The Maritime Transport Sector supervises all maritime transportation activities in Qatar through three key pillars:

Assistant Undersecretary of Maritime Transport

• Assistant Undersecretary’s Office
• Maritime Transport Planning Dept.
• Maritime Transport Licensing Dept.
• Ship Registry and Seafarers Affairs Dept.
• Marine Systems and Investigations Dept.
• Maritime Safety Dept.

Assistant Undersecretary’s Office

Assistant Undersecretary’s Office is responsible for:

• Organizing the files, correspondence, and papers related to the Assistant Undersecretary’s Office,
• Receiving correspondence coming to the Assistant Undersecretary’s Office, preparing them to be shown to the Office, and sharing them with the concerned entities as per Office directives,
• Preparing memos and correspondence assigned to the Office by the Assistant Undersecretary,
• Contacting entities to obtain information the Assistant Undersecretary requests,
• Notifying the concerned entities of the Assistant Undersecretary’s approvals and directives, monitoring their implementation, and updating them of the progress,
• Receiving relevant complaints and showing them to the Assistant Undersecretary, and putting into effect the decisions taken thereon,
• Any other tasks assigned to the Office.

Maritime Transport Planning Dept.

Maritime Transport Planning Dept. is responsible for:

• Laying out the maritime transportation planning general policy considering the country’s general policies
• Laying out rules and decisions regulating the works and services of maritime transportation
• Preparing the necessary studies in the field of maritime transportation lines and developing them in coordination with the entities concerned
• Conducting necessary studies for developing the Qatari fleet to raise its competitiveness,
• Proposing draft laws, bylaws, decisions, and rules regulating maritime transportation activities,
• Suggesting fares for maritime transportation’s services and activities,
• Ensuring that companies performing maritime activities and the competent administrative units comply with standards, conditions, and controls of the performance quality,
• Implementing maritime quality requirements issued by the International Organization for Standardization,
• Preparing studies relative to maritime transportation affairs’ projects, and supervising and monitoring their execution, and maintaining them, in coordination with the concerned administrative units,
• Preparing technical studies for cooperation memos in the field of maritime training,
• Proposing maritime training programs and workshops,
• Preparing booklets to raise awareness of maritime safety and environment, in coordination with the entities concerned.       

Maritime Transport Licensing Dept.

Maritime Transport Licensing Dept. is responsible for:

• Executing the provisions of the laws, bylaws and decisions regulating maritime transportation’s activities and services,
• Preparing studies necessary for identifying the requirements of the issuing of licenses related to maritime transportation’s activities and services, and modifying them,
• Receiving the requests related to licensing the doing of maritime transportation’s activities and services, and examining and issuing them,
• Receiving the requests related to licensing the vessels to perform maritime works in Qatari waters, and examining and issuing them,
• Inspecting the companies that perform maritime transportation’s activities and services and ensuring they comply with the license terms and conditions,
• Creating a classification registry for companies doing maritime transportation’s activities and services,
• Examining the complaints related to port and licensed companies’ works, and offering suggestions on them,
• Conducting field visits to ensure companies’ compliance with verification recommendations.

Ship Registry and Seafarers Affairs Dept.

Ship Registry and Seafarers Affairs Dept. is responsible for:

• Executing the provisions of international maritime laws, bylaws, and conventions regulating ship registration and seafarers’ affairs,
• Registering and deleting ships, and issuing their certificates in accordance with international maritime agreement in place,
• Gathering, classifying, analyzing, and modifying the data of the certificates of the ships registered under the flag of Qatar,
• Creating registries for registration, deletion, mortgage, and arrest and proposing modifications,
• Registering, renewing, and deleting of maritime vessels and wooden ships, issuing their certificates, and inspecting them to ensure their compliance with the laws and decisions in effect,
• Issuing and renewing maritime vessels’ helmsmanship licenses,
• Receiving and examining licensing requests relating to the founding of institutes or training centers for helmsmanship, and issuing them,
• Issuing seafarers’ certificates of competence,
• Approving certificates of competence for those working aboard Qatari ships,
• Ratifying maritime labor contracts,
• Approving seafarers’ training and qualification certificates in accordance with IMO’s International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), and its amendments,
• Ensuring seafarers’ training centers meet the provisions of IMO’s International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), and its amendments,
• Issuing and renewing maritime passports, and sailors’ documents, as per the national laws and international maritime conventions,
• Inspecting ships that fly the flag of Qatar, as per the national laws and international maritime conventions,
• Canceling navigation license of national ships that violate the provisions of international maritime conventions,
• Approving maritime rating agencies and monitoring their performance,
• Ensuring that national companies that own ships comply with national laws and international maritime conventions.                         

Marine Systems and Investigations Dept.

Marine Systems and Investigations Dept. is responsible for:

• Proposing draft laws, decisions, bylaws, and rules regulating maritime transportation affairs as per the international maritime conventions,
• Preparing technical studies for bilateral maritime transportation draft agreements,
• Preparing technical studies necessary for joining the international maritime conventions in place, or amending them, or withdrawing from them,
• Preparing technical studies necessary for identifying the maritime transportation affairs’ requirements in implementing the maritime instruments, and modifying them,
• Proposing nautical circulars concerning ship and navigation safety in Qatari waters,
• Monitoring the decisions and circulars released by the IMO, and sharing them with the concerned administrative units, entities, and companies,
• Investigating maritime incidents involving ships and maritime vessels in Qatari waters and Qatari ships overseas, and reporting them as per the Code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents,
• Investigating certificate holders’ violations or violations of the state-approved certificates, as per the IMO Instruments Implementation Code,
• Investigating incidents relevant to cargo and ships at the country’s ports, and reporting thereon,
• Receiving reports on binding instruments and data from the competent departments, concerned entities and companies in Qatar, and publishing them on the IMO’s website.

Maritime Safety Dept.

Maritime Safety Dept. is responsible for:

• Executing the provisions of international maritime laws, decisions, and conventions relative to maritime safety,
• Preparing studies on the number and locations of navigational aids in Qatari waters, and developing them,
• Inspecting and examining foreign ships in Qatari waters, as per local legislation, international maritime conventions, and the MoUs ratified,
• Keeping under detention foreign ships that pose threat to marine navigation and which violate the provisions of the international maritime conventions in place, in coordination with the entities concerned,
• Approving port bylaws and monitoring their implementation,
• Approving security plans, emergency response plans, and the handling and storing of hazardous goods to state’s ports as per international maritime codes, and monitoring their implementation,
• Controlling ports’ facilities in coordination with the entities concerned,
• Authenticating port pilots’ certificates,
• Overseeing state’s ports’ compliance with the provisions of international maritime conventions,
• Overseeing maritime navigation traffic system, and authenticating personnel certificates,
• Approving and executing sea lanes and traffic management system to regulate ship and maritime vessel traffic in Qatari waters,
• Registering navigational aids in accordance with the legislation in place and international maritime conventions,
• Creating registries to register or delete navigational aids, and proposing amendments to them,
• Overseeing the ship identification and remote tracking systems and automatic identification systems,
• Issuing navigational notices’ certificates.