casts and necessary books and reference materials concerning maritime navigation.
Article 31
When vessels and installations are involved in accidents that jeopardize or may jeopardize traffic safety, the competent authorities shall have the right to take necessary, compulsory measures to deal with the matter.
Chapter VI Transport of Dangerous Goods
Article 32
When vessels or installations store, load, unload or transport dangerous goods, they must maintain safe and reliable equipment and conditions and observe the state provisions governing the control and transport of dangerous goods.
Article 33
When vessels load and transport dangerous goods, they must go through the procedures for declaration to the competent authorities and they may not enter or leave the harbour or load or unload until approval has been obtained.
Chapter VII Rescue from Disasters at Sea
Article 34
When vessels, installations or aircraft are in distress, they shall, in addition to issuing distress signals calling for help, use the quickest method possible to report to the competent authorities the time and place of the accident, the extent of damage, the assistance required and the cause of the accident.
Article 35
Vessels, installations or aircraft in distress and their owners or mangers shall take all effective measures to organize their own rescue efforts.
Article 36
When vessels or installations in the vicinity of the scene of an accident receive a distress signal or discover that people's lives are endangered,they shall do their best to rescue the people in distress insofar as their own safety is not seriously endangered, and promptly report to the competent authorities the situation at the scene, their own names, call numbers and positions.
Article 37
Vessels or installations involved in a collision shall exchange their names, nationalities and ports of registry and do their best to rescue personnel in distress. The vessels involved may not leave the scene of the accident without authorization, insofar as their own safety is not seriously endangered.
Article 38
Upon receiving a request for rescue, the competent authorities shall immediately organize a rescue operation. All units concerned and vessels or installations in the vicinity of the scene must act under the orders of the competent authorities.
Article 39
When a foreign country intends to dispatch vessels or aircraft into the territorial waters or the airspace over the territorial waters of the People's Republic of China to search for and rescue vessels or people in distress, it must obtain the approval of the competent [Chinese] authorities.
Chapter VIII Salvage and Removal of Sunken and Drifting Objects
Article 40
With respect to sunken or drifting objects that may affect the safety of navigation and the management of navigation lanes, as well as those constituting a threat of explosion, the owners or managers thereof shall salvage and remove such objects within a deadline set by the competent authorities. Otherwise, the competent authorities shall have the right to take measures to compel the salvage and removal of the objects, and their owners or managers shall bear all the expenses incurred thereby.
The provisions of this Article shall not prejudice the rights of the owners or managers of the sunken or drifting objects to demand compensation from third parties.
Article 41
No sunken vessels or sunken objects in the coastal waters may be salvaged or dismantled without the approval of the competent authorities.
Chapter IX Investigation and Handling of Traffic Accidents
Article 42
Any vessel or installation involved in a traffic accident shall submit a written accident report and relative materials to the competent authorities and accept its investigation and handling of the accident.
While being investigated by the competent authorities the parties involved in the accident and relevant personnel must give a truthful account of circumstances at the scene of the accident and other relevant information.
Article 43
In the event of a traffic accident that involves a vessel or installation,the competent authorities shall ascertain the cause of the accident and fix the responsibility for it.
Chapter X Legal Liability
Article 44
The competent authorities shall, in the light of the circumstances, impose one or more of the following penalties on anyone who violates this Law:
(1) warnings;
(2) withholding or revoking work certificates; or
(3) fines.
Article 45
If a party does not accept the penalty of a fine or revocation of his work certificate imposed by the competent authorities, he may bring suit in a people's court within 15 days after receiving notification of the penalty. If he neither brings suit nor complies with the penalty upon the expiration of that period, the competent authorities shall request compulsory enforcement from the people's court.
Article 46
A civil dispute arising from a maritime traffic accident may be settled through mediation by the competent authorities. If the parties are unwilling to have the case mediated or if the mediation is unsuccessful,the parties may bring suit in the people's court. Parties to a case involving foreign interests may also submit the case to an arbitration agency for mediation, in accordance with the written agreement concluded between them.
Article 47
Those whose violation of this Law constitutes a crime shall be investigated for their criminal responsibility by judicial organs in accordance with the Law.
Chapter XI Special Provisions
Article 48
Within the waters of fishing harbours, the state fisheries administration and fishing harbour superintendence agencies shall exercise the functions and powers of the competent authorities as provided in this Law, being responsible for the supervision and administration of traffic safety and for the investigation and handling of traffic accidents between fishing vessels in coastal waters. Concrete measures for implementation shall be separately prescribed by the State Council.
Article 49
The internal administration of offshore military jurisdictional areas and military vessels and installations, the administration of surface and underwater operations carried out for military purposes, and the inspection and registration of public security vessels, the provision of their personnel and the issuing of their port entry and departure visas shall be separately prescribed by the relevant competent departments of the state in accordance with this Law.
Chapter XII Supplementary Provisions
Article 50
For the purpose of this Law, the definitions of the following terms are:
"Coastal waters" means the harbours, inland waters, territorial waters and all other sea areas under the jurisdiction of the state along the seacoast of the People's Republic of China.
"Vessels" means all types of displacement or non-displacement ships, rafts, seaplanes, submersibles and mobile platforms.
"Installations" means all types of surface and underwater structures or installations, whether fixed or floating, and fixed platforms.
"Operations" means investigations, exploration, exploitation, survey construction, dredging, demolition, rescue, salvage, towing, fishing, aquatic breeding, loading and unloading, scientific experimentation and other surface and underwater operations.
Article 51
The competent department of the State Council shall, on the basis of this Law, formulate rules for its implementation, which shall go into effect after being submitted to and approved by the State Council.
Article 52
In cases of conflict between laws and regulations pertaining to maritime traffic safety hitherto promulgated and this Law, this Law shall prevail.
Article 53
This