Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952

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Number 29 of 1952.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SAFETY CONVENTION) ACT, 1952.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

PART II.

Safety of Life at Sea.

Construction and Equipment.

Certificates.

Safety Convention Ships not Registered in the State.

Miscellaneous Provisions for Furthering Safety of Life at Sea.

Supplemental.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

Enactments Repealed.

SECOND SCHEDULE.

Transitional Provisions.

Number 29 of 1952.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SAFETY CONVENTION) ACT, 1952.

AN ACT TO ENABLE EFFECT TO BE GIVEN TO AN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA, SIGNED IN LONDON ON THE 10th DAY OF JUNE, 1948; TO AMEND THE PROVISIONS OF THE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACTS, 1894 TO 1947, RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF PASSENGER STEAMERS, TO LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES, WIRELESS AND RADIO NAVIGATIONAL AIDS AND TO OTHER MATTERS AFFECTED BY THE SAID CONVENTION; AND TO MAKE PROVISION FOR THE CHARGING OF FEES. [17th December, 1952.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

Short title and collective citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952.

(2) The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1947, and this Act may be cited together as the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1952.

Commencement.

2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Government shall by order appoint.

Interpretation and construction accepted Safety Convention certificate.

3.—(1) In this Act—

“accepted Safety Convention certificate” has the meaning assigned to it by section 28 of this Act;

“the Act of 1933” means the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1933 (No. 42 of 1933);

“collision regulations” means regulations made under Section 418 of the Principal Act;

“construction rules” means rules made under section 10 of this Act;

“country to which the Safety Convention applies” means—

(a) a country the government of which has been declared under section 4 of this Act to have accepted the Safety Convention, and has not been so declared to have denounced that Convention;

(b) a territory to which it has been so declared that the Safety Convention extends, not being a territory to which it has been so declared that that Convention has ceased to extend;

“declaration of survey” means a declaration made under section 272 of the Principal Act;

“international voyage” means a voyage from a port in one country to a port in another country, either of those countries being a country to which the Safety Convention applies, and “short international voyage” means an international voyage—

(a) in the course of which a ship is not more than two hundred nautical miles from a port or place in which the passengers and crew could be placed in safety and

(b) which does not exceed six hundred nautical miles in length between the last port of call in the country in which the voyage begins and the final port of destination, but, for the purpose of the definitions contained in this paragraph—

(i) no account shall be taken of any deviation by a ship from her intended voyage due solely to stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled; and

(ii) every colony, overseas territory, protectorate or other territory for whose international relations a government that has accepted the Safety Convention is responsible, or for which the United Nations are the administering authority, shall be deemed to be a separate country;

“the Merchant Shipping Acts” means the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1947, and this Act;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

“the Principal Act” means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 ;

“radio navigational aid” means radio apparatus on board a ship being apparatus designed for the purpose of determining the position or direction of ships or other objects;

“radio rules” means rules made under section 15 of this Act;

“rules for direction-finders” means rules made under section 18 of this Act;

“rules for live-saving appliances” means rules made under section 427 of the Principal Act as amended by section 11 of this Act;

“the Safety Convention” means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on the 10th day of June, 1948;

“Safety Convention ship” means a ship registered in a country to which the Safety Convention applies and the expression “Safety Convention passenger steamer” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Except so far as the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to any other enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, extended or applied by or under any other enactment including this Act.

(3) Except so far as the context otherwise requires, this Act shall be construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1947, and, without prejudice to the generality of this provision, references in those Acts to the Merchant Shipping Acts shall be construed as including references to this Act.

(4) If any amendment of the Safety Convention comes into force, references in this Act to the Safety Convention shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to the Safety Convention as amended.

Countries to which Safety Convention applies.

4.—The Minister, if satisfied—

(a) that the government of any country has accepted, or denounced, the Safety Convention; or

(b) that the Safety Convention extends, or has ceased to extend, to any territory,

may by order make a declaration to that effect.

Power of the Minister to prescribe fees.

5.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe by order (in this Act referred to as a fees order) the fees to be charged for inspections made and certificates issued under this Act.

(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, at any time by order revoke or amend a fees order or an order made under this subsection.

Collection and disposal of fees.

6.—(1) All fees payable under a fees order shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.

(2) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any fees payable under a fees order.

Laying of orders, rules and regulations before Oireachtas.

7.—Every order, rule and regulation made by the Minister by virtue of this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made and if a resolution is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days upon which that House has sat after such instrument has been laid before it annulling the instrument the instrument shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Repeals.

8.—The enactments mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

Transitional provisions.

9.—The provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of the transition from the law in force before the commencement of this Act to the provisions of this Act.

PART II.

Safety of Life at Sea.

Construction and Equipment.

Construction rules.

10.—(1) The Minister may make rules (in this Act referred to as construction rules) prescribing the requirements that the hull, equipments and machinery of passenger steamers registered in the State shall comply with.

(2) The construction rules shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention prescribing the requirements that the hull, equipments and machinery of passenger steamers shall comply with, except so far as those provisions are implemented by the rules for life-saving appliances, the radio rules, the rules for direction-finders or the collision regulations.

(3) The powers conferred on the Minister by this section shall be in addition to the powers conferred by any other enactment enabling him to prescribe the requirements that passenger steamers shall comply with.

Rules for life-saving appliances.

