Ordinance on the Operation of Ferries on Federal Waterways (Ferries Operation Ordinance

On the basis of
- Section 3 (1) Nos. 1 and 2 and (5) sentence 3 of the Inland Waterways Duties Act in the version published on August 4, 1986 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1270), the Federal Ministry of Transport, in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs,
- Section 4 (2) sentences 1 and 3 of the Inland Waterways Tasks Act in conjunction with Section 2 of the Administrative Costs Act of June 23, 1970 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 821), the Federal Ministry of Transport, in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Finance,
- Section 27 (1) of the Federal Waterways Act in the version published on August 23, 1990 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1818), the Federal Ministry of Transport decrees:

For the purposes of this regulation
1. Ferry: a watercraft used for transporting passengers from one bank to the other and treated as a ferry by the river and shipping police authority.
2. Raft ferry: an open ferry built for transporting passengers and propelled by muscle power.
3. ferry owner: the person responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ferry or the lessee of the ferry license,
4. ferry operator: the person responsible for operating a ferry and for traffic on the ferry,
5. Ferry personnel: the ferry operator, other crew members, and any additional persons appointed by the ferry owner to regulate traffic on the ferry or at the landing stage.
6. Landing stage: facilities and equipment on the shore for the ferry to dock and depart.
7. Supervisory authority: the locally responsible waterways and shipping authority.
 

This regulation governs
1. the operation and supervision of ferries on federal waterways in zones 2 to 4 in accordance with Annex I of the Inland Waterway Inspection Regulations of September 21, 2018 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1398) in the currently valid and applicable version,
2. the conduct of ferry personnel, ferry users on board, and at the landing stages.

This regulation does not apply to ferries
1. belonging to the German Armed Forces,
2. belonging to the Federal Police,
3. belonging to the riot police forces of the federal states,
4. civil protection and disaster control,
5. the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, which are not used for public transport; Sections 4, 5, and 6 do not apply to the other ferries of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration,
6. the German-Luxembourg border section of the Moselle.

(1) The supervisory authority shall monitor the safe condition of the land-based facilities required for the operation of the ferry from a power police perspective, insofar as these are not subject to technical approval in accordance with the Inland Waterways Inspection Regulations. The ferry owner shall, upon special request by the supervisory authority, prove the safe condition of the land-based facilities by means of an expert opinion from a technical inspection association or a publicly appointed and sworn expert. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the supervisory authority may at any time check the safe interaction of a ferry with the land-based facilities required for its operation. Notwithstanding Section 6(2) of the Inland Waterways Tasks Act, the ferry owner and the ferry operator are obliged, at the request of the supervisory authority, to carry out or tolerate the test runs necessary to check the interaction of the ferry with the land-based facilities required for its operation.

(1) Ferry owners whose ferries operate according to a fixed timetable must notify the supervisory authority of this timetable before commencing ferry operations. Any changes to the timetable must be notified to the supervisory authority before they come into effect.
(2) The ferry owner must publish the timetable by displaying it at the landing stages and on the ferry.

The ferry owner and ferry operator may only operate the ferry from landing stages or have it operated from landing stages that have been approved by the supervisory authority for use by ferries or are considered to be approved.

(1) The ferry operator must ensure that the ferry's load capacity and maximum permissible number of passengers are not exceeded. To this end, he may require the driver to provide proof of the weight of the vehicles and their load, as well as their dimensions, before boarding the ferry.

(2) The ferry operator must ensure that passengers, vehicles, animals, and other goods on the ferry are distributed in such a way that the stability and operation of the ferry and the safety of the persons on board are not endangered and access to the facilities used for embarkation and disembarkation is not obstructed. In particular, he must ensure that the vehicles on the ferry are distributed and parked in such a way that the occupants of the vehicles can embark and disembark unhindered and safely at all times. Lane markings shall be provided on ferry decks if this is necessary for stability reasons or if there are several lanes next to each other.
(3) The ferry operator shall also ensure that
1. the landing flaps are raised as far as necessary before the start of the journey and are secured against unintentional lowering,
2. the ferry's prescribed barriers are closed during the journey,
3. there is sufficient lighting in poor weather conditions. Number 2 applies accordingly to additional barriers prescribed by the supervisory authority, such as safety planks and barrier chains on land.

