Facultades Discrecionales de los Inspectores de Trabajo

At the Federal level, the central maritime admini strati on o-f the country is under the Federal Ministry o-f Transport. The Ministry has eight departments, two of which have direct bearing on shipping, shipbuilding, land other maritime activities. These are the Maritime Transport Department and the Department of Inland Navigation and Waterways. Another branch of the Ministry, the Transportation Policy Department, which deals with transport policy matters, both internal and external, also plays significant role in the shipping and shipbuilding industries. Due to the growing importance of the multi-modal transport system in the maritime industry, the othei

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Aside from the Ministry of Transport, there are other ministries involved in the various aspects of the shipping industry. The Maritime Transport Department deals with two major aspects, namely, policy and operations.

On policy matters, the Ministry of Justice assists the Department in various ways on legal matters, like legislation, conventions, and registration of sea-going vessels. On policy formulation and implementation, both internal and external, and matters pertaining to subsidies

to shipyards and shipowners, the Ministries of Economics, Foreign Affairs, and Finance also play important roles. Still another office deals with government cargoes, like military goods, and such commodities, like food, clothing, medicines, etc., that are shipped to distressed parts of the world.

On the operations side, which deals with matters relating to safety, seafarers’ affairs, environment protection, hydrography, and police, the Ministries of Posts; Telecommunications; Labour; Environment; Science, Research, and Technology; Interior; and Finance are the cooperating agencies.

It is interesting to note that the Maritime Transport Department is composed of three major government agencies and four private cooperating organisations.' The three public agencies are the Federal Maritime Hydrographic Agency which has also its local offices; the Federal Appeals Board for Maritime Investigation, with four Regional Boards; and the Sea Accidents Insurance Corporation, which acts as the Sa-fety Department, with its local surveyors working in close • coordination with the German!scher Lloyds Classification Society.

Meanwhile, the four private organizations are the Chamber of Pilotage, with six Local Efrotherhood of Pilots working in ports and harbours nationwide; the Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Sailors, which takes charge of 36 Search and Rescue Stations; the Agency for Training of Young Seamen- whose primary responsibility is the on-board training of those who are aspiring to become seafarers; and the German Yachting and Sailing Association, with its Examination Committees which grant licenses to qualified

pleasure boat owners.

As a general public administration principle in the country, decisions on maritime matters a-f-fecting national interests are made at the department and ministry levels, while those that are o-f regional and State or local interests are le-ft to regional directorates and district or local offices concerned. In line with this principle, the Maritime Transport Department has established Waterways and Shiooino Pirectorates in two regions, namely, the North Directorate, with regional headquarters at Kiel, and the Northwest Directorate at Aurich. Those two Directorates administer the shipping, shipbuilding, and other maritime—related activities in coastal areas, including the estuaries of big rivers and the Kiel Canal and the territorial sea. On the other hand, the navigable rivers and canals, or the so-called "inland waterways," are under the administration of four districts. For this purpose, the Department of Inland Navigation and Waterways of the Ministry of Transport exercises equal

administrative control and supervision over the four District Offices, as the Maritime Transport Department

does. ■

To mak-B the administration of maritime affairs more effective by bringing down the decision-making process to the lowest possible level, there are 10 Waterways and

Shipping Offices established throughout the country.

The two, aforementioned Directorates exercise administrative control and supervision over regional operations that are delegated to them by the Maritime Transport Department and the Department of Inland Navigation and Waterways, particularly those activities

that directly concern shipping and the in-frastructures ■for navigation.

Among the -functions and responsibilities that are delegated to the Waterways and Shipping Directorates are the -following:

1. En-forcement o-f the tra-f-fic systems, such as the maintenance o-f aids to navigation, like buoys, lighthouses, light vessels, land radar, and legal matters pertaining to traf-fic regulations;

2. Prevention and control o-f marine pollution; and

3. Construction and maintenance o-f waterways, vis-a- vis dredging, surveying, icebreaking, and wreck removal.

These major -functions and responsibilities are also being discharged by the 10 Local Waterways and Shipping 0-f-fices which are under the supervision and control o-f the Di rectorates. Some special tasks are also assigned to some o-f these Of-F ices, like the one in Cuxhaven, which maintains a round-the-clock communications ,and pjollution control qenter. Cu>!.haven is reputedly the world’s densest area of navigation, and there-fore, has a very high risk o-f pollution. In the event o-f a major tanker accident, the o-f-f ice is authorized to make and implement on-the-spot decisions to prevent and control the spread o-f oil spill.

The 0-f-fices also maintain their respective workshops,