The Romanian Naval Authority is the specialized technical body subordinated to the Ministry of Transport through which the latter exerts its function as a state authority in the field of the safety of navigation. The Romanian Naval Authority is a public institution, with extra-budgetary funds and legal personality, having its headquarter in Constantza Port No.1, which was established by merging the Inspectorate of Civil Navigation (ICN) and the Romanian Register of Shipping. As a result of the merger, RNA took over the rights and the obligations of both corporate bodies, which consequently were dissolved.

Romanian Naval Authority has the following main tasks:

• inspection, control and surveillance of navigation in Romanian navigable waters;
• fulfillment of the obligations assumed from the international agreements and conventions to which Romania is part of;
• represents the Romanian Government within the international organizations in the field of naval transports;
• implementing of the international rules, regulations and conventions into Romanian legislation;
• development, endorsement and, if the case may be, submission of drafts laws and mandatory norms to the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism for approval;
• Port State Control and Flag State Control;
• coordination of the search and rescue activities in the Romanian navigable waters and the actions to be taken in case of navigation accidents and casualties;
• protection of navigable waters against pollution by vessels;
• sanctioning of the contraventions and investigation of the navigation accidents and casualties;
• registration of ships under Romanian flag;
• registration, endorsing and certification of Romanian seafarers;
• technical surveillance and certification of maritime and inland water ships, offshore drilling units flying the Romanian flag and of naval equipments as per RNA regulations;
• supervises the compliance of the Romanian naval transports with the provisions of the ISM Code and ISPS Code.

The Romanian Naval Authority exerts its tasks through its own headquarter, the harbours master's offices and technical inspectorates, which become its operative territorial bodies, without legal personality. The jurisdiction areas of the operative territorial bodies are settled by the General Director and approved by the Managing Board of RNA.

The management of the Romanian Naval Authority is ensured by the Managing Board, composed of 11 members, leaded by a President, being also the RNA's General Director.

RNA MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

The RNA management is intended to meet the clients requirements to the highest standards of quality.
This approach aims to assure the employment of all knowledge and professional experience of its personnel, as well as the technical resources of the institution. For this purpose, the Romanian Naval Authority is concerned about the development of its human resources through an effective training programme for all personnel. The contribution of all institutional components is vital in the effort of achievement of the settled strategic objectives.

The main objectives which RNA intends to achieve are the following:

• increasing the safety of navigation level;
• decrease of the detention rate of Romanian flagged vessels down to at least EU average;
• continuos applying all the provisions and regulations of the Paris MoU on PSC;
• transposition into the Romanian legislation of the acquis communautaire, of international conventions amendments, to which Romania is part of, in the navigation field;
• active participation within all international organizations in the navigation field to which Romania is member of;
• substantial improvement of technical inspections standards conducted in view of issuing the statutory certificates;
• continuous improvement of Romanian seafarers registration and certification system;
• accomplishment of VTMIS project and starting the Maritime AIS project;
• continuous development of RNA's assets and technical resources;
• strengthening of RNA economical and financial discipline, through effective and efficient costs control and debts recovering;
• continuous improvement of training process for all employees;
• continuous improvement of the quality of its services for RNA customers through an efficient reduction of bureaucracy and the improvement its of activities;
• free access to the public interest information, decisional transparency;
• ensuring the clients' satisfaction.
On the strength of these main objectives, RNA has established short and medium term objectives for each of its department, through which it applies the general development strategy.
The partial objectives of RNA departments are correlated from the managerial, functional and operative viewpoints, as part and parcel of the general strategy aiming to achieve the RNA's main mission through a professional, coherent, flexible and efficient activity.

RNA role will not sum up only on maintaining the safety and security standards on its field of activity. It will also actively involve in promoting and sustaining the naval transports operations by the efficiency of its activity, so that it will minimize at the lowest level the economical and bureaucratical impact on the system, will provide technical assistance and will promote worldwide the Romanian naval transport image.

The continuous improvement of the quality of our services, in compliance with the national and international requirements in the field of merchant navigation and ports operation, in order to promote and develop the highest standards on ships, crews and passengers' safety, as well as environment protection against pollution, represents the main mission of the Romanian Naval Authority policy.

Through the implementation of the above principles, RNA will carry into effect the committed vision.
Our motto "Safety through Quality" best illustrates RNA's vision to become a leader in safety and security of the naval transport, by the quality and the professionalism of the services provided.

STATEMENT REGARDING THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT POLICY

The main objectives that the Inspectorate of Civil Navigation set by to be developed and implemented into a coherent Quality Management System starting May 2001 are the assurance of the customers’ contentment and its services’ improvement. As a confirmation of its capability to provide services of high quality level, the Romanian Naval Authority (RNA) was certified by the Classification Society Germanischer Lloyd Certification, during December 2001. It was only the beginning of a continuous process of implementation and improvement of Quality Management System in our activity.

As part of the administrative reorganization process of naval transport activity and also of the Romania’s steps in view of European Union pre-accession, the Romanian Naval Authority was established in October 2002, by merging the Inspectorate of Civil Navigation (ICN) with the Romanian Register of Shipping. Implementation of the management guidelines for changing into a well-defined framework, provided by the ICN’s Quality Management System, has allowed to preserve the smooth-running of this system, and its further application to the new activities emerged within RNA as well as.

 Taking into account the useful experience gathered so far in the quality field, the RNA management board decided to revise and improve its initial policy, in order to draw up and set the guidelines of its future development. As a result, RNA executive has considered as an essential need to keep up improving Quality Management System in organisation’s activity, by approaching two new objectives:
   • extension of the certification to all RNA operational activities;
   • commitment of the organization to the implementation process of Total Quality Management concept.

We understand to reach these quality objectives by means of an active involvement of all RNA personnel, as this is the most important resource in the quality field. Therefore, the RNA allotted considerable financial funds in order to develop an intensive Human Resources Training Programme and to ensure appropriate working conditions for the whole personnel, so that the controlled requirements of an effective Quality Management System should be supported and made easier.

All these quality-related efforts are made with the view to fulfill the RNA main responsibility, which is to ensure a high safety and security level in the naval transport, by providing better services to the clients in this field of activity.

We consider that Romanian Naval Authority’s motto « SAFETY THROUGH QUALITY » fully reflects these above mentioned goals and gathers the substance of its aspirations.

The new qualitative development shall be achieved in line of the national legal provisions and international conventions, Romania is part of. Implementing the Total Quality Management, RNA intends to provide services of highest work and quality-related performance standard and to become an example to other Black Sea maritime administrations. The entire process shall be monitorised by internal audits, as well as by periodical management analyses ensuring that the RNA management board is fully involved in the successful achievement of our objectives.

RNA GENERAL DIRECTOR

Copyright 2008 - Romanian Naval Authority         |Home|Contact|         Webmaster Iulia Ionel