Title
Checking Unauthorized Persons on Domestic Vessels
Law
Dotc Department Order No. 2000-25
Decision Date
Apr 18, 2000
DOTC Department Order No. 2000-25 establishes strict guidelines for checking unauthorized persons on domestic passenger vessels, ensuring compliance with passenger capacity limits and outlining the responsibilities of vessel owners, operators, and the Philippine Coast Guard to prevent excess passengers and enhance maritime safety.
guidelines
unauthorized persons
domestic vessels
A

Purpose and policy framework

  • The Order prescribes guidelines and procedures for checking unauthorized persons on board domestic passenger vessels.
  • The Order is designed to ensure there is no carriage of excess passengers during any voyage.
  • The Order sets forth responsibilities of the vessel owners/operators, masters, manifest officers, and concerned Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and port authorities.

Coverage: passenger vessels and persons

  • The Order applies to all Philippine-registered passenger vessels engaged in domestic trade (Scope).
  • The sole authority to give permit to be on board is the owner/operator through the vessel Master, limited to the vessel’s authorized passenger carrying capacity, including ship’s crew (Concept/Policies).
  • Only two categories of persons are authorized on board:
    • Ship’s personnel with pertinent employment papers:
      • Ship’s crew are persons composing the ship’s manning requirement, directly responsible for operation, navigation, and maintenance.
      • Ship’s ancillary service personnel are persons employed or engaged on board for ship business other than crew manning (e.g., waiters, entertainers, security guards, and non-organic maintenance and repair teams).
    • Passengers with official tickets (paying and non-paying persons and those with half or discounted fares).
  • The Order defines “passenger” by the standard used in SOLAS 1974:
    • A passenger is every person other than the Master, the crew, other persons employed/engaged on ship business, and a child under one year of age.
  • A person carried because of the Master’s obligation to carry shipwrecked, distressed, or other persons due to force majeure is not considered a passenger.

Boarding control through tickets and stubs

  • The Order requires Embarkation and disembarkation stubs (as appropriate) bearing the ticket number to be issued by the Company together with the ticket sold.
  • For ships plying multiple routes:
    • The embarkation stub must be designed with color codes indicating the passenger’s ultimate destination.
    • The embarkation stub and the ticket are the sole basis for authorizing boarding.
  • For ships operating in a single route:
    • The Company need not issue disembarkation stubs.
    • Vessels are subject to spot or random inspection by the PCG to ensure they do not carry excess passengers.
  • The Order prohibits:
    • Selling of tickets on board.
    • Boarding by any person without a ticket and embarkation stub, except registered porters with proper identification who only assist passengers with their baggage.
  • Passenger access must be controlled through a passenger terminal.
  • Where no passenger terminals exist, the Company must establish a makeshift boarding area in coordination with concerned port authorities such as the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA).
  • Unauthorized persons must not be allowed in areas other than passenger accommodation spaces during boarding time and throughout the duration of the whole voyage.
  • During boarding time, only two categories are authorized on board in practice:
    • Ship personnel; and
    • Passengers with official tickets,
      with assistance restricted to porters wearing uniforms and properly identified.
  • The Master and shipowner/operator are responsible for any excess passenger or unauthorized person on board during a voyage and for disembarking unauthorized passengers that refuse to disembark at the destination indicated in the ticket with intent to proceed to another destination; such conduct may be referred to law enforcement as appropriate as a violation of carriage contract.

Boarding time rules and scheduling notice

  • Actual passenger boarding time must be based on the schedule submitted by the Company to the PCG.
  • The Company must not allow boarding before the scheduled boarding time.
  • The Company may change boarding time when necessary, but must communicate the change to the PCG unit not later than 24 hours prior to the desired change.
  • When communicated to the PCG, the change must be posted at the boarding area and properly disseminated by the Company.