(4) The ferry operator must ensure that the land-side closures of the landing stages or jetties are only open for as long as the ferry is moored at the landing stage or jetty for embarkation, disembarkation, loading, or unloading.

(5) On ferries with a special ferry operator's cab and engine room, ferry users are prohibited from entering these rooms. The ferry owner must ensure that information boards are displayed on the ferry in a manner that is easily legible to everyone, indicating the prohibition referred to in sentence 1.
(6) The ferry operator must ensure that, in darkness, the rooms and deck areas intended for ferry users are adequately lit. The lighting must not impair the visibility of the navigation lights and must not cause any disturbing glare.
(7) The ferry operator must ensure that no refueling of the ferry by road vehicles takes place during the voyage.

The ferry operator may only allow passengers to board, drive onto, or leave the ferry after the ferry has been properly moored at the landing stage and after he has satisfied himself that it is safe to board, drive onto, or leave the ferry. He may regulate the order of boarding and disembarking. If the ferry operator is unable to fulfill his obligations under sentence 1, he must ensure that passengers are only allowed to board, drive onto, or leave the ferry after it has been properly moored at the landing stage and it has been ensured that it is safe to board, drive onto, or leave the ferry.

(1) Ferry users must behave in such a way that they do not endanger ferry operations and that other persons are not harmed, obstructed, or inconvenienced. They may only board, drive onto, or leave the ferry once they have been given permission to do so by the ferry personnel. Ferry users must follow the instructions of the ferry personnel. At landing stages, the areas marked for driving and stopping must be used.
(2) Land vehicles must be driven onto the ferries by the driver at such a slow speed that they can be stopped at any time. On ferry decks with lanes, the driver must observe these. Mopeds, bicycles, and bicycles with auxiliary motors must be pushed at the request of the ferry personnel.
(3) After driving onto the ferry, the driver of a motor vehicle must switch off the engine and secure the vehicle so that it cannot roll or slide. During the crossing, he must switch off the lights.
(4) Animals must be held and loaded by the person responsible for their transport in such a way that ferry operations are not impaired and passengers are not endangered or inconvenienced. If sentence 1 cannot be complied with, the ferry operator must carry out a separate crossing without any other passengers. If animals are to be transported that could endanger the proper operation of the ferry or persons on board, the person responsible for transporting the animals must notify the ferry personnel of this before boarding the ferry.
(5) Paragraph 4 applies mutatis mutandis to the transport of goods.
(5) Paragraph 4 applies mutatis mutandis to the transport of goods.

(1) The special regulations issued for the transport of dangerous goods also apply to ferries.
(2) Any ferry user who wishes to transport dangerous goods must notify the ferry personnel of this before boarding or driving onto the ferry and must present their transport documents.

The ferry operator may refuse to transport persons, animals, or objects that could endanger ferry operations or cause significant inconvenience to passengers. For safety reasons, the ferry operator may also refuse to transport dangerous goods in vehicles, limit the number of vehicles carrying dangerous goods, or impose appropriate restrictions, in particular by designating a safety zone around the vehicle. requirements, in particular by designating a safety zone around the vehicle.

(1) The ferry operator may not use the ferry for ferry traffic at night.
(2) The ferry operator must suspend ferry service if crossing the river poses a danger. A danger exists in particular if the water level, ice conditions, or storm conditions make safe crossing no longer possible. 3. After safely parking the vehicle, passengers must leave the vehicle and the area designated for parking vehicles for safety reasons.

If the ferry operator leaves the ferry, he must secure it at its berth against unauthorized use.