11.—(1) The following section is hereby substituted for section 427 of the Principal Act—

“427. (1) The Minister may, in relation to any ships to which this section applies, make rules (in this Act referred to as rules for life-saving appliances) with respect to all or any of the following matters—

(a) the arranging of ships into classes, having regard to the services in which they are employed, to the nature and duration of the voyage and to the number of persons carried;

(b) the number, description and mode of construction of the boats, life-rafts, line-throwing appliances, life-jackets and lifebuoys to be carried by ships according to the classes in which the ships are arranged;

(c) the equipment to be carried by any such boats and rafts and the methods to be provided to get into the water the boats and other life-saving appliances, including oil for use in stormy weather;

(d) the provision in ships of a proper supply of lights inextinguishable in water, and fitted for attachment to lifebuoys;

(e) the quantity, quality and description of buoyant apparatus to be carried on board ships carrying passengers, either in addition to or in substitution for boats, life-rafts, life-jackets and lifebuoys;

(f) the position and means of securing the boats, life-rafts, life-jackets, lifebuoys and buoyant apparatus;

(g) the marking of the boats, life-rafts and buoyant apparatus so as to show their dimensions and the number of persons authorised to be carried on them;

(h) the manning of the lifeboats and the qualifications and certificates of lifeboatmen;

(j) the provision to be made for mustering the persons on board, and for embarking them in the boats (including provision for the lighting of, and the means of ingress to and egress from, different parts of the ship);

(k) the provision of suitable means situated outside the engine-room whereby any discharge of water into the boats can be prevented;

(l) the assignment of specific duties to each member of the crew in the event of emergency;

(m) the methods to be adopted and the appliances to be carried in ships for the prevention, detection and extinction of fire;

(n) the practice in ships of boat-drills and fire-drills;

(o) the provision in ships of means of making effective distress-signals by day and by night;

(p) the provision in ships engaged on voyages in which pilots are likely to be embarked, of suitable pilot-ladders and of ropes, lights and other appliances designed to make the use of such ladders safe, and

(q) the examination at intervals to be prescribed by the rules of any appliances or equipment required by the rules to be carried.

(2) This section applies to ships registered in the State and to any other ship while she is within any port in the State, unless she would not have been in any such port but for stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled.”

(2) The rules for life-saving appliances shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to the matters mentioned in the said substituted section 427.

Amendment of section 430 of Principal Act.

12.—Subsection (1) of section 430 of the Principal Act (which imposes penalties for failure to comply with the rules for life-saving appliances) is hereby amended by the addition thereto of the following paragraph:—

“(e) if any provision of the rules for life-saving appliances is contravened or not complied with.”

Amendment of Principal Act.

13.—The following section is hereby substituted for section 431 of the Principal Act:—

“431. (1) A surveyor of ships may inspect any ship for the purpose of seeing that the rules for life-saving appliances have been complied with in every case, and for the purpose of any such inspection shall have all the powers of an inspector of the Department of Industry and Commerce under this Act.

(2) If the surveyor finds that the rules for life-saving appliances have not been complied with, he shall give written notice to the owner or master stating in what respect the said rules have not been complied with and what, in his opinion, is required to rectify the matter.

(3) Every notice so given shall be communicated in the manner directed by the Minister to the chief officer of customs of any port at which the ship may seek to obtain a clearance or transire, and a clearance or transire shall not be granted to the ship and the ship shall be detained until a certificate under the hand of a surveyor of ships is produced to the effect that the matter has been rectified.”

Amendment of section 9 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906.

14.—The following subsections are hereby substituted for subsection (1) of section 9 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906 —

“(1) The master of every ship registered in the State shall cause to be entered in the official log-book a statement, or if there is no official log-book cause other record to be kept, of every occasion on which boat-drill or fire-drill is practised on board the ship or on which the appliances and equipment required by the rules for life-saving appliances to be carried are examined to see whether they are fit and ready for use and of the result of any such examination.

(1A) If—

(a) in the case of a passenger steamer, boat-drill or fire-drill is not practised on board the ship in any week,

(b) in the case of any other ship, boat-drill or fire-drill is not practised on board the ship in any month,

(c) in the case of any ship, the said appliances and equipment are not examined in any such period as is prescribed by the said rules,

the master shall cause a statement to be entered or other record to be kept as aforesaid of the reasons why the drill was not practised or the appliances and equipment were not examined in that week, month or period.”

Radio rules.

15.—(1) The Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, may make rules (in this Act referred to as radio rules) requiring ships to which this section applies to be provided with a radio installation other than a radio navigational aid of such a nature as may be prescribed by the rules and to maintain such a radio service and to carry such number of radio officers or operators, of such grades and possessing such qualifications, as may be so prescribed, and the rules may contain provisions for preventing so far as practicable electrical interference with the radio installation by other apparatus on board.

(2) This section applies to sea-going ships registered in the State and to other sea-going ships while they are within any port in the State.

(3) The said rules shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to be necessary to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony.

(4) The radio installation required under the said rules to be provided for a passenger steamer, or for any other ship of sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage or upwards, shall be a radiotelegraph installation, and that required to be provided for a ship of less than sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage, other than a passenger steamer, shall be either a radiotelephone installation or a radiotelegraph installation, at the option of the owner.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this section, rules under this section may—

(a) prescribe the duties of radio officers and operators, including the duty of keeping a radio log-book;

(b) apply to any radio log-book required to be kept under the rules any of the provisions of section 242 of the Principal Act (which provides for the delivery of the official log-book to the superintendent) and of section 256 of that Act (which provides among other things for the custody of the official log-book);

(c) require the master of a ship to cause to be entered in the official log-book such particulars relating to the operation of the radio installation, and the maintenance of the radio service, as may be specified in the rules.

(6) If the master of a ship fails to cause an entry to be made in the log-book in contravention of rules made in pursuance of paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of this section or if any radio officer or operator contravenes any rules made in pursuance of paragraph (a) thereof, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds; and if the rules made under this section are contravened in any other respect in relation to any ship, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds or on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(7) A surveyor of ships may inspect any ship for the purpose of seeing that she is properly provided with a radio installation and radio officers or operators in conformity with the said rules, and for that purpose shall have all the powers of an inspector of the Department of Industry and Commerce under the Merchant Shipping Acts; and if he finds that the ship is not provided with a radio installation or radio officers or operators in conformity with the said rules he shall give to the owner or master notice in writing pointing out the deficiency, and also pointing out what in his opinion is requisite to remedy the deficiency.

(8) Every notice given under subsection (7) of this section shall be communicated in the manner directed by the Minister to the chief officer of customs of any port at which the ship may seek to obtain a clearance or transire, and a clearance or transire shall not be granted to the ship and the ship shall be detained until a certificate under the hand of a surveyor of ships is produced to the effect that the ship is properly provided with a radio installation and radio officers or operators in conformity with the said rules.

