Web alert: difficulties in obtaining Port Yuzhny surveying services

Members are advised that a number of practical problems have arisen for independent surveyors attempting to operate at the port of Yuzhny.

Temporary passes

Surveyors wishing to gain access to vessels in Yuzhny are required to obtain a permit from the port’s administration. Permanent permits may be obtained for those piers used to unload urea, but only temporary permits are issued for the iron ore concentrate or steel piers. Current port security regulations dictate that three ‘working days’ notice is required before a temporary pass is issued. Working days have been defined as those excluding weekends and public holidays.

The delay of three days is proving to be problematic for independent surveyors who are often required to respond to an unexpected situation, such as potential P&I claim or damage to port facilities. Members using Port Yuzhny should be aware that should they require, urgently or otherwise, the services of an independent surveyor, they will not receive an immediate response due to the aforementioned three day notice period.

Changes in pass application process    

Further complicating the situation are the changes in the pass application process. Where previously such passes would be issued to ship’s agents on behalf of surveyors, new regulations from the port's ‘Customs and Immigration Authorities’ state that passes may only be issued to the surveyors in person. The process of obtaining a permit in person takes, on average, three visits to the port over a number of days. Since no surveying company currently has an office in Port Yuzhny, surveyors are incurring a round trip of approximately 300 km on top of the costs associated with obtaining the required permit.

Members are requested to take into consideration the practical difficulties which independent surveyors will face during the execution of their services at the port of Yuzhny, this situation is likely to persist in the near future.