S.I. No. 107/1967 - Merchant Shipping (Pilot Ladders) Rules, 1967.

S.I. No. 107 of 1967.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (PILOT LADDERS) RULES, 1967.

I, ERSKINE H. CHILDERS, Minister for Transport and Power, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 427 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (as amended by section 11 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952), and section 10 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 (No. 20 of 1966)) and the Transport, Fuel and Power (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1959 ( S.I. No. 125 of 1959 ), hereby make the following rules: —

1. (1) These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Pilot Ladders) Rules, 1967.

(2) These Rules shall come into operation on the 14th day of May, 1967.

(3) Part V of the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving and Fire Appliances) Rules, 1953 ( S.I. No. 341 of 1953 ), is hereby revoked.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these Rules.

3. In these Rules " the Minister " means the Minister for Transport and Power.

4. (1) These Rules apply to ships registered in the State and to any other ship while in any port in the State, unless the ship would not have been in the port but for stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master, the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled.

(2) For the purposes of these Rules ships to which these Rules apply shall be arranged in the following classes: —

(a) Class I—Passenger ships engaged on voyages (not being short international voyages) any of which are long international voyages,

(b) Class II—Passenger ships engaged on voyages (not being long international voyages) any of which are short international voyages,

(c) Class II (A)—Passenger ships in respect of which there is or should be in force a certificate entitled " Passenger Certificate Class II (A) " being a certificate for ships engaged on voyages of any kind other than international voyages,

(d) Class III—Passenger ships in respect of which there is or should be in force a certificate entitled " Passenger Certificate Class III " being a certificate for ships engaged only on voyages in the course of which they are at no time more than 70 miles by sea from their point of departure and not more than 18 miles from the coast of the State, and which are at sea only in fine weather and during restricted periods,

(e) Class IV—Passenger ships in respect of which there is or should be in force a certificate entitled " Passenger Certificate Class IV " being a certificate for ships engaged only on voyages in partially smooth waters, or in smooth and partially smooth waters,

(f) Class V—Passenger ships in respect of which there is or should be in force a certificate entitled " Passenger Certificate Class V " being a certificate for ships engaged only on voyages in smooth waters,

(g) Class VI—Passenger ships in respect of which there is or should be in force a certificate entitled " Passenger Certificate Class VI " being a certificate for ships engaged only on voyages, with not more than 250 passengers on board, to sea, in smooth or in partially smooth waters, in all cases in fine weather and during restricted periods, in the course of which the ships are at no time more than 15 miles, exclusive of any smooth waters, from their point of departure nor more than 3 miles from land,

(h) Class VII—Ships other than ships of Classes I, VII (A), X, XI and XII and other ships engaged on voyages any of which are long international voyages,

(i) Class VII (A)—Ships engaged in the whaling industry or employed as fish processing or canning factory ships, and steamers engaged in the carriage of persons employed in the whaling, fish processing or canning industries,

(j) Class VIII—Ships other than ships of Classes II, IX, X, XI and XII and other ships engaged on voyages (not being long international voyages) any of which are short international voyages,

(k) Class VIII (A)—Ships other than ships of Classes II (A) to VI, IX, IX (A), X, XI and XII and other ships engaged only on voyages which are not international voyages,

(l) Class IX—Tugs and tenders other than ships of Classes II, II (A), III and VI which proceed to sea but are not engaged on long international voyages,

(m) Class IX (A)—Ships other than ships of Classes IV to VI and other ships which do not proceed to sea,

(n) Class X—Fishing boats other than ships of Classes I to VI,

(o) Class XI—Sailing ships other than fishing boats and ships of Class XII which proceed to sea,

(p) Class XII—Pleasure yachts other than ships of Classes I to VI of 45 feet in length or over.

(3) In this Rule—

" long international voyage " means an international voyage which is not a short international voyage within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952);

" partially smooth waters " means as respects any period, weather or ship specified in the Schedule to these Rules, the waters of any of the areas specified in the third column thereof in relation to the period, weather or ship;

" restricted period " means a period falling wholly within either of the following periods:

(a) between the 1st day of April and the 31st day of October in any year, both dates inclusive; or

(b) between one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset in the case of ships fitted with navigation lights conforming with the requirements of the Collision Regulations (Ships and Seaplanes on the Water) Order, 1965 ( S.I. No. 185 of 1965 ), or between sunrise and sunset in the case of any other ships;

" sea " does not include partially smooth waters;

" smooth waters " means any waters not being the sea or partially smooth waters, and in particular means waters of any of the areas specified in the second column of the Schedule to these Rules;

" voyage " includes an excursion.

5. (1) Subject to Rule 9, every ship of Classes I, II, II (A), VII, VII (A), VIII and VIII (A) shall be provided with a pilot ladder which shall comply with the requirements of Rule 6.

(2) Ships of Classes III to VI and IX to XII shall not be required to be provided with pilot ladders.

