Maritime safety: roll-on/roll-off (Ro-ro) ferries and high speed passenger craft, conditions for the operation

OBJECTIVE: to achieve in practice, through commonly agreed principles, an increased harmonization of the interpretation of international safety requirements; to ensure the effective application of these requirements; to ensure transparency on the conditions required for operating ro-ro ferry and high speed passenger craft on regular services to and from ports of a Member State, for all parties involved, host and flag administrations, as well as companies. SUBSTANCE: the proposal basically seeks to: - list all the conditions related to maritime safety issues which have to be fulfilled by a company to operate its ro-ro ferry or high speed passenger craft on a regular service to or from European ports, as well as, although indirectly, by a flag State, whose flag such ships or craft are flying; - establish a regime for verifying and inspecting compliance with all conditions, including operational conditions, for ro-ro passenger ships and high speed passenger craft operating to or from EC ports, prior to their entry into service and subsequently at regular intervals; - ensure the participation of host States in any investigation of maritime accident involving a ro-ro ferry or high speed passenger craft operating on a regular service to or from an EC port; - avoid unnecessary expanded PSC inspection procedures for ferries and craft which have demonstrated compliance with the conditions of the directive; - facilitate within the Community the putting into operation on a specific regular service of ships and craft confirmed to be in compliance with the requirements of the Directive as well as the transfer of such ships and craft to other regular services with similar operational conditions