Radio surveyors.

16.—(1) A person appointed to be a surveyor of ships under section 724 of the Principal Act may be appointed as a radio surveyor.

(2) The functions of the Minister under the said section 724 with respect to surveyors of ships shall not be exercised with respect to radio surveyors except with the approval of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

(3) Wireless telegraphy surveyors appointed under section 724 of the Principal Act as amended by section 8 of the Act of 1933 shall be radio surveyors.

Survey of passenger steamers by radio surveyors.

17.—(1) The survey of a passenger steamer required by the Principal Act shall, in respect of a sea-going steamer which is not exempt from the obligations imposed by the radio rules, include a survey by a radio surveyor, and accordingly subsection (1) of section 272 of that Act shall be amended by inserting after the words “engineer surveyor of ships” the words “and, in the case of a sea-going passenger steamer required to be provided with a radiotelegraph installation, by a radio surveyor”.

(2) Section 275 of the Principal Act (which provides for appeals to a court of survey by persons aggrieved by the declaration of survey of a ship or engineer surveyor) shall be amended by inserting the words “or radio surveyor” after the words “engineer surveyor” in both places where they occur.

Rules for direction-finders.

18.—(1) The Minister may make rules (in this Act referred to as rules for direction-finders) requiring ships to which this section applies to be provided with a direction-finder of such a nature as may be prescribed by the rules.

(2) This section applies to ships registered in the State and to other ships while they are within any port in the State, being, in each case, ships of sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage or upwards.

(3) The said rules shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to direction-finders.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this section, rules under this section may provide for the position of the direction-finder in the ship, for the communication between the direction-finder and the bridge, for testing the direction-finder at intervals and as occasion may require and for recording the result of the tests.

(5) If any of the said rules is not complied with in relation to any ship, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Further provisions as to radio navigational aids.

19.—(1) The Minister may make rules prescribing—

(a) the requirements that radio navigational aids, other than direction-finders, shall comply with if they are carried on board ships registered in the State, including requirements relating to their position and method of fitting;

(b) the requirements that apparatus designed for the purpose of transmitting or reflecting signals to or from radio navigational aids shall comply with, being apparatus in the State, or off the shores of the State and maintained from the State.

(2) If any ship registered in the State proceeds, or attempts to proceed, to sea carrying radio navigational aids not complying with the rules made under subsection (1) of this section, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(3) If any person establishes or operates any such apparatus as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, being apparatus that does not comply with the said rules, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Certificates.

Issue for passenger steamers of safety certificates and exemption certificates.

20.—(1) If the Minister, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of a passenger steamer registered in the State, is satisfied that the steamer complies with the construction rules, rules for life-saving appliances, radio rules and rules for direction-finders applicable to the steamer and to such international voyages as she is to be engaged on, and that she is properly provided with the lights, shapes and means of making fog-signals required by the collision regulations, he shall, on the application of the owner, issue in respect of the steamer a certificate (in this Act referred to as a general safety certificate) showing that the steamer complies with the requirements of the Safety Convention applicable as aforesaid.

(2) If the voyages on which the steamer is to be engaged are short international voyages and she complies only with such of those rules as are applicable to those voyages, the certificate shall show that the steamer complies with the requirements of the Safety Convention applicable to her as a steamer plying on short international voyages, and any such certificate is hereafter in this Act referred to as a short voyage safety certificate.

(3) If the Minister, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of any such passenger steamer as aforesaid is satisfied that the steamer is exempt, by virtue of any exercise by him of a power in that behalf conferred on him by this Act or conferred on him by the rules in question, from any of the requirements of the construction rules, rules for life-saving appliances, radio rules or rules for direction-finders applicable to the steamer and to such international voyages as she is to be engaged on, whether short voyages or otherwise, that she complies with the rest of those requirements and that she is properly provided with the lights, shapes and means of making fog-signals required by the collision regulations, he shall, on the application of the owner, issue in respect of the steamer—

(a) an exemption certificate stating which of the requirements of the Safety Convention applicable as aforesaid the steamer is exempt from and that the exemption is conditional on the steamer plying only on the voyages and being engaged only in the trades and complying with the other conditions (if any) specified in the certificate, and

(b) a certificate showing that the steamer complies with the rest of those requirements;

and any certificate issued under paragraph (b) of this subsection is hereafter in this Act referred to as a qualified safety certificate or a qualified short voyage safety certificate, as the case may be.

Modification of safety certificates as respects life-saving appliances.

21.—(1) If, on any international voyage, a passenger steamer registered in the State in respect of which a general safety certificate, a short voyage safety certificate, a qualified safety certificate or a qualified short voyage safety certificate is in force has on board a total number of persons less than the number stated in that certificate to be the number for which the life-saving appliances on the steamer provide, the Minister may, at the request of the master of the steamer, issue a memorandum stating the total number of persons carried on the steamer on that voyage, and the consequent modifications which may be made for the purpose of that voyage in the particulars with respect to life-saving appliances stated in the certificate, and that memorandum shall be annexed to the certificate.

(2) Every such memorandum shall be returned to the Minister at the end of the voyage to which it relates and, if it is not so returned, the master of the steamer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Issue for cargo ships of safety equipment certificates and exemption certificates.

22.—(1) If the Minister, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of a ship registered in the State, not being a passenger steamer, is satisfied that the ship complies with the rules for life-saving appliances applicable to the ship and to such international voyages as she is to be engaged on and that she is properly provided with the lights, shapes and means of making fog-signals required by the collision regulations, he shall, on the application of the owner, issue in respect of the ship a certificate (in this Act referred to as a safety equipment certificate) showing that the ship complies with such of the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to those matters as are applicable as aforesaid.

