (Authorized Organization) within periods not exceeding three years.”phrase

“The phrase has been changed to ‘The Authority may request the Authorized Organizations (YKs) to prepare projects independently, among themselves, or jointly with the Authority, or to participate in prepared projects’.”

ARTICLE 8 – A new paragraph added to Article 18 of the same Regulation stipulates that the Authority may request the participation of Authorized Organizations (YKs) as instructors in training programs organized for flag or port state experts, or that they prepare training content on specific topics.

ARTICLE 9 – The third and fourth paragraphs of Article 19 of the Regulation have been amended, and additions have been made to the same article.

“(3) The authority to exempt from national rules and international treaty requirements rests solely with the Administration. For matters where the Administration has granted a permanent exemption, no further exemption request is required for vessels where a change of Authorized Organization (YK) occurs. However, in all cases, the YK notifies the Administration.”

“(4) In their applications, Authorized Organizations (YKs)/Supplementary YKs (SYKs) inform the Administration of their assessments, recommendations, necessary additional measures, conditions for granting exemptions or equivalencies, and their support and objections related to the application, in a report.”

“(5) Exemption or equivalence requests for newly built vessels or vessels undergoing modifications considered as repairs under relevant legislation are submitted during the application for construction permits or repair permits.”

ARTICLE 10 – The amendment to Article 20 of the Regulation requires that certificates issued by Limited Authority and Authority Organizations on behalf of the Ministry be issued in accordance with international agreements to which the administration is a party.

ARTICLE 11 – The amendment to the second paragraph of Article 21 of the same Regulation specifies that each regional office must have at least four qualified surveyors, with the proviso that the manager of each section must be a Turkish citizen.

In addition to this, the following paragraphs have been added to the aforementioned article:

“(2) The regional office consists of at least four qualified surveyors, provided that a qualified surveyor is assigned to each section where the manager is a Turkish citizen.(4) The Plan Approval Section requires that Authorized Organizations (YKs) not located in our country must have at least one surveyor in each of their sections with the necessary authority.(5) YK personnel can work in more than one section, provided they are authorized for each section they work in.”

In clause (a) of the third paragraph of the same article, the phrase “established in Turkey; new” has been changed to “New“.

ARTICLE 12 – The amendment to Article 25 of the Regulation stipulates that, in addition to the biennial review of Authorized Organizations’ activities conducted by the Regional Office, the Central Office may also conduct reviews, if deemed necessary, to ensure compliance with this Regulation and the Authorization Protocol.

“Restriction or suspension of authorities and administrative fines”

♦ An amendment to Article 26(a) of the same regulation, which lists the circumstances under which Authorized Organizations will be notified in writing, now includes cases where an Authorized Organization’s performance deteriorates in the flag or port state, identified deficiencies are linked to the organization, or the organization is significantly at fault in an accident it is involved in.

“It has been added.””(5) In case of non-compliance with the notifications specified in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article 19, an administrative fine ranging from 25,000 TRY to 150,000 TRY shall be imposed by the authority on the relevant Board of Directors (YK). If the same violation is repeated within one year from the date the administrative fine is imposed, the fines shall be applied with a twofold increase.(6) The fine amounts specified in this article shall be updated annually according to the revaluation rate announced in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law No. 213, dated 4/1/1961.(7) Boards of Directors (YKs), for the Turkish-flagged ships they have documented, cannot demand any fees for the trials they are required to conduct due to deficiencies associated with the YK in the port state trials.”

♦ With the paragraphs added to Article 26, in case of non-compliance with the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article 19,
the administration shall impose an administrative fine from 25.000 TL to 150.000 TL on the Authorized Institution.

“It will be applied, and in case of a repeated violation within one year from the date the fine is imposed, it will be applied with a twofold increase. The fine amounts specified in this article are increased each year in accordance with the revaluation rate determined and announced under the provisions of the Tax Procedure Law No. 213, dated 4/1/1961. During port state trials, Authorized Organizations, due to deficiencies related to their association with the Authorized Organization, cannot demand fees for the trials they are required to conduct.”

ARTICLE 14- Subparagraph (d) of the first paragraph of Article 27 of the same Regulation and the third
paragraph of the same Article
have been repealed.

ARTICLE 15- Provisional Article 1 and Provisional Article 2 of the same Regulation have been repealed.

ARTICLE 16- The last sentence of the first paragraph of the provisional Article 3 of the same Regulation has been amended.

♦ “With the amended first paragraph of this temporary third article, Authorized Organizations will be expected to complete the additional requirements requested by the Authority for passenger ships that do not have a class certificate.”

♦ The second paragraph of the same article is repealed.

ARTICLE 17– A provisional article has been added to the same Regulation.

♦ “With the addition of this temporary article, it is stated that, until the implementation of the Limited Authority Organization practice in Article 30, the survey and certification procedures of vessels operating on national routes, even if they are registered with Authorized Organizations, may also be carried out by the Authority upon the request of the shipowner/operator.”

“With the amendment made by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in the relevant Regulation, the second paragraph of the Temporary 3rd article, which states that ‘passenger ships without class certificates operating on routes to islands in the Aegean Sea must have a class certificate issued by Authorized Organizations three years after the effective date of this article,’ has been repealed. Thus, Turkish-flagged passenger ships operating to islands in the Aegean Sea, for which the Certificate of Fitness for Service was issued before March 24, 2023, will not be required to have a class certificate.

You can access the relevant Regulation through the link below.”

https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2023/04/20230414-12.htm
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