Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014

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Carving and marking

26. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (8), before registration on the Register under this Act, every ship shall be marked to the satisfaction of the Minister in the prescribed manner in relation to some or all of the following:

(a) the name of the ship;

(b) the port of registry of the ship;

(c) the number of the ship;

(d) a scale of measure denoting the ship’s draft of water;

(e) the prefix, if any, approved under regulations made under section 25 ;

(f) any other marking required by European Union law, the International Maritime Organization or other international bodies.

(2) The Minister may make regulations—

(a) to exempt any type of ship from all or any of the requirements of subsection (1),

(b) to provide for the marking of ships registered on specified Parts of the Register in the prescribed manner within a specified period after the date of registration on that Part of the Register, and

(c) for the purpose of specifying the carving and marking requirements for ships registered in accordance with sections 23 and 24 .

(3) In making regulations under subsection (2), the Minister may set different and separate requirements and conditions in relation to the carving and marking of different types or descriptions of ships and for different circumstances.

(4) The Minister may issue a carving and marking note to the owner of a ship that shall specify details of how the ship should be marked.

(5) When the ship is marked in accordance with a carving and marking note issued under subsection (4), the note shall be signed and returned to the Minister within the period specified on the note.

(6) A carving and marking note referred to in subsection (4) shall be in an approved form.

(7) If a carving and marking note issued under subsection (4) is not signed and returned to the Minister within the period specified on the note, the Minister shall cancel the note and the related application for ship registration shall be considered to be withdrawn.

(8) A fishing boat entered in the Register of Fishing Boats and lettered and numbered in pursuance of Part 2, Chapter 6 of the Act of 2006, need not have its name and port of registry marked under this section.

(9) Where a ship is removed from the Register, in any of the circumstances set out in section 21 (2) and (3), the prescribed markings arising from subsection (1) or (2) shall be removed from the ship.

(10) The owner of a ship who does not comply with the carving and marking requirements set out in this section commits an offence.