Regulations Concerning Transport BY FERRY of Passengers and Vehicles on TUULE LIINID FERRY ROUTES1. TERMS AND DEFINITIONS IN THESE REGULATIONS Carrier – OÜ Tuule Liinid Passenger – person travelling aboard a ship under a contract of carriage. Contract of carriage – contract between a passenger and the carrier which takes effect upon the passenger purchasing a ticket and under which the carrier undertakes to transport the passenger together with a vehicle to the port of destination, and under which the passenger undertakes to pay the stipulated fare. A contract of carriage may be also concluded electronically. Vehicle – any car, coach, tractor, motorbike or bicycle transported under a contract of carriage. Hand luggage – luggage which passengers carry with them and which is in their custody while being transported by ferry, including objects inside or on top of passengers’ vehicles. Transport by ferry – with respect to passengers and their vehicles, encompasses the time period during which passengers and/or their vehicles are aboard a ship. Scheduled sailing – ferry sailing completed by the carrier under the timetable approved for a route. Commercial sailing – sailing chartered by a customer on terms agreed with the carrier. Ticket – document proving the conclusion of a contract of carriage and payment under it, entitling passengers and vehicles to crossing. A ticket shall be maintained until transport by ferry has been completed. 2. FERRY TIMETABLE 2.1. The ferry timetable shall be drawn up by the carrier in collaboration with County Governments based on the number of sailings commissioned by the State in a given year. 2.2. To transport by ferry vehicles transporting petroleum or gas products or other hazardous cargo, the shipping timetable stipulates ad hoc sailings on which a limited number of passengers are admitted as per the certificate issued for a ship by the Maritime Administration. 2.3. If it proves impossible to transport all those desiring admission on a specific sailing on sailings stipulated on the timetable, the carrier shall be entitled to organise additional and commercial sailings. 2.4. In the event of wind speeds rising above 12 metres per second, ships may stop sailing, the loading and unloading of ships may be suspended if the height of waves along the work pier exceeds 1.5 metre. Under inclement weather conditions or in the event of other circumstances beyond the carrier's control, which endanger or may endanger persons or vehicles aboard a ship or a ship itself, a scheduled sailing shall be commenced once danger has passed. 2.5. Without notice, the carrier shall be entitled to delay the time of a sailing or change the time of boarding and/or disembarking from a ship in the event of circumstances beyond the carrier’s control, if the circumstances endanger or may endanger persons or vehicles aboard the ship or the ship itself. 2.6. The carrier shall be entitled to effect transport by ferry aboard a ship other than the one announced on the timetable previously, without notifying passengers of this in advance, or change the route of ships in the event of circumstances beyond the carrier’s control. 3. TRANSPORT OF PASSENGERS 3.1. Every passenger shall buy a ticket to board a ship. Upon passengers and vehicles boarding, persons designated by the carrier shall check their ship tickets. 3.2. Tickets shall be sold and fare discounts granted as per the fare schedule and fare discounts set by Regulation of the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications of the Republic of Estonia and as per the procedures stipulated by the carrier that govern tickets sales. 3.3. To ensure security aboard a ship, the carrier shall be entitled to request that passengers show the contents of their vehicles or hand luggage. 3.4. A passenger shall not bring aboard a ship objects or substances that may endanger the ship or persons or vehicles aboard it. Banned objects include, amongst other things, loaded weapons as well as weapons not in packaging or without licences, malodorous, flammable, inflammable, explosive, toxic and other hazardous substances. If an object or substance has been brought aboard a ship without the carrier having been informed that it is hazardous, the carrier shall be entitled, depending on the circumstances, to have the hazardous object or substance to taken to land, destroyed or defused without liability to provide compensation. 3.5. During transport by ferry, a passenger shall take note of instructions from persons employed by the carrier, their arm signals and any rules and traffic signs in effect aboard the ship, in order to maintain order and safety, and comply with them. In the event of non-compliance with instructions or rules, the carrier shall be entitled to ban a passenger from boarding a ship or request that a passenger disembark from a ship. The carrier is entitled to refuse transport to a passenger who is in a state of intoxication or engaging in violent behaviour. 