Vietnam has 19,000 km of inland waterways and 45 main routes used to transport goods. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Transport, by the end of 2019, our country has more than 170,000 inland ships, the proportion of large and specialized ships tends to increase. Compared with other modes of transport, inland waterway transport has many advantages; notably, the transport costs by this mode are only equal to ¼ of the road transport costs and ½ of the railway transport costs. In addition, the efficient operation of inland waterway transport will help businesses reduce logistics costs and product costs.

The inland waterway oil and petroleum transport in the category of inland waterway goods transportation business must comply with the legal regulations on inland waterway traffic and oil and petroleum transportation; accordingly, the means of transport should conform to the regulations under the standards and standard specifications as prescribed by the Ministry of Transport. Inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means are classified by motor means or non-motor means (travelling by human/wind/water power only), by capacity (horse power) and tonnage (ton) and by type (oil ship, oil barge). However, according to Article 18 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting and Article 10 of Decree No. 79/2014/ND-CP, only motor means with special requirements to ensure fire safety (including ships as inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means) are under the scope of fire protection management of the Fire Police Force. Therefore, in the content of this paper, the author only refers to the scope of inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means which are understood to be newly-built means or converted means in accordance with the safety standard specifications, specialized for transporting oil and petroleum on inland waterways.

Article 18 of the 2001 Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting stipulates that motor means of transporting hazardous goods and substances at risk of fire and explosion must satisfy the conditions as prescribed by the State management agencies of fire prevention and fighting. At the same time, for motor means with special requirements to ensure fire safety, the registry shall only issue registration certificates upon receipt of certification of conformity from the State management agency of fire prevention and fighting; these means must have their designs approved if they are to be newly built or upgraded; Means owners, commanders and operators must be responsible for ensuring fire safety during the operation of the means. In addition to the above general requirements, inland waterway oil and petroleum means must satisfy the technical requirements for fire and explosion prevention and fighting as specified in the Regulations on classification and building inland waterway means (QCVN 72: 2013/BGTVT)” and the State’s applicable codes and standards on fire prevention and fighting according to the basic principles including: Preventing all fire and explosion incidents from occurring on means; detecting all fire and explosion incidents right from the time they arise; having solutions to prevent fire and spreading; extinguishing the fire right from the beginning; ensuring the escape conditions and the availability of effective operation of fire protection systems and equipment.

The state management of fire prevention and fighting for inland waterway transport means by the Fire Police force is understood as the organized impact and governance by State power on the basis of the legislation on fire prevention and fighting and legislation on inland waterway traffic for organizations and individuals involved in inland waterway transportation of petroleum and oil in order to minimize fires and damages caused by fire, and contribute to protecting human lives, protecting properties of the State, organizations and individuals, protecting the environment, and assuring security, social order and safety.

The content of State management of fire protection for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means is the determination of the impact and governance of State competent agencies on the activities associated with fire protection in the process of organizing, managing and maintaining oil and petroleum transportation activities on inland waterways. According to Article 57 of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, the content of State management of fire protection for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means includes the following aspects:

+ Setting out and directing the implementation of fire prevention and fighting strategies, plannings and plans for means with special requirements to ensure fire safety in general and inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

+ Promulgating, guiding and organizing the implementation of, regulatory documents on fire prevention and fighting for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

+ Propagating, educating and disseminating knowledge and skills on fire prevention and fighting; developing movements for the entire population to participate in fire prevention and fighting during the organization of activities by inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

 + Organizing and directing fire prevention and fighting activities for organizations and individuals involved in inland waterway oil and petroleum transportation.

 + Organize training courses, setting up forces, equiping and managing fire prevention and fighting means for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

 + Ensuring the budget for fire prevention and fighting activities; organizing fire and explosion insurance attached to the fire prevention and fighting activities.

 + Appraising and approving the projects and designs of and accepting inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means; carrying out technical inspection and testing and certification of conformity for fire prevention and fighting means and equipment.

 + Organizing the research, application and dissemination of scientific and technological advances on fire prevention and fighting for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

 + Inspecting, checking and treating violations; settling complaints and denunciations about fire prevention and fighting; investigating fire cases of inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

 + Organizing the State totalling-up of fire prevention and fighting for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means.

 Conclusions

 The State management of fire prevention and fighting for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means is one of the important contents in the implementation of fire prevention and fighting tasks of the Fire Police Force. On the basis of research and proper determination of the content of State management of fire prevention and fighting for the managed objects, the flexible and harmonious implementation of management measures will bring about positive effects of this work. It can be seen that the role and results of the State management of fire prevention and fighting for inland waterway oil and petroleum transport means make significant contribution to and effectively serve the cause of socio-economic development, ensure the safety of people’s lives and properties, and closely relate to the work of ensuring social order and security.

 References

 1. Government (2014), Decree No. 79/2014/ND-CP dated July 31st, 2014 by the Government with regard to regulating specifically the enforcement of some articles of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting and Law on amending and supplementing some articles of the 2013 Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, Hanoi.

 2. National Assembly (2001), Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, Hanoi.

 3. National Assembly (2013), Law on amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, Hanoi.

  4. National Assembly (2004), Law on inland waterway traffic, Hanoi.

  5. National Assembly (2014), Law on amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on inland waterway traffic, Hanoi.