(1) The ferry owner must ensure that the wording of §§ 1 to 15 is displayed on information boards that are clearly legible and accessible to everyone in the ferry landing area and on the ferry. In the ferry landing area, the ferry owner must also clearly indicate the permissible individual load of the ferry in accordance with its ferry certificate. The supervisory authority may grant exemptions from sentences 1 and 2.
(2) The ferry operator must tolerate the supervisory authority affixing or having affixed information boards on the ferry and at the landing stages indicating the military load class. He may not remove, alter, or obscure these information boards.
3. Passengers are not entitled to cancel, return, rebook, or transfer tickets purchased as part of discount promotions. Furthermore, there is no right of withdrawal. Discounted trips purchased under special conditions cannot be combined with other tickets, driver discounts, other discount promotions, or special trips.

According to Section 4 (1) sentence 4 of this regulation in the version applicable on December 31, 2012, ferry inspection books issued shall remain valid until the expiry of two and a half years from the date of the last inspection of the ferry operation. The ferry operator must carry the ferry inspection books referred to in sentence 1 on board. The ferry operator must carry the ferry inspection books of ferries operated without a power and shipping police permit in accordance with the Federal Waterways Act on board even after their period of validity has expired for the duration of the ferry's operation. The ferry operator must carry the ferry inspection books of ferries

An administrative offence within the meaning of Section 7 (1) of the Inland Waterways Act is committed by anyone who intentionally or negligently
1. as a ferry operator
a) contrary to Section 4 (2) sentence 2, fails to carry out a test run or fails to do so in good time or fails to tolerate it,
b) contrary to Section 5 (1), fails to make a notification or fails to do so in good time,
c) contrary to Section 6, operates or allows ferry operations to be carried out from a landing stage other than those specified therein,

d) contrary to Section 7 (5) sentence 2 or Section 14 (1) sentence 1, fails to ensure that the information boards specified therein information boards are affixed, or
e) contrary to § 14 (2) sentence 2, removes, alters, or renders unrecognizable an information board, 2. as a ferry operator
a) contrary to § 4 (2) sentence 2, does not carry out a test run or does not carry it out in good time or does not tolerate it,
b) contrary to § 6, operates the ferry from a landing stage other than those specified therein,

c) contravenes a provision of § 7 (1) sentence 1, (2) to (4), (6) or (7) on safety on on board,
d) contrary to § 8 sentence 1, allows people to board, drive onto, or leave the ferry,
e) contrary to § 12 paragraph 1, uses a barge ferry,
f) contrary to § 12 paragraph 2, does not suspend ferry traffic,
g) contrary to § 13, fails to secure the ferry against unauthorized use, or
h) contrary to § 15, sentence 2 or sentence 3, fails to carry a book specified therein.

(1) This Regulation shall enter into force on July 1, 1995.
(2) At the same time, the following shall cease to be in force 1. the Rhine Ferry Regulations in the revised version published in the Federal Law Gazette Part III, classification number 9501-11, last amended by Article 48 (2) of the Act of February 18, February 1986 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 265), with the exception of Section 1 (1), Sections 23 to 34, 50 and 51, and Annex 7,
2. the Regulation on the Traffic and Operation of Ferries on Federal Waterways of 8 March 1967 (Federal Law Gazette II p. 1141), last amended by Section 11.06 (2) of the Ordinance of January 14, 1977 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 59),
3. the Danube Ferry Ordinance of October 4, 1965 (Transport Gazette p. 580), amended by the Ordinance of March 20, 1969 (Transport Gazette p. 184),
4. the Ordinance on Ferries on Lake Eder of April 22, 1985 (Transport Gazette p. 317) ,
5. the Shipping Police Ordinance on Fire Safety on Motorized Passenger Ships and Ferries in Inland Waterway Transport of March 16, 1952 (BAnz. No. 54 of March 18, 1952).
(3) Ferry inspection books based on a regulation that has expired in accordance with paragraph 2 may be used up.

A service provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and the Federal Office of Justice – www.gesetze-im-internet.de FäV Date of issue: May 24, 1995
Full citation:
“Ferry Operation Ordinance of May 24, 1995 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 752), last amended by Article 2 § 5 of the Ordinance of September 21, 2018 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1398)” Status: Last amended by Art. 2 § 5 V of 21.9.2018 I 1398
Footnote
(+++ Text reference from: 1.7.1995 +++)