54. No inland ship engaged in carrying passengers shall proceed on any voyage or be used for any service for mercantile purposes- (a) unless she has a valid route permit granted by the Government or an authority authorised by it in this behalf and an approved time-table ²[;] (b) except in the route allocated by, and in accordance with the terms and conditions of, such route permit ³[; and] ⁴[(c) without printed tickets or receipts showing payment of fares for carriage of passengers and freights for carriage of goods which shall be issued in such manner as may be prescribed.]

⁵[54A. (1) No inland ship shall proceed on any voyage or be used for any service without a written permission from the registrar to ply in coastal water. (2) The registrar shall issue a written permission referred to in sub-section (1) in such manner and on such conditions as may be specified by the Director-General in this behalf. (3) The permission to ply in coastal water shall remain valid till the validity of the survey certificate referred to in section 11. (4) The Government may exempt any inland ship from the operation of this section for a maximum period of three months.

54B. (1) Inland ship carrying-(a) one hundred or more than one hundred passengers; or(b) oil, gas or chemical of more than two hundred gross tonnage; or(c) cargo of more than three hundred gross tonnage; shall not proceed on any voyage or be used in service unless she has been provided with such telecommunication equipment as may be prescribed. (2) The Government may by order exempt from the operation of this section any inland ship or class of inland ships, if it is of the opinion that, having regard to the nature of the voyage in which the inland ship is engaged or other circumstances of the case, the provision of the telecommunication equipment is unnecessary or unreasonable.]

55. Except for the purpose of proceeding to the assistance of any vessel, craft or person in distress, no inland ship shall proceed on any voyage or be used for any service when there is hoisted or announced a danger signal of storm or where there is reasonable apprehension of a storm.

56. No inland ship shall proceed on any voyage or be used for any service for mercantile purposes, unless she has been equipped or provided with such ⁶[ life-saving apparatus, fire-fighting equipments and instruments], and there has been taken in respect of her such measures against explosion, fire, collision and other accidents, as may be prescribed.

⁷[56A. Every inland ship while underway shall comply with such rules for prevention of collisions or relating to steering and sailing as may be prescribed.]

57. (1) Except in accordance with such conditions and after taking such precautions as may be prescribed, no inland ship shall carry on board any dangerous goods. (2) No person shall-(a) take with him on board an inland ship any dangerous goods without permission of the owner or the master of the ship, or(b) deliver or tender for carriage by such ship any dangerous goods without such permission and without distinctly marking their nature on the outside of the package or receptacle containing the goods. (3) If the owner or master of an inland ship suspects, or has reason to believe, that any luggage or parcel taken or delivered or tendered for carriage, on the ship contains dangerous goods, he may,-(a) refuse to carry it by the ship;(b) require it to be opened to ascertain the nature of its contents; or(c) if it has been received for carriage, stop its transit until he is satisfied as to the nature of its contents. (4) Where any dangerous goods have been taken or delivered on board any inland ship in contravention of this section, the owner or master of the vessel may, if he thinks fit, cause the goods to be thrown overboard or destroyed, together with any package or receptacle in which they are contained; and neither the owner nor the master shall, in respect of his having so caused the goods to be thrown overboard or destroyed be subject to any liability, civil or criminal in any Court.

⁸[57A. No person shall,-(a) by setting any fishing net or any other means, cause obstruction to navigation of any inland ship in any navigable water route;(b) by any means, cause damage, destroy or remove any buoy or beacon or any other similar equipment or mark which has been installed for the purpose of aid to navigation.]

58. No inland ship carrying passengers for mercantile purposes shall carry-(a) any passenger on the open roof, or(b) any cargo on the upper deck, or(c) any passenger or cargo in contravention of any rules regulating the carriage and protection of passengers, or(d) any dangerous goods, or(e) any passenger or cargo in any space not certified for carrying the same.

⁹[58A. No inland ship carrying passenger shall proceed on any voyage unless her passengers and crew are insured with an insurance company engaged in the insurance business in Bangladesh or the owner of that ship be a member of the Marine Casualty Trust Fund to be established by the Government in such manner as may be prescribed.]

59. In respect of any system or stretch of, or the run between any two places on, inland waterways or in respect of any class of inland ship, the Government or any authority authorised by it in this behalf, after such enquiry as it considers necessary, may, by notification in the official Gazette,-(a) fix the maximum and minimum rates per mile of passenger fares for different classes;(b) fix the maximum and minimum rates per mile of freight for carriage of goods of any description;(c) declare where maximum or minimum rates of fares or freights have been so fixed, what shall be deemed to be the distance between two places on any inland waterway for the purpose of calculating fares and freights for carriage of passengers and goods between such places.

60. (1) Where the Government or an authority authorised by it in this behalf so directs, the owner of an inland ship shall, subject to the approval of such authority, publish as often as may be necessary and put on sale to the public tables showing-(a) times of sailing from different places of the ship,(b) fares for carriage to different places of passengers of different classes, and(c) freights for carriage to different places of goods of different descriptions. (2) The owner and master of every inland ship in respect of which the tables referred to in sub-section (1) have been published shall cause a copy of the same to be affixed on some conspicuous part of the ship and kept so affixed so long as they remain in force and the ship is in use so that the content of the tables may be easily read by all persons on board the ship. (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-section (1) an authority authorised by Government in this behalf, may publish for sale to the members of the public consolidated time and fare-tables in respect of any or all classes of inland ship; and such tables shall contain the information required under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (1).