S.I. No. 105/1927 - Merchant Shipping (Registry, Lettering and Numbering of Fishing Boats) (Regulations) Order, 1927.

STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1927. No. 105.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (REGISTRY, LETTERING AND NUMBERING OF FISHING BOATS) (REGULATIONS) ORDER, 1927.

WHEREAS it is enacted by Sub-Section (5) of Section 373 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, that Her Majesty, by Order in Council, may make regulations for carrying into effect and enforcing the entry of fishing boats in the fishing boat register, and any convention with a foreign country relative to the registry, lettering and numbering of fishing boats, which is for the time being in force by virtue of any statute, and may by such regulations:—

(a) Adopt any existing system of registry or lettering and numbering of boats, and provide for bringing any such system into conformity with the requirements of the said Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and of any such convention and the regulations; and

(b) Define the boats or classes of boats to which the regulations or any of them are to apply, and provide for the exemption of any boats or classes of boats from the provisions of the said Section 373 of the said Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and from the regulations or any of them; and

(c) Apply to the entry of fishing boats in the fishing boat register, and to all matters incidental thereto, such (if any) of the enactments contained in the said Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, or any other Act relating to the registry of British ships, and with such modifications and alterations as may be found desirable; and

(d) Impose fines not exceeding twenty pounds for the breach or any such regulations which cannot be punished by the application of any of those enactments:

AND WHEREAS it is enacted by Sub-Section (1) of Section 738 of the said Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, that where Her Majesty has power under that Act, or any Act thereafter to be passed amending the same, to make an Order in Council, Her Majesty may from time to time make that Order in Council, and by Order in Council revoke, alter or add to any Order so made:

AND WHEREAS it is enacted by Section 10 of the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922), that wherever it is provided in any British Statute that any act or thing may be made or done by Order in Council, then every such act or thing may be made or done in Saorstát Eireann by an Order of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State upon the advice of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State:

AND WHEREAS the said Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, is a British Statute within the meaning of the said Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 :

AND WHEREAS by Orders in Council, dated respectively the 24th day of March, 1902, the 24th day of October, 1904, the 23rd day of October, 1905, and the 14th day of October, 1913, regulations for the registry, lettering and numbering of fishing boats were made in pursuance of the provisions of Sub-Section (5) of Sect on 373 of the said Merchant Shipping Act, 1894:

AND WHEREAS it is expedient that the said Orders in Council, dated respectively the 24th day of March, 1902, the 24th day of October, 1904, the 23rd day of October, 1905, and the 14th day of October, 1913, and the regulations thereby made should be revoked and cease to have effect as on and from the date hereinafter mentioned in that behalf, and that the regulations hereinafter appearing should be made in lieu and stead of the regulations made by the Orders in Council aforesaid:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, TIMOTHY MICHAEL HEALY, Governor General of the Irish Free State, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by Sub-Section (5) of Section 373, and by Sub-Section (1) of Section 738 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and by Section 10 of the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922), and of every and any other power me hereunto enabling, do hereby, on the advice of the Executive Council, Order as follows:—

1. This Order may be cited for all purposes as the Merchant Shipping (Registry, Lettering and Numbering of Fishing Boats) (Regulations) Order, 1927.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1889, shall apply to the interpretation of this Order in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas passed before the 1st day of January, 1924.

3. The Orders in Council, dated respectively the 24th day of March, 1902, the 24th day of October, 1904, the 23rd day of October, 1905, and the 14th day of October, 1913, made in pursuance of the provisions of Sub-Section (5) of Section 373 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and the regulations contained in the said Orders in Council shall be revoked and shall cease to have effect as on and from the 1st day of January, 1928.

4. The regulations set out in the Schedule to this Order shall have effect as on and from the 1st day of January, 1928.

DUBLIN,

This 17th day of December, 1927.

T. M. HEALY,

(Governor General.)

SCHEDULE.

REGULATIONS FOR THE REGISTRY, LETTERING AND NUMBERING OF SEA FISHING BOATS, UNDER PART IV OF THE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1894.

