As Shandong is the biggest mariculture province in China, there are many fishery farms in the local ports, which may affect the navigational safety of ships.  As it is widely known, Lanshan port is notorious for claims for fishery farm damages.  Similar claims have also occurred in other ports in Shandong Province such as Longkou and Laizhou whereas cases at Yantai and Weihai port are less frequent.

1.       Lanshan port

Fishery farms have seriously affected the navigational safety locally in recent years.  We conducted an investigation into the current situation locally, and would like to update the latest development as follows:

(1)     In the beginning of this year, some shipping operators called upon the shipping industry to declare Lanshan as an unsafe port, which attracted much attention locally. The local government, the MSA, the Ocean and Fishery Bureau and the marine police jointly investigated the fraudulent claims from fishery farm owners.  Consequently, some people were charged with criminal offence.

(2)     At the same time, the removal of fishery farms has been done locally as scheduled. For your information, about half of D area has been removed. In addition, a new area H with coordinates as provided below has come to our attention and acknowledge where cases have been reported from this year. The following is a summary of the positions of some of the Lanshan farms where some cases happened since 2012 for your reference (the changes are marked in blue):

A1: 35°06′12.00″N,  119°50′16.00″E
A2: 35°03′18.00″N,  119°49′28.00″E
A3: 35°03′18.00″N,  119°46′48.00″E
A4: 35°06′12.00″N,  119°47′30.00″E
 
B1: 35°05′41.18″N,  119°54′03.73″E
B2: 35°04′21.77″N,  119°54′03.82″E
B3: 35°04′46.97″N,  119°54′45.81″E
B4: 35°05′35.97″N,  119°54′45.75″E
 
C1: 35°04′01.06″N,  119°52′29.91″E
C2: 35°03′26.77″N,  119°52′15.68″E
C3: 35°03′26.87″N,  119°53′56.63″E
C4: 35°04′01.14″N,  119°53′49.95″E
 

D1: 35°02′25.00″N,  119°36′18.00″E
D2: 35°02′02.70″N,  119°45′48.00″E
D3: 35°00′30.00″N,  119°45′48.00″E
D4: 35°01′18.00″N,  119°36′18.00″E
 
E1: 35°00′36.00″N,  119°35′18.00″E
E2: 34°59′42.00″N,  119°44′48.00″E
E3: 34°57′30.00″N,  119°40′42.00″E
 

F1: 35°11′23.43″N,  119°59′36.03″E    
F2: 35°10′52.35″N,  119°59′36.03″E
F3: 35°10′52.34″N,  120°00′54.73″E
F4: 35°11′23.43″N,  120°00′54.74″E

G1: 35°10′52.40″N,  119°49′58.07″E
G2: 35°10′10.63″N,  119°49′42.15″E
G3: 35°10′10.75″N,  119°51′20.11″E
G4: 35°10′52.34″N,  119°51′32.20″E

H1: 35°10′01.66″N,  119°54′03.38″E
H2: 35°09′19.73″N,  119°53′52.84″E
H3: 35°09′19.65″N,  119°56′42.48″E
H4: 35°10′01.58″N,  119°56′32.59″E

We are drafted a sketch as followings for your better reference.

(3)     The local police managed to prohibit the fishery farm owners to illegally detain the vessel to get compensation.

In recent years, the local (Qingdao) maritime court generally does not accept the arrest application filed by local fishery farms owners. But such application might be approved by other Chinese Maritime courts. If a claim is filed in a maritime court, the judge will collect the data of vessels which passed through the same area in recent months before the accident specified in that application happened. The owner of the fishery farm involved will bear the obligation to prove that the fishery farm was in sound condition before the accident if some other vessels passed through the same area. If this point cannot be proved, the judge will compare this vessel’s track with other vessels’ and reject the claim if there any duplication is found.

(4)     The local MSA has published a recommended 4 channel plan for Lanshan port after the removal of some of the fishery farms. But the plan has not been officially implemented yet as it takes time to install buoy lights and scanning of channels, etc. We will follow up and update if there is any further development.

Suggestions:

1)       We would like to remind that most cases happened in Area A. Vessels shall pay special attention to Area A. When navigating around this area, proper lookout shall be maintained especially on forecastle until the vessel has safely passed Area D.

2)       Keep close contact with local agent and VTS center to ensure that the vessel is navigating in the recommended channel. Before any action is taken to avoid collision, please consider the presence of nearby fishery farms if time permits.

3)       When dealing with such a claim, it is suggested to get the data of vessels who passed through the same area to ascertain whether the damage has existed before the accident.

2.       Longkou fishery farms

Some similar cases happened at Longkou port in the recent years. There are two blocks locally. One named A is located in the east side of the north channel (warning line 1). These fishery farms hold valid ownership certificates and their rough position are as follows:

A1: 37°48.405′N,  120°12.769′E
A2: 37°49.777′N,  120°28.136′E
A3: 37°44.939′N,  120°28.259′E
A4: 37°42.059′N,  120°12.810′E

The other one named B is located around the west-north channel. These fishery farm owners do not hold valid certificate. The position of the farms are changing, and their exact location can not be fixed.

Please kindly refer to the sketch below:

Suggestions:

(1) As the north-west channel is occupied by fishery farms, it is not recommended.

(2) When navigating in the north channel, please ensure navigating within the recommended channel. Should any action require to be taken for avoiding collision, please kindly pay attention to the following warning lines:

Warning line 1-1: 37°41′10.00″N,  120°12′45.00″E

Warning line 1-2: 37°49′00.00″N,  120°12′45.00″E

(3) Please keep close contact with the local ship agent and VTS center.

3.       Laizhou port

Some cases also come to our knowledge in Laizhou port. The aquaculture product is primarily scallop. The local fishery farms usually do not hold valid certificates. As the location of these fishery farms are changing, we can NOT get an accurate position of these farms. We learnt that some of these fishery farms took illegal action against vessels in the past.  If a vessel faces such type of claims, club/correspondent’s involvement is necessary.

Any query or assistance, please feel free to contact us at oasis@oasispandi.com

Best regards,

Oasis P&I Services Company Limited