Passenger checking procedures and reporting

  • The Company must inform the PCG in writing on the schedule of boarding (boarding time) in reference to the vessel schedule of arrival/departure indicated in its Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC), Provisional Authority (PA), or Special Permit.
  • The passenger manifest (showing name, age, and gender of passengers listed) together with the Master’s Oath of Safe Departure (MOSD) must be submitted to the nearest PCG unit at least one (1) hour before the scheduled departure.
  • The list of late passengers must be submitted upon boarding of the PCG inspector.
  • At the start of designated boarding time, passengers must board only by passing through the terminal/covered area and presenting to the manifest officer a ticket with the corresponding embarkation stub.
  • The manifest officer collects the embarkation stub while the passenger retains the ticket.
  • The manifest officer must reflect remarks on the passenger manifest on the actual boarding.
  • The manifest officer must identify late passengers with official tickets and boarding stubs for accounting purposes by reflecting appropriate remarks in the manifest.
  • The manifest officer counts boarding stubs submitted, sorting them by color-coding, and records the tally in the Passenger Boarding Report (Attachment B1) to determine:
    • the actual number of passengers on board, and
    • the number of passengers expected to disembark at each port along the vessel route.
  • The Passenger Boarding Report must be accomplished in triplicate, indicating the number of stubs collected.
  • The Passenger Boarding Report is divided into parts corresponding to the number of ports the vessel calls into.
  • The Master countersigns the Passenger Boarding Report and the PCG inspector notes it.
  • The PCG unit at the port of origin retains the original copy.
  • The manifest officer keeps the duplicate copy and submits the triplicate to the PCG unit at the ship’s next port of call.
  • The Passenger Boarding Report is accomplished every time a vessel departs from any port along its route.
  • At the ship’s next port of call, disembarking passengers submit their disembarkation stubs to the manifest officer at the ship’s exit areas.
  • Passengers remaining on board or destined to other ports who choose to disembark and stay a few hours ashore may be allowed only after securing a shore pass from the manifest officer.
  • The disembarkation stub is exchanged for a temporary shore pass; upon return to the vessel, the stub is returned in exchange for the shore pass.
  • The manifest officer tallies disembarkation stubs against the Passenger Boarding Report forwarded from the ship’s port of origin.
  • The tally becomes the basis for:
    • determining how many passengers may board at the present port of call; and
    • accomplishing a new Passenger Boarding Report.
  • If disembarkation stubs submitted are less than the number indicated in the port-of-origin report, the Master must endeavor—if there is enough time—to locate and disembark the erring passengers who bought tickets for a short route but intend to travel farther.
  • If locating these passengers proves futile, the number of passengers allowed to board is limited to those who actually disembarked based on the number of stubs submitted.
  • Companies may opt to allocate billeting allowance as a remedy where total tickets based on allowed capacity are not fully sold.
  • Procedures for allowing passengers to board repeat in subsequent ports of call.
  • If a passenger submits a disembarkation stub with a different color than the destination or fails to submit a stub, the passenger must be immediately brought to the attention of the Master or manifest officer for proper disposition.
  • A passenger who fails to submit a disembarkation stub must be dealt with in the same manner.
  • A fine depending on the company’s scale may be meted out to recover losses incurred for not allowing passengers to board in the last port of origin due to the non-disembarkation of passengers who were supposed to have disembarked.
  • If mustering is necessitated due to flagrant violations, the PCG inspector must conduct random checking of identities and tickets of mustered persons, simultaneous with inspection of spaces including crew cabin, engine room, and other possible hiding places.
  • In case of excess passengers:
    • The Master must disembark the excess passengers.
    • The PCG must immediately request the PPA for denial of departure clearance until excess passengers are disembarked.
    • The PCG must request the PPA to lift denial of clearance once deficiency is corrected.
  • The Order includes flow charts for embarkation and disembarkation procedures in Attachments C1a and C2a.

Responsibilities of PCG, vessel owners, and officers

  • PCG District/Station/Detachment Commanders must:
    • ensure strict implementation of the Order’s provisions;
    • ensure PCG personnel are well-versed with required procedures;
    • ensure vessel owners/operators receive and understand their responsibilities;
    • ensure the nearest PPA/CPA office is provided a copy of the Order;
    • conduct an information drive for proper dissemination within their area of responsibility (AOR);
    • ensure shipping companies submit shipping schedules and scheduled boarding time for each passenger vessel operating within their AOR, including ensuring operating units have a copy of the current and/or updated CPC/PA/SP; and
    • ensure the PCG unit at the port of departure properly notes the Passenger Boarding Report.
  • Vessel Owner/Operator must:
    • provide policies for proper implementation on all passenger-carrying vessels;
    • ensure strict compliance by the vessel Master, manifest officer, and crew;
    • ensure the Master receives instructions for immediate/automatic disembarkation of unauthorized persons/passengers prior to vessel departure;
    • ensure no tickets are sold beyond authorized passenger capacity and no on-board ticket sales occur;
    • ensure all tickets issued (including from authorized booking outlets or terminal ticket booth,
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