3.6. Passengers boarding and disembarking from ships shall be supervised by persons designated by the carrier. In general, passengers shall board before vehicles are loaded and disembark after vehicles have been unloaded (discharged). If available, a gangway shall be used. 3.7. During transport by ferry, all passengers, including drivers, shall be forbidden to be inside vehicles or on the car deck and they shall be located in the designated passenger areas or on the passenger deck. 3.8. The carrier shall assume no liability for a passenger’s safety if the passenger, upon boarding a ship, does not make way from the car deck into the passenger areas straight away or stays on the car deck during transport by ferry. 3.9. During transport by ferry, tour groups of children shall be accompanied by a sufficient number of attendants from the educational institution or organisation responsible for organising the field trip. Attendants shall be responsible for the immediate safety and conduct of children aboard a ship. Attendants shall ensure that children do not run aboard a ship, behave appropriately and do not climb rails. 3.10. Pets are allowed aboard only in the designated areas; no pets shall be allowed in catering venues. A passenger shall make sure that a pet does not disturb other passengers or the crew or compromise security. Any other animals shall be transported inside dedicated vehicles. 3.11. Passengers shall be forbidden to: 3.11.1. board and remain aboard a ship in an evident state of intoxication or in soiled clothing; 3.11.2. smoke in areas not designated for smoking or light an open fire aboard a ship; 3.11.3. litter the sea or the ship; 3.11.4. stay on the car deck during transport by ferry. 3.11.5 the maximum number of passengers permitted aboard a ship shall be set in ship’s papers. 4. TRANSPORT OF VEHICLES 4.1. For each vehicle to be transported by ferry, a ticket shall be purchased as per the procedure set by the carrier (Procedure for the Sale of Tickets on Tuule Liinid Ferry Routes, Chapter 3, Customer Service Manual). 4.2. Purchase of a ticket not matching the type of a vehicle shall be treated as possession of no ticket. In the event of a crossing without a ticket or with a wrong ticket, a representative of the carrier shall complete a record, and the driver of the relevant or the passenger with not ticket shall be handed a fine under the Code of Administrative Offences. 4.3. For transport by ferry of a vehicle, the priority queue shall apply only to the sailing indicated on the ticket. Before checking in a ticket at the checkpoint at a port, passengers shall make sure, based on information displayed on the announcement board, that check-in is under way for the sailing indicated on the ticket. Passengers that have arrived at the checkpoint at a port for the check-in for an earlier or later sailing shall be routed into the general queue in the waiting area. 4.4. If a priority queue vehicle arrives in the waiting area at a port less than 20 minutes before the sailing, the carrier shall make no warranty as to the availability of a spot aboard a ship. 4.5. Vehicles in the general queue shall be loaded aboard a ship in the order of their arrival in their lane at the port. 4.6. The carrier shall be entitled, for the purposes of the appropriate stability and deck space efficiency of the ship, to prescribe the sequence and position for loading vehicles aboard a ship. 4.7. Rescue service and police cars on duty, postal delivery trucks, vehicles and minibuses of the diplomatic corps as well as vehicles transporting the deceased shall be admitted aboard a ship on a priority basis. 4.8. Loading and unloading of vehicles and cargo shall be carried out under the supervision of persons designated by the carrier. In the absence of supervision, regular rules for parking vehicles shall apply. 4.9. The driver of a vehicle shall be fully liable for any loss and damage caused to the ship or third parties and/or their property. Speed of vehicles aboard a ship shall not exceed 5 kilometres an hour. 4.10. On the Leppneeme-Kelnase and on the Ruhnu routes, which has no traffic lights system, vehicles shall be directed with arm signals. Tickets shall be checked by staff members supervising loading. 4.11. When positioning a vehicle, its driver shall comply with the following requirements: 4.11.1. The driver of a vehicle shall be entitled to apply the hand brake of the vehicle, shift to the first gear, make sure that the fuel tank has been shut tightly and that there is no oil or fuel leakage. 