(2) If the Minister, on the receipt of declarations of survey in respect of any such ship as aforesaid, is satisfied that the ship is exempt, by virtue of any exercise by him of a power in that behalf conferred on him by this Act or conferred on him by the rules for life-saving appliances, from any of the requirements of those rules applicable to the ship and to such international voyages as she is to be engaged on, and that she complies with the rest of those requirements and is properly provided with the lights, shapes and means of making fog-signals required by the collision regulations, he shall, on the application of the owner, issue in respect of the ship—

(a) an exemption certificate stating which of the requirements of the Safety Convention, being requirements the subject of the rules for life-saving appliances and applicable as aforesaid, the ship is exempt from and that the exemption is conditional on the ship plying only on the voyages and complying with the other conditions (if any) specified in the certificate, and

(b) a certificate (in this Act referred to as a qualified safety equipment certificate) showing that the ship complies with the rest of those requirements.

Issue for cargo ships of radio certificates and exemption certificates.

23.—(1) If the Minister, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of a ship registered in the State, not being a passenger steamer, is satisfied that the ship complies with the radio rules and rules for direction-finders applicable to the ship and to such international voyages as she is to be engaged on, he shall, on the application of the owner, issue in respect of the ship a certificate (in this Act referred to as a radio certificate) showing that the ship complies with such of the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders as are applicable as aforesaid.

(2) If the Minister, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of any such ship as aforesaid, is satisfied that the ship is exempt, by virtue of any exercise by him of a power in that behalf conferred on him by this Act or conferred on him by the rules in question, from any of the requirements of the radio rules or rules for direction-finders applicable to the ship and to such international voyages as she is to be engaged on and that she complies with the rest of the requirements of the radio rules and rules for direction-finders, he shall, on the application of the owner, issue in respect of the ship—

(a) an exemption certificate stating which of the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, being requirements applicable as aforesaid, the ship is exempt from and that the exemption is conditional on the ship plying only on the voyages and complying with the other conditions (if any) specified in the certificate, and

(b) a certificate (in this Act referred to as a qualified radio certificate) showing that the ship complies with the rest of those requirements.

(3) Where any ship registered in the State is wholly exempt from the requirements of the radio rules and the rules for direction-finders, the Minister shall on the application of the owner issue an exemption certificate stating that the ship is wholly exempt from the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders and specifying the voyages on which, and conditions (if any) on which, the ship is so exempt.

Issue of general safety certificates, etc., on partial compliance with rules.

24.—Where a ship complies with all the requirements of the construction rules, rules for life-saving appliances, radio rules or rules for direction-finders applicable to the ship and to the voyages on which she is to be engaged so far as those requirements are requirements of the Safety Convention applicable as aforesaid, the Minister may issue in respect of the ship a general safety certificate, short-voyage safety certificate, safety equipment certificate or radio certificate, as the case may be, notwithstanding that she is exempt from, or for some other reason does not comply with, any requirements of those rules that are not applicable requirements of the Safety Convention.

Notice of alterations and additional surveys.

25.—(1) The owner or master of a passenger steamer in respect of which any passenger steamer's certificate issued under the Principal Act, or any certificate issued under this Act, is in force shall, as soon as possible after any alteration is made in the steamer's hull, equipments or machinery affecting the efficiency thereof or the seaworthiness of the steamer, give written notice to the Minister containing full particulars of the alteration.

(2) The owner or master of a ship in respect of which any certificate issued under this Act is in force, other than a passenger steamer, shall, as soon as possible after any alteration is made in the appliances or equipments required by the rules for life-saving appliances, the radio rules, the rules for direction-finders or the collision regulations to be carried by the ship, being an alteration affecting the efficiency or completeness of those appliances or equipments, give written notice to the Minister containing full particulars of the alteration.

(3) If notice of any alteration is not given as required by this section, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(4) If the Minister has reason to believe that since the making of the last declaration of survey in respect of any such ship as aforesaid—

(a) any such alteration has been made as is mentioned in subsection (1), or, as the case may be, in subsection (2) of this section; or

(b) the hull, equipments or machinery of the ship (being a passenger steamer) have sustained any injury or are otherwise insufficient; or

(c) the appliances or equipments of the ship (not being a passenger steamer) mentioned in subsection (2) of this section have sustained any injury or are otherwise insufficient;

the Minister may, without prejudice to his powers under section 279 of the Principal Act (which relates to the cancellation of certificates and additional surveys), require the ship to be again surveyed to such extent as he thinks fit and, if such requirement is not complied with, may cancel any passenger steamer's certificate issued in respect of the ship under the Principal Act or any certificate issued in respect of the ship under this Act.

(5) For the purpose of this section the expression “alteration” in relation to anything includes the renewal of any part of it.

Prohibition on proceeding to sea without appropriate certificates.

26.—(1) No ship registered in the State shall proceed to sea on an international voyage from a port in the State unless there is in force in respect of the ship—

(a) if she is a passenger steamer, a general safety certificate, a short-voyage safety certificate, a qualified safety certificate or a qualified short-voyage safety certificate which (subject to the provisions of this section relating to short-voyage safety certificates) is applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed and to the trade in which she is for the time being engaged;

(b) if she is not a passenger steamer, both—

(i) a safety equipment certificate or a qualified safety equipment certificate, and

(ii) a radio certificate or a qualified radio certificate, or an exemption certificate stating that she is wholly exempt from the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not prohibit a ship, not being a passenger steamer, from proceeding to sea as aforesaid if there is in force in respect of the ship such certificate or certificates as would be required if she were a passenger steamer.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a qualified certificate shall not be deemed to be in force in respect of a ship unless there is also in force in respect of the ship the corresponding exemption certificate; and an exemption certificate shall be of no effect unless it is by its terms applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed.

(4) If any ship proceeds, or attempts to proceed, to sea in contravention of this section—

(a) in the case of a passenger steamer, the owner or master of the steamer shall, without prejudice to any other remedy or penalty under the Merchant Shipping Acts, be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds for every passenger carried on board the steamer, and the owner or master of any tender by means of which passengers have been taken on board the steamer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a like fine for every passenger so taken on board, and

(b) in the case of a ship not being a passenger steamer, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(5) The master of every ship registered in the State shall produce to the officer of customs from whom a clearance for the ship is demanded for an international voyage the certificate or certificates required by the foregoing provisions of this section to be in force when the ship proceeds to sea, and a clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until the said certificate or certificates are so produced.