1. (1) These regulations shall apply to and be observed in the case of every sea fishing boat belonging to or hailing from any port or place in the Irish Free State, except:—

(a) Yachts or pleasure boats not used for catching fish for profit;

(b) Pilot boats, also used as fishing boats, and marked and numbered in accordance with a law or regulation requiring the same to be so marked and numbered;

(c) Open and undecked boats navigated by oars only if such boats are otherwise marked in accordance with Section 176 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876. (The expression "undecked boats" shall mean boats not sufficiently decked to afford any sleeping accommodation.) and

(d) Such boats employed in fishing and dredging for scientific purposes as may be exempted by the Minister for Industry and Commerce.

(2) The boats hereby excepted shall be deemed to be exempted from the provisions of Section 373 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

(3) The expression "boat," when hereafter used in these regulations, shall mean a boat to which these regulations apply.

2. The ports and places set forth in the first column of the First Schedule hereto shall be ports or places of registry for boats, and the letter or letters set forth in the second column of that Schedule shall be the distinguishing letter or letters for those ports or places respectively.

3. The officers named in the fourth column of the First Schedule shall be the officers appointed to carry out the work of registration and the provisions of these regulations within the limits set forth in the fifth column, and are hereafter referred to as Registrars.

4. A register in the form set forth in the Second Schedule hereto, or in such other form as may be prescribed from time to time by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, with a consecutive series of numbers, shall be kept at each port or place of registry.

5. (1) The owner of any boat shall make application to have such boat entered in the fishing boat register, and shall obtain for every boat belonging to him a certificate of registry in accordance with these regulations.

(2) The application shall be made in the form set forth in the Third Schedule hereto, and with the particulars therein indicated, or in such other form as may be prescribed from time to time by the Minister for Industry and Commerce to the Registrar of the port or place of registry to which the boat belongs or from which she hails or is for the time being employed or nearest thereto, or may be made in duplicate in like form and with like particulars to the Officer of Customs or Garda Siochana in charge of the nearest station. Any such Officer, other than the Registrar, receiving the application shall forthwith forward one copy of the same to the Registrar, and shall retain and file the other copy.

(3) The Registrar, on receipt of the application, shall appoint a number for the boat, and after satisfying himself or receiving certificates as to the tonnage and marking of the boat, and having no reason to doubt the correctness of the particulars contained in the application, shall cause the boat to be registered, and shall issue the certificate of registry to the applicant. The certificate shall be in the form set forth in the Fourth Schedule hereto, or in such other form as may be prescribed from time to time by the Minister for Industry and Commerce, and the letter or letters to be inserted in the certificate shall be the distinguishing letter or letters of the port or place of registry.

(4) A certificate issued under these regulations shall be a certificate of registry or official paper within the meaning of the Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, and Part IV of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and an official document within the meaning of the Sea Fisheries Act, 1883, and as such must at all times be carried on board the boat. Provided that the Minister for Industry and Commerce shall have power to exempt from this requirement boats of any class, or boats engaged in any class of fishing.

6. (1) Every boat, other than a boat which is also registered under Part I of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall, before registry, be measured by the Registrar or the Officer of Customs in charge of the nearest Station or the Officer in Charge of the nearest Garda Síochána Station and her tonnage ascertained in accordance with the Rule set out in the Fifth Schedule.

(2) The tonnage so ascertained shall be the tonnage of the boat for the purpose of Part IV of the said Act and, together with the build of the boat and such other particulars descriptive of the identity of the boat as may for the time being be required by the Minister for Industry and Commerce and ascertained by the measuring Officer, shall be set out in the certificate of registry, which shall be conclusive of that tonnage.

(3) Where a boat is not measured by the Registrar the Officer who measures the boat shall grant his certificate specifying the boat's tonnage, and such certificate shall be delivered to the Registrar before registry.

7. When any boat has not already a port of registry and a port to which she belongs by reason of her registry under Part I of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the port or place at which that boat is registered under these regulations shall be deemed to be the port or place to which she belongs. But boats belonging to any Customs port by reason of their registry under Part I of the Act must be registered as fishing boats at the same port of registry.

8. For the purposes of these regulations boats shall be divided into three classes, namely:—

1st Class, which shall include all steamers or motor boats of 15 tons gross tonnage and upwards, and all boats (other than steamers or motor boats) of 15 tons register tonnage and upwards.

2nd Class, which shall include all steamers or motor boats of less than 15 tons gross tonnage and all boats (other than steamers or motor boats) of less than 15 tons register tonnage or of 18 feet keel and upwards.

3rd Class, which shall include all boats under 18 feet keel, other than those navigated by oars only and marked in accordance with Section 176 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876.*

Provided that in the case of canoes or other boats built without keels the measurement shall be made from stem to stern over all.

9. (1) At least once in every year, and in any case immediately upon a change of skipper, the owner of any boat shall submit the certificate of registry of his boat for examination to a Registrar or other Officer empowered by these regulations to receive applications for registry, and shall report the change of skipper, if any, and also any alteration respecting the boat or her employment. Any owner who fails to submit the certificate or to report in accordance with this regulation shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(2) The Officer to whom the certificate is submitted shall endorse on the certificate his name and the date of examination, and in the case of a change of skipper shall endorse the change, and shall at the same time make a record of the facts in such form as the Minister for Industry and Commerce may prescribe. If he is not the Registrar he shall report the examination to the Registrar of the port or place, and in the case of any change being reported respecting the boat, he shall forward the certificate of registry to the Registrar for correction. The Registrar shall forthwith make such alterations as may be necessary in the register and certificate of registry.

10. (1) A report respecting any entry made in the register shall, except so far as it relates to a change of skipper, be forwarded to the Department of Industry and Commerce, who shall by these means maintain a central register.

(2) The Registrar shall also forward annually to the Department of Industry and Commerce a list of all the boats which have appeared on the register during the preceding year.

11. After registration no change shall be made in the name of any boat unless the Minister for Industry and Commerce is satisfied that the application for such change of name is made on reasonable and sufficient grounds, and directs that the name may be changed. In the event of any such direction being given, the name of the boat may be changed and the register and certificate altered accordingly. In all cases of change of name the former name shall appear in the register and on the certificate.

* The Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, Section 176, requires all vessels and boats under 100 tons to have the name of the owner and of the port painted outside the stern, but this does not apply to boats registered as fishing boats.

12. (1) On a change of ownership of any registered boat—

(a) The new owner shall make application for the registry of the boat in the manner prescribed by these regulations.

(b) The previous owner shall deliver up the certificate of registry to the Registrar of the port or place of registry, and the Registrar shall thereupon cancel the certificate, and note the cancellation in the register against the registry of the boat.

(2) Any person who fails without reasonable cause, proof whereof shall lie on him, to deliver up to the Registrar the certificate of a boat on his ceasing to be the owner thereof, or account for the same to the satisfaction of the Registrar, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

13. On the transfer of any boat to another port or place of registry, the owner of such boat may apply in writing to the Registrar of the port or place to which the boat belongs to transfer the registry of the boat from that port or place to the new port or place of registry, and shall deliver up the existing certificate of registry for cancellation, or account for the same to the satisfaction of the Registrar, and the Registrar shall transmit the application, together with all necessary particulars relating to the boat, to the Registrar of the port or place at which it is desired that the boat should be registered, and the last-named Registrar shall thereupon enter the boat in the register of his port or place, and shall grant a fresh certificate of registry, and the previous registry shall cease to have effect.

14. (1) In the event of a registered boat being either actually or constructively lost, burnt, or broken up, or ceasing to be a sea fishing boat, the owner of the boat shall immediately give notice thereof to the Registrar of the port or place of registry, and shall deliver up to the Registrar the certificate of registry, or account for the same to the satisfaction of the Registrar. The Registrar shall thereupon cancel the certificate, and note the cancellation in the register against the registry of the boat.

(2) Any owner who fails without reasonable cause, proof whereof shall lie on him, to give notice in accordance with this regulation, or to deliver up or account for the certificate, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(3) If from any representation made by the owner or otherwise, the Minister for Industry and Commerce is satisfied that any boat has ceased to exist as a sea fishing boat, although the owner may have omitted or been unable to give notice of the same as required, he may direct that the register of such boat shall be cancelled.

15. When the owner of a boat applies to and proves to the satisfaction of the Registrar of the port or place of registry that the certificate of registry of the boat has been mislaid, lost, or destroyed, the Registrar may, upon payment of a fee of one shilling, grant to the owner a copy of the certificate of registry of the boat, certified under his hand to be a true copy, and that copy shall have all the effect of the original.

16. Before registry the name of each boat and that of the port or place of registry shall be painted in white oil colour on a black ground outside the stern of the boat in letters which shall be not less than three inches in height and half an inch in breadth.

17. Before registry every boat shall bear in the following manner the letter or letters and the number assigned to the boat in her register:

(a) The letters shall precede the number.

(b) The letters and number shall be placed on each bow of the boat three or four inches below the gunwale and so as to be clearly visible.

(c) In the case of steamers or motor boats, the letters and number shall, in addition, be placed in a similar manner on each quarter and in the case of steamers on the funnel twelve inches from the top, of a conspicuous size, and as far as possible on the foremost half of the circumference.

(d) The letters and number shall be painted in white oil colour on a black ground.

18. (1) Before registry the same letters and number shall be painted in oil colour on each side of the centre cloth or cloths of the mainsail of the boat immediately above the close reef, and in such manner as to be plainly visible. They shall be painted on white sails in black, and on black sails in white, and where the sails are of an intermediate shade, the said letters and number shall be painted in black on sails of light shade, and in white on sails of dark shade.

(2) Provided that in the case of a lug sail boat the letters and number shall be placed on the sail which is commonly used when the boat is engaged in fishing, and that in the case of sailing boats with motor power the mizzen sail shall be marked in addition to the mainsail with the letters and number in the manner prescribed by Sub-section (1) of this regulation.

(3) Whenever the Registrar of the port or place of registry reports to the Minister for Industry and Commerce that he is in doubt as to the effectiveness for the purposes of these regulations of the colour of the letters and number in the case of a boat having any sail of intermediate shade, or whenever any question arises as to the effectiveness for the purposes of these regulations of the colour of the letters and number for any sail of intermediate shade, the letters and number shall be painted in black or in white as the Minister for Industry and Commerce may in each case direct.

19. (1) For boats of the first class the letters and number shall be, on the hull, 18 inches in height and 2½ inches in breadth, and, on the sails, one-third larger every way.

(2) For boats of the second class the letters and number shall be, on the hull, 10 inches in height, and 1 ¾ inches in breadth, and, on the sails, one-third larger every way.

(3) For boats of the third class the letters and number shall be, on the hull, 6 inches at least in height, and ¾ inch at least in breadth, and, on the sails, one-third larger every way.

(4) Provided that in boats which have a "bend piece" or "rubbing strake," the letters and number shall be as high as the space above it will admit. In boats where the space between the gunwale and waterline is not sufficient for the prescribed height, the letters and number shall be as high as the space will admit.

(5) In all classes, a space equal to one-third of the height of the letters shall be left between every two letters and every two figures forming the number, and the letters shall be separated from the number by twice the same space.

20. Where the Registrar does not himself see that a boat is properly marked in accordance with regulations 16 to 19, he shall before causing the boat to be registered require the delivery to him of a certificate by a Surveyor of the Department of Industry and Commerce or some Officer of Customs or Gárda Síochána or Officer of the Department of Fisheries that the boat is properly marked as aforesaid.

21. (1) The names, letters and numbers herein prescribed shall at all times be effectively kept up and renewed when required, and a boat shall not have either on its outside or on its sails any name, letter, or number other than those herein prescribed.

(2) Provided that in the case of any boat only temporarily engaged in fishing for purposes of sale, so much of these regulations as requires that letters and numbers shall be permanently affixed to the hull and sails or funnel shall not apply if such letters and numbers are temporarily affixed thereto during the whole period of fishing by means of board, canvas, or iron in a manner otherwise according with these regulations.

22. (1) If any boat is not marked with name, letters, and number in accordance with these regulations, the owner and the skipper of the boat shall each be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(2) If any person effaces, alters, makes illegible, covers or conceals in any manner whatsoever the name, letters, or number. or is a party or privy to so doing, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

23. (1) All small boats carried by, or attached to, sea fishing boats as tenders or otherwise, and all the buoys, barrels, and principal floats, all other fishing implements, and all grapnels and anchors shall be marked with the same letters and numbers as the boats to which they belong, so as to be easily distinguished. The owners of any small boats, buoys, barrels, floats, implements, grapnels or anchors may further distinguish them by any private marks they think proper.

(2) Provided that in the case of fishing implements belonging to fishermen who are not the owners of the boat in which they are engaged in fishing, it shall be held sufficient if such implements are marked so as to identify the true owners. It shall lie upon the fishermen to satisfy any Sea Fishery Officer or Officer of Customs or Gárda Síochána that the implements properly form part of the fishing gear in use on the boats with which they may be found.

(3) The owner and the skipper of any boat not having the small boat, or the implements used in connection with his boats, duly marked in the manner herein directed, shall each be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

24. Any registry, naming, lettering or numbering of a sea fishing boat already effected in accordance with any regulation contained in the Orders in Council hereby revoked, although not in accordance with these regulations, shall, so long as the prescribed marks on the boat are duly maintained, be deemed sufficient in the case of that boat until the boat is required by these regulations to be registered again.

NOTES.

(1) The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, Section 373, provides as follows:—

(2) The Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, Section 26, provides that a skipper who fails to have the certificate of registry or official paper on board his boat shall be liable, together with his boat and crew, to be taken into port by any sea fishery officer, and to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) The Sea Fisheries Act, 1883, Section 12, provides that when it appears to a sea fishery officer that any provisions of that Act or of any Order in Council have been contravened, he may take the offender and his boat and crew into port and detain them, in order to bring the offender before a Court.

FIRST SCHEDULE TO THE REGULATIONS.

PORTS AND PLACES OF REGISTRY.

The Chief Officer of Customs herein referred to shall mean the Officer of Customs superintending the Port or Place.

SECOND SCHEDULE TO THE REGULATIONS.

FORM OF REGISTER.

Under Part IV. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict., Cap. 60, Sec. 373).

THIRD SCHEDULE TO THE REGULATIONS.

APPLICATION TO REGISTER A SEA FISHING BOAT.

Under Part IV. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 and 58 Vict., Cap. 60, Sec. 373)

FOR USE BY BODIES CORPORATE.

I............................................................ .........................................................(²) Secretary or Director,

of (¹)............................................................ ............................................................ .................................

Owners of the boat above described, declare that the said Company is registered under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1917, is subject to the laws of Saorstát Eireann and its registered office is at............................................................ ..................and that the said boat has (²) not been previously registered under the Merchant Shipping Act as a Sea Fishing Boat (²) been previously registered under the Merchant Shipping Act as a Sea Fishing Boat at (³)....................................................., and I now request that it may be registered as such at............................................................ ............................................................ ....

(1) Names of owner or owners, with address.

(2) Draw a line through the words which do not apply.

(3) If boat previously registered state port and number.

FOR USE OF INDIVIDUALS OR JOINT OWNERS.

(⁴) ............................................................ ....(⁵)............................................................ ..................

Owner(s) of the boat above described, declare that (⁶)............................................................ ......

(⁷) citizen(s) of the Irish Free State or natural born British subject(s) and have never taken the Oath of Allegiance to any Foreign Sovereign or State or have otherwise become a citizen (citizens) or subject(s) of a Foreign State (⁷) naturalised British subject(s), and that the said boat has (⁷) not been previously registered under the Merchant Shipping Act as a Sea Fishing Boat (⁷) been previously registered under the Merchant Shipping Act as a Sea Fishing Boat at (⁸)............................................................ .........and (⁴)........................................now request that it may be registered as such at...................................

* These particulars are to be filled in by the Registrar.

† These measurements are to be made and the tonnage ascertained by the Officer to whom the application is made. If the Boat is registered under Part I. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the particulars of principal dimensions and tonnage should be adopted from her certifiate of registry.

(4) "I" or "We."

(5) Names of owner or owners, with address and calling.

(6) "I am a" or "We are."

(7) Draw a line through the words which do not apply.

(8) If boat previously registered, state port and number.

FOURTH SCHEDULE TO THE REGULATIONS.

CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRY OF A SEA FISHING BOAT.

Under Part IV. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict., Cap. 60 Sec. 373).

____________________________

FIFTH SCHEDULE TO THE REGULATIONS.

RULE FOR MEASUREMENT OF A SEA FISHING BOAT.

Measure the length from fore part of head of stem to after part of head of stern post or after part of transom or tuck. Measure the greatest breadth of the vessel to the outside of outer planking. Measure also the depth amidships from under side of deck, or from the upper strake of planking in open boats, to the upper side of floor timbers at side of keelson, deducting the thickness of ceiling if fitted.

Multiply together the length, breadth and depth in feet taken as aforesaid, and multiply the product by the factor .45, the result divided by 100 will be the registered tonnage of the boat, subject to any additions as under.

In the case of a break or breaks above the line of deck, multiply together the length, breadth and depth in feet of the space or spaces, divide the product by 100, and add the result to the tonnage of the boat obtained as aforesaid.