4.11.2. A driver shall notify the crew member in charge of loading or the ship's master of any technical faults in a vehicle that may cause the vehicle to begin to move or self-ignite. 4.11.3. To prevent a vehicle rolling, shifting or tipping over, the vehicle shall be fastened with securing devices (wheel chocks or the like) if needed. 4.11.4. A load shall be loaded and fastened on a vehicle so that its centre of gravity is as low as possible and so that the safety of the crew member in charge of loading, passengers, other vehicles and the ship is assured. The weight of a load shall not exceed the permissible load capacity of a vehicle. 4.11.5. The driver of a vehicle shall take measures to prevent the contamination of the marine environment or the ship. 4.12. To prevent contamination and malodorous scents from penetrating to the deck of a ship, dedicated vehicles in good technical repair shall be used for the transport of relevant cargo (live animals, fish, rubbish, animal waste etc.). Any damage or loss suffered by the ship, third parties or the environment due to contamination shall be compensated for by the driver or owner of a vehicle as per the procedure stipulated by the carrier. 4.13. Transport of oversize, heavy vehicles, with an axle load over 10 tonnes or a total weight over 44 tonnes, and hazardous cargo shall be approved by the carrier 24 hours in advance; furthermore, documents for the vehicle shall be presented as per the specifications in effect in the Republic of Estonia. 4.14. Hazardous cargo shall be taken to include all units of cargo containing a hazardous substance under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code, IMO) or the specifications in effect in the Republic of Estonia. Hazardous cargo meeting the Rules for Internal Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) may be transported only in a dedicated vehicle adapted for that and meeting the ADR requirements. 4.15. In the event that damage or loss was suffered by a passenger or the carrier during loading or unloading or transport by ferry, a representative of the carrier shall complete a record to that effect and, if necessary, a technical expert review in the presence of the said passenger. If the said record is not completed on the spot, the passenger shall not be entitled to submit complaints subsequently. 5. LIABILITY 5.1. The carrier shall assume no liability for the loss, destruction or degradation of rare and valuable objects (money, share certificates, bonds or other securities, nor items of precious metals, jewellery or artwork or the like) owned by a passenger. 5.2. The carrier shall assume no liability for any loss or damage resulting from a delayed sailing. 5.3. A passenger’s hand luggage or cargo or live animals inside vehicles shall be transported without the carrier being liable for any loss or damage whatsoever suffered during transport by ferry. 5.4. The driver of a vehicle shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements in these regulations (including compliance with instructions and arm signals of persons employed by the carrier and with traffic signs aboard a ship), also the required technical condition, fastening, covering and loading of the vehicle or its cargo, and the presentation of accurate information to the carrier. 5.5. Any loss or damage caused to a ship, the environment, the health and/or property of third parties due to non-compliance with the provisions in clause 5.4. shall be compensated for by the owner of the vehicle. 5.6. The carrier shall be liable for injury to a passenger or the degradation or destruction of a vehicle if such injury, loss or destruction has occurred through the fault or negligence of the carrier. 5.7. It shall be incumbent on a passenger to prove that the incident that has caused the passenger any loss or damage occurred during transport by ferry as well as to prove the extent of any loss or damage. 5.8. A passenger shall present the carrier with a written statement, in the event of any loss or damage incurred by the passenger or vehicle, during transport by ferry or straight away after it has been completed. If a passenger does not comply with the requirement in this clause, it shall be assumed that transport has been completed without a vehicle having suffered any loss or damage. 5.9. A passenger shall provide compensation for any loss or damage that the passenger or her/his vehicle has caused for the carrier. In the event of a breach of her/his obligations, a passenger shall not invoke faults or features in her/his vehicle as a circumstance releasing her/him from liability. 5.10. The liability of the carrier for injury or for the degradation or destruction of a vehicle shall be limited as per the provisions in the legislation of the Republic of Estonia. |