(6) Where the Minister permits any passenger steamer in respect of which there is in force a short-voyage safety certificate, whether qualified or not, to proceed to sea on an international voyage from a port in the State not exceeding twelve hundred nautical miles in length between the last port of call in the State and the final port of destination, the certificate shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be applicable to the voyage on which the steamer is about to proceed notwithstanding that the voyage exceeds six hundred nautical miles between the said ports.

(7) Where an exemption certificate issued in respect of any ship registered in the State specified any conditions on which the certificate is issued and any of those conditions is not complied with, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Miscellaneous provisions as to surveys and certificates.

27.—(1) Subsections (3) to (5) of section 272 of the Principal Act (which prescribe the contents of declarations of survey) shall cease to have effect.

(2) Subsection (2) of section 272 of the Principal Act (which requires a surveyor to deliver declarations of survey to the owner of a ship), section 273 of that Act (which requires the owner to deliver the declaration to the Minister) and section 275 of that Act (which relates to appeals to the court of survey) shall apply to surveys for the purpose of the issue of any certificate in respect of a ship under this Act as they apply to surveys for the purpose of the issue of passenger steamers' certificates.

(3) A safety certificate or radio certificate or an exemption certificate stating that a ship is wholly exempt from the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders shall be in force for one year and a safety equipment certificate shall be in force for twenty-four months, from the date of its issue, or for such shorter period as may be specified in the certificate, but no such certificate shall remain in force after notice is given by the Minister to the owner or master of the ship in respect of which it has been issued that the Minister has cancelled the certificate.

(4) An exemption certificate, other than a certificate stating that a ship is wholly exempt from the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, shall be in force for the same period as the corresponding qualified certificate.

(5) The Minister may grant an extension of any certificate issued under this Act in respect of a ship registered in the State for a period not exceeding one month from the date when the certificate would, but for the extension, have expired, or, if the ship is absent from the State on that date, for a period not exceeding five months from that date.

(6) Any general safety certificate or short-voyage safety certificate, whether qualified or not, may be combined in one document with a passenger steamer's certificate.

(7) Any certificate issued by the Minister under this Act, and any passenger steamer's certificate, whether or not combined in one document with a safety certificate under subsection (6) of this section, shall be admissible in evidence.

(8) The following provisions of the Principal Act shall apply to and in relation to certificates issued by the Minister, and ships certified, under this Act in the same manner as they apply to and in relation to passenger steamers' certificates and passenger steamers, namely, section 276 (which relates to the transmission of a certificate to the owner of the steamer), section 279 (which relates to the cancellation of certificates), section 280 (which relates to the surrender of certificates no longer in force), section 281 (which relates to the posting up of a certificate on board) and section 282 (which relates to the forging and falsification of certificates).

(9) The Minister may request the government of a country to which the Safety Convention applies to issue in respect of a ship registered in the State any certificate the issue of which is authorised under this Act; and a certificate issued in pursuance of such a request and containing a statement that it has been so issued shall have effect for the purposes of this Act as if it had been issued by the Minister and not by the government of that country.

Safety Convention Ships not Registered in the State.

Certificates of Convention ships not registered in the State.

28.—(1) The Minister may, at the request of the government of a country to which the Safety Convention applies, issue in respect of a ship registered in that country any certificate the issue of which in respect of ships registered in the State is authorised under the preceding provisions of this Act if he is satisfied that it is proper for him to do so; and a certificate issued in pursuance of such a request and containing a statement that it has been so issued shall have effect for the purposes of this Act as if it had been issued by the said government and not by the Minister.

(2) The Minister shall make such regulations as appear to him to be necessary for the purpose of securing that certificates issued in accordance with the Safety Convention by the government of any country other than the State in respect of Safety Convention ships not registered in the State, or having effect under subsection (1) of this section as if so issued, shall be accepted as having the same force as corresponding certificates issued by the Minister under this Act; and any certificate required by those regulations to be so treated is in this Act referred to as an accepted Safety Convention certificate.

(3) A surveyor of ships, for the purpose of verifying—

(a) that there is in force in respect of a Safety Convention ship not registered in the State an accepted Safety Convention certificate; or

(b) that the condition of the hull, equipments and machinery of any such Safety Convention ship corresponds substantially with the particulars shown in such a certificate; or

(c) except where such a certificate states that the ship is wholly exempt from the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony, that the number, grades and qualifications of radio officers or operators on board correspond with those shown in the certificate; or

(d) that any conditions on which such a certificate, being the equivalent of an exemption certificate, is issued are complied with,

shall have all the powers of an inspector of the Department of Industry and Commerce under the Merchant Shipping Acts.

(4) Where there is attached to an accepted Safety Convention certificate in respect of a Safety Convention passenger steamer not registered in the State a memorandum which—

(a) has been issued by or under the authority of the government of the country in which the steamer is registered; and

(b) modifies for the purpose of any particular voyage, in view of the number of persons carried on that voyage, the particulars stated in the certificate with respect to the life-saving appliances,

the certificate shall have effect for the purpose of that voyage as if it were modified in accordance with the memorandum.

Modified survey of passenger steamers holding Convention certificates.

29.—(1) Where an accepted Safety Convention certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention passenger steamer not registered in the State—

(a) the steamer shall not be required to be surveyed under the Merchant Shipping Acts by a surveyor of ships except for the purpose of determining the number of passengers that she is fit to carry;

(b) on receipt of any declaration of survey for the purpose aforesaid, the Minister shall issue a certificate under section 274 of the Principal Act containing only a statement of the particulars set out in paragraph (b) of that section (which relates to the said number of passengers), and a certificate so issued shall have effect as a passenger steamer's certificate.