6. The following are the requirements with which a pilot ladder mentioned in Rule 5 (1) shall comply:

(a) the ladder shall be efficient for the purpose of enabling a pilot to embark and disembark safely and shall be used only by officials and other persons while a ship is arriving at or leaving a port and for the embarkation and disembarkation of pilots;

(b) the ladder shall be secured in a position clear of any possible discharges from the ship and so that each step rests firmly against the ship's side and so that the pilot can gain convenient access to the ship after climbing neither less than five feet nor more than thirty feet;

(c) the ladder shall be of a single length and shall be capable of reaching the water from the point of access to the ship when the ship is in an unloaded condition and in normal trim with no list;

(d) whenever the distance from the water to the point of access to the ship exceeds thirty feet, access from the ladder to the ship shall be by means of an accommodation ladder or other equally safe and convenient means;

(e) the treads of the ladder shall be of hard wood not less than nineteen inches long, four and a half inches wide and one inch in depth, spaced not less than twelve inches nor more than fifteen inches apart and secured in such a manner ensuring that they will remain horizontal;

(f) the side ropes of the ladder shall consist of two manilla ropes two and a quarter inches in circumference one of which shall be placed on each side;

(g) two man-ropes of not less than two and a half inches in circumference, properly secured to the ship, and a safety line shall be kept ready for use if required;

(h) hard wood battens about six feet long shall be provided at such intervals as will prevent the ladder from twisting;

(i) means shall be provided to enable the ladder to be used on either side of the ship and to enable the pilot to pass safely and conveniently from the head of the ladder into the ship or on to the ship's deck; and

(j) a light shall be provided at night so that the pilot ladder overside and also the position where the pilot boards the ship shall be adequately lit.

7. The rigging of pilot ladders and the embarkation and disembarkation of pilots thereby shall be supervised by a responsible officer of the ship.

8. In case these Rules require that a particular fitting, material, appliance or apparatus or type or size thereof, shall be fitted or provided in a ship, or that any particular means shall be provided, the Minister may allow any other fitting, material, appliance or apparatus, or type or size thereof to be fitted or provided, or any other means to be provided in that ship if he is satisfied by trial thereof that such other fitting, material, appliance or apparatus, or type or size thereof, or means, is at least as effective as that required by these Rules.

9. The Minister may exempt any ship of Classes II (A) and VIII (A) from the requirements of these Rules.

SCHEDULE.

Areas of Smooth Waters and Partially Smooth Waters.

Place	Areas of Smooth Waters	Areas of Partially Smooth Waters
Carlingford Lough	Within a line from Greencastle Point to Greenore.	No partially smooth waters.
Drogheda	Within a line from Crook Point to Burrow Point.	No partially smooth waters.
Dublin	Inside the Pier Heads.	In Summer:
		Within a line from Dalkey Island to Bailey Point.
		In Winter:
		(a) for tenders to ocean liners only; within a line from Dalkey Island to Bailey Point, in fine weather;
		(b) for all other ships: no partially smooth waters.
Wexford	Inside Wexford Bridge.	Within a line from Raven Point to Rosslare Point.
Waterford	Within a line from Passage to Ballyhack.	In Summer:
	Within a line from Dunmore to Hook Point.
		In Winter:
		Within a line from Geneva Barrack to Duncannon Light.
Youghal	Within a line from Ferry Point to Green Park.	No partially smooth waters.
Cork	Within a line from Camden to Carlisle Forts.	(a) for tenders to ocean liners only:
		within a radius of 3 miles from Roche's Point, in fine weather;
		(b) for all other ships:
		no partially smooth waters.
Baltimore	Baltimore Harbour inside Sherkin Island.	Baltimore to Cape Clear Island and Schull in fine weather and in daylight only.
Bantry Bay	From Bantry or Glengariff: Within a line joining Four Heads Point and Whiddy Point East and inside Whiddy Island.	Castletownbere to within a line from Lonehort Point to White Horse Point, in fine weather and in daylight only.
	From Castletownbere: Inside Bere Island.

FIRST SCHEDULE (continued)

Place	Areas of Smooth Waters	Areas of Partially Smooth Waters
The Shannon	East of Rinalan Point.	Within a line from Scattery Lighthouse to Carrig Island.
Galway	Lough Corrib.	(a) for ships when serving as tenders to ocean liners only:
		Within a line from Black Head to Carrahouna Point.
		(b) for all other ships:
		Within a line from Black Rock Beacon to Kilcolgan Point.
Killary Bay	Inside Inishbarna Islands.	No partially smooth waters.
Westport	Within a line from Murrisk Pier to Inishgort Light.	No partially smooth waters.
Sligo Harbour	Inside Metal Man Rocks. On Lough Gill	Within a line from Raghly Point to Black Rock Point.
Ballyshannon	Inside the Bar.	No partially smooth waters.
Donegal	Inside the Bar.	No partially smooth waters.
Lough Swilly	Within a line from Buncrana to Muckarnish Point.	Within a line from Dunree Head to Portsalon.

The outer limits of the smooth water areas specified in the second column of this Schedule shall be taken to be the corresponding inner limits of the partially smooth water areas specified in the third column of this Schedule.

Unless otherwise indicated these limits apply at all times of the year.

In this Schedule "summer" means the months of April to October, inclusive, and "winter" means the months of November to March, inclusive.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 3rd day of May, 1967.

ERSKINE H. CHILDERS,

Minister for Transport and Power.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Rules implement the provisions of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960, relating to the provision of pilot ladders.