(2) Where there is produced in respect of any such passenger steamer as aforesaid an accepted Safety Convention certificate, and also a certificate issued by or under the authority of the government of the country in which the steamer is registered showing the number of passengers that the steamer is fit to carry, and the Minister is satisfied that that number has been determined substantially in the same manner as in the case of a passenger steamer registered in the State, he may if he thinks fit dispense with any survey of the steamer for the purpose of determining the number of passengers that she is fit to carry and direct that the last-mentioned certificate shall have effect as a passenger steamer's certificate.

Miscellaneous privileges of ships holding Convention certificates.

30.—(1) Where an accepted Safety Convention certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention passenger steamer not registered in the State, the steamer shall be exempt from paragraphs (d) and (f) of subsection (1) of section 290 of the Principal Act (which relate to the equipments of emigrant ships) and section 420 of that Act (which relates to lights and fog-signals) and from the rules for life-saving appliances.

(2) Where an accepted Safety Convention certificate, being the equivalent of a safety equipment certificate, is produced in respect of a Safety Convention ship (other than a passenger steamer) not registered in the State, the ship shall be exempt from section 420 of the Principal Act (which relates to lights and fog-signals) and from the rules for life-saving appliances.

(3) Where an accepted Safety Convention certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention ship not registered in the State, and the certificate shows that the ship complies with the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, or that she is exempt from some of those requirements and complies with the rest, or that she is wholly exempt from those requirements, the ship shall be exempt from the provisions of the radio rules and the rules for direction-finders.

Further provisions as to the production of Convention certificates.

31.—(1) The master of every Safety Convention ship not registered in the State shall produce to the officer of customs from whom a clearance of the ship is demanded in respect of an international voyage from a port in the State accepted Safety Convention certificates that are the equivalent of the certificates issued by the Minister under this Act that would be required to be in force in respect of the ship if she were a ship so registered; and a clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until such certificates are so produced.

(2) The production of an accepted Safety Convention certificate being the equivalent of—

(a) a qualified certificate, or

(b) an exemption certificate, other than a certificate stating that a ship is wholly exempt from the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, shall not avail for the purposes of section 29 or section 30 of this Act unless there is also produced the corresponding exemption certificate or qualified certificate as the case may be.

Miscellaneous Provisions for Furthering Safety of Life at Sea.

Information about ship's stability.

32.—(1) There shall be carried on board every ship registered in the State whose keel is laid after the commencement of this Act such information in writing about the ship's stability as is necessary for the guidance of the master in loading and ballasting the ship.

(2) The said information shall be in such a form as may be approved by the Minister (who may approve the provision of the information in the form of a diagram or drawing only), and shall be based on the determination of the ship's stability by means of an inclining test of the ship or, if the Minister so allows, on a similar determination of the stability of a sister ship.

(3) When any information under this section is provided for any ship, the owner shall, unless a previous copy of the same information has been sent to the Minister, send a copy thereof to the Minister.

(4) If any such ship proceeds, or attempts to proceed, to sea without such information as aforesaid on board, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and if the owner of any ship contravenes subsection (3) of this section, he shall be guilty of a like offence and be liable to a like fine.

(5) It is hereby declared that for the purposes of section 258 of the Principal Act (which requires documents relating to navigation to be delivered by the master of a ship to his successor) information under this section shall be deemed to be a document relating to the navigation of the ship.

Openings in passenger steamers' hulls and watertight bulkheads.

33.—(1) The Minister may in relation to passenger steamers registered in the State make rules for any of the following matters—

(a) for closing and keeping closed the openings in steamers' hulls and in water-tight bulkheads;

(b) for securing, keeping in place and inspecting contrivances for closing any such openings as aforesaid;

(c) for operating the mechanisms of contrivances for closing any such openings as aforesaid and for drills in connection with the operation thereof;

(d) for requiring entry to be made in the official log-book or other record to be kept of any of the matters aforesaid.

(2) If any of the said rules is not complied with in relation to any such steamer as aforesaid, the master of the steamer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Submersion of sub-division load lines.

34.—(1) Where—

(a) a passenger steamer to which this section applies has been marked with sub-division load lines, that is to say, load lines indicating the depth to which the steamer may be loaded having regard to the extent to which she is sub-divided and to the space for the time being allotted to passengers; and

(b) the appropriate sub-division load line, that is to say, the sub-division load line appropriate to the space for the time being allotted to passengers on the steamer, is lower than the load line indicating the maximum depth to which the steamer is for the time being entitled under Part II of the Act of 1933 to be loaded;

the steamer shall not be so loaded as to submerge in salt water the appropriate sub-division load line on each side of the steamer when the steamer has no list.

(2) If any such steamer is loaded in contravention of this section, the owner or master of the steamer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and to such additional fine, not exceeding the amount hereinafter specified, as the court thinks fit to impose, having regard to the extent to which the earning capacity of the ship was, or would have been, increased by reason of the submersion.

(3) The said additional fine shall not exceed one hundred pounds for every inch or fraction of an inch by which the appropriate sub-division load line on each side of the ship was submerged, or would have been submerged if the ship had had no list.

(4) Without prejudice to any proceedings under the foregoing provisions of this section, any such steamer which is loaded in contravention of this section may be detained until she ceases to be so loaded.

(5) This section applies to passenger steamers registered in the State and to other passenger steamers while within a port in the State.

Report of dangers to navigation.

35.—(1) The master of any ship registered in the State on meeting with dangerous ice, a dangerous derelict, a tropical storm or any other direct danger to navigation, shall send information accordingly, by all means of communication at his disposal and in accordance with rules to be made for the purposes of this section, to ships in the vicinity and to such authorities on shore as may be prescribed by those rules.

(2) Rules for the purposes of this section shall be made by the Minister and shall make such provision as appears to him to be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of Regulations 2, 3 and 4 of Chapter V of the Safety Convention.

(3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(4) Every person in charge of a wireless telegraph station which is under the control of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs or which is established or installed under licence of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs shall, on receiving the signal prescribed by the said rules for indicating that a message is about to be sent under this section, refrain from sending messages for a time sufficient to allow other stations to receive the message and, if so required by the Minister, shall transmit the message in such manner as may be required by the Minister, and compliance with this subsection shall be deemed to be a condition of every licence granted by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 (No. 45 of 1926).

(5) Nothing in subsection (4) of this section shall interfere with the transmission of signals of distress prescribed under section 36 of this Act.

(6) For the purposes of this section, the expression “tropical storm” means a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone or other storm of a similar nature, and the master of a ship shall be deemed to have met with a tropical storm if he has reason to believe that there is such a storm in his vicinity.

Signals of distress.

36.—(1) The Minister may make rules prescribing what signals shall be used by ships as signals of distress and the circumstances in which, and the purposes for which, any such signal is to be used and the circumstances in which it is to be revoked.

(2) If the master of a ship uses or displays or causes or permits any person under his authority to use or display—

(a) any signal prescribed under this section except in the circumstances and for the purposes so prescribed, or

(b) any private signal, whether registered or not, that is liable to be mistaken for any signal so prescribed,

he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds and shall further be liable to pay compensation for any labour undertaken, risk incurred or loss sustained in consequence of the signal having been supposed to be a signal of distress; and that compensation may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered in the same manner as salvage.

Obligation to assist vessels, etc., in distress.

37.—(1) The master of a ship registered in the State, on receiving at sea a signal of distress or information from any source that a vessel or aircraft is in distress, shall proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress (informing them if possible that he is doing so) unless he is unable, or in the special circumstances of the case considers it unreasonable or unnecessary, to do so, or unless he is released under the provisions of subsection (3) or subsection (4) of this section.

(2) Where the master of any ship in distress has requisitioned any ship registered in the State that has answered his call, it shall be the duty of the master of the requisitioned ship to comply with the requisition by continuing to proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress.

(3) A master shall be released from the obligation imposed by subsection (1) of this section as soon as he is informed of the requisition of one or more ships other than his own and that the requisition is being complied with by the ship or ships requisitioned.

(4) A master shall be released from the obligation imposed by subsection (1) of this section, and, if his ship has been requisitioned, from the obligations imposed by subsection (2) of this section, if he is informed by the persons in distress, or by the master of any ship that has reached the persons in distress, that assistance is no longer required.

(5) If a master fails to comply with the preceding provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.

(6) If the master of a ship registered in the State, on receiving at sea a signal of distress or information from any source that a vessel or aircraft is in distress, is unable, or in the special circumstances of the case considers it unreasonable or unnecessary, to go to the assistance of the persons in distress, he shall forthwith cause a statement to be entered in the official log-book, or if there is no official log-book cause other record to be kept, of his reasons for not going to the assistance of those persons, and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(7) The master of every ship registered in the State for which an official log is required shall enter or cause to be entered in the official log-book every signal of distress or message that a vessel, aircraft or person is in distress at sea.

(8) Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of section 6 of the Maritime Conventions Act, 1911 ; and compliance by the master of a ship with the provisions of this section shall not affect his right, or the right of any other person, to salvage.

Carriage of dangerous goods.

38.—(1) The Minister may make rules for regulating in the interests of safety the carriage of dangerous goods in ships to which this section applies.

(2) This section applies to—

(a) ships registered in the State, and

(b) other ships while they are within any port in the State, or are embarking or disembarking passengers within the territorial waters of the State, or are loading or discharging cargo or fuel within those waters.

(3) If any of the rules made in pursuance of this section is not complied with in relation to any ship, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding three hundred pounds, or on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and the ship shall be deemed for the purposes of Part V of the Principal Act to be unsafe by reason of improper loading.

(4) Any goods declared by the rules made under this section to be dangerous in their nature shall be deemed to be dangerous goods for the purposes of Part V of the Principal Act.

Carriage of grain.

39.—(1) Where grain is loaded on board any ship registered in the State, or is loaded within any port in the State on board any ship, all necessary and reasonable precautions shall be taken to prevent the grain from shifting, and if such precautions as aforesaid are not taken, the owner or the master of the ship, or any agent of the owner who was charged with the loading or with sending the ship to sea laden with the grain, shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection, and the ship shall be deemed for the purposes of Part V of the Principal Act to be unsafe by reason of improper loading.

(2) (a) Where any ship, having been loaded with grain outside the State without the taking of all necessary and reasonable precautions to prevent the grain from shifting, enters any port in the State so laden, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection, and the ship shall be deemed for the purposes of Part V of the Principal Act to be unsafe by reason of improper loading.

(b) This subsection shall not have effect if the ship would not have entered any such port but for stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) could have prevented or forestalled.

(3) (a) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, any particular precaution prescribed by rules made by the Minister under this subsection, in relation to the loading of ships generally or of ships of any class, as being a precaution to be treated for the purposes of those subsections as a necessary or reasonable precaution to prevent grain from shifting, shall be so treated in the case of ships generally, or of ships of that class, as the case may be.

(b) This subsection shall not apply where a ship is loaded in accordance in all respects with any provisions approved by the Minister as respects the loading in question other than rules made under this subsection.

(4) If any person commits an offence under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section he shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding three hundred pounds, or on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(5) On the arrival at a port in the State from a port outside the State of any ship carrying a cargo of grain, the master shall cause to be delivered to the proper officer of customs in the State, together with the report required by the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, a notice stating—

(a) the draft of water and freeboard, as defined by Part V of the Principal Act, of the said ship after the loading of her cargo was completed at the final port of loading, and

(b) the following particulars of the grain carried, namely,

(i) the kind of grain and the quantity thereof, stated in cubic feet, quarters, bushels, or tons weight;

(ii) the mode in which the grain is stowed, and

(iii) the precautions taken to prevent the grain from shifting,

and if the master fails to deliver any notice required by this subsection, or if in any such notice he makes any statement that he knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly makes any statement that is false in a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(6) Any person having a general or special authority in that behalf from the Minister may, for securing the observance of the provisions of this section, inspect any grain, and the mode in which it is stowed, and for that purpose shall have all the powers of an inspector of the Department of Industry and Commerce under the Principal Act.

(7) In this section the expression “grain” includes wheat, maize, oats, rye, barley, rice, pulses and seeds, and the expression “ship carrying a cargo of grain” means a ship carrying a quantity of grain exceeding one-third of the ship's registered tonnage, reckoning one hundred cubic feet or two tons weight of grain as equivalent to one ton of registered tonnage.

Method of giving helm orders.

40.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person on any ship registered in the State, when such ship is going ahead, either to give a helm or steering order containing the word “starboard” or the word “right” or any equivalent of either of those words unless such person intends that the head of such ship shall move to the right, or to give a helm or steering order containing the word “port” or the word “left” or any equivalent of either of those words unless such person intends that the head of the ship shall move to the left.

(2) Every person who does any act which is a contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Careful navigation near ice.

41.—(1) The master of a ship registered in the State, when ice is reported on or near his course, shall at night either proceed at a moderate speed or change his course so as to keep amply clear of the ice reported and the area of danger.

(2) If the master of any such ship fails to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Notice of Atlantic routes.

42.—(1) The owner of any line of passenger steamers crossing the North Atlantic from or to any port in the State by regular routes shall give public notice, in such manner as may be directed by the Minister, of the routes which it is proposed that the ships belonging to the line should follow, and of any changes which may be made in those routes.

(2) If the owner of any such line of passenger steamers fails to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Supplemental.

Definition of “passenger” and “passenger steamer.”

43.—(1) In Part III of the Principal Act and in this Act, the expression “passenger” means any person carried in a ship, except—

(a) a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship on the business of the ship,

(b) a person on board the ship either in pursuance of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstance that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) could have prevented or forestalled, and

(c) a child under one year of age.

(2) In this Act the expression “passenger steamer” means a steamer carrying more than twelve passengers.

Removing persons in case of danger.

44.—Where the Minister for the purpose of enabling persons to be removed from any place in consequence of a threat to their lives has permitted more persons to be carried on board a ship than are permitted under the Merchant Shipping Acts apart from this section, the carriage of that excess of persons shall not be an offence under those Acts.

Power of Minister to exempt from safety requirements.

45.—(1) The Minister may exempt any ships or classes of ships from any requirements of the rules for life-saving appliances or any rules or regulations made under this Act, either absolutely or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit.

(2) Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this section, where a ship not normally engaged on international voyages is required to undertake a single international voyage, the Minister may, if he is of opinion that the ship complies with safety requirements that are adequate for that voyage, exempt the ship from any of the safety requirements imposed by or under the Merchant Shipping Acts.

Exemption of certain ships from certain provisions of this Act.

46.—(1) Nothing in this Act—

(a) prohibiting or preventing a ship from proceeding to sea unless there are in force in relation to the ship, or are produced, the appropriate certificates issued by the Minister under this Act or the appropriate accepted Safety Convention certificates;

(b) conferring powers on a surveyor of ships for the purpose of verifying the existence, validity or correctness of any Safety Convention certificate or that the conditions on which any such certificate was issued are complied with;

(c) requiring information about a ship's stability to be carried on board;

(d) imposing a penalty for the contravention of any rules relating to openings in ships' hulls and watertight bulkheads,

shall, unless in the case of information about a ship's stability the Minister otherwise orders, apply to any troopship, pleasure yacht or fishing vessel, or to any ship of less than five hundred tons gross tonnage other than a passenger steamer or to any ship not propelled by mechanical means.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall affect the exemption conferred by section 741 of the Principal Act on ships belonging to the State.

(3) Notwithstanding that any provision of this Act is expressed to apply to ships not registered in the State while they are within any port in the State, that provision shall not apply to a ship that would not be within any such port but for stress of weather or any other circumstance, that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled.

Consequential amendments of Merchant Shipping Acts.

47.—(1) In subsection (3) of section 724 of the Principal Act, for the words “passenger steamers” there shall be substituted the word “ships”.

(2) Where a ship is detained under any provision of this Act authorising the detention of a ship until the production of a certificate, subsection (2) of section 460 of the Principal Act (which makes the owner of a ship liable to pay to the Minister his costs in connection with her detention and survey) shall apply as if she had been finally detained under that Act.

(3) Section 63 of the Act of 1933 (which requires notice to be given to consular officers of the detention of certain foreign ships, or of proceedings against masters or owners under that Act) shall have effect as if any reference therein to that Act included a reference to this Act.

(4) In subsection (1) of section 272 of the Principal Act, for any reference to a wireless telegraph installation there shall be substituted a reference to a radio installation.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

Enactments Repealed.

Section 8 .

SECOND SCHEDULE.

Transitional Provisions.

Section 9 .

1. Any rules or regulations made, or having effect as if made, under any enactment repealed by this Act shall, until revoked, have effect as if they had been made under the corresponding provision of this Act.

2. (1) Any general safety certificate, short-voyage safety certificate, qualified safety certificate, passenger steamer's exemption certificate, wireless telegraphy certificate or wireless telegraphy exemption certificate in force in respect of any ship at the commencement of this Act shall continue in force until the date shown on the certificate, subject however to any cancellation of the certificate under the Principal Act or this Act; and section 26 of this Act shall have effect accordingly.

(2) Section 25 of this Act shall have effect as if any such certificate as aforesaid had been issued under this Act.

(3) Where in respect of a ship there is in force at the commencement of this Act a wireless telegraphy certificate or a wireless telegraphy exemption certificate, that certificate shall be treated for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 26 of this Act as a radio certificate or as an exemption certificate stating that she is wholly exempt from the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, as the case may require.

(4) Nothing in the said paragraph (b) shall prohibit a ship from proceeding to sea without a safety equipment certificate (whether or not qualified) until after the expiration of twenty-four months from the date of the commencement of this Act, nor a ship of less than sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage from proceeding to sea without a radio certificate (whether or not qualified) or a certificate stating that she is wholly exempt from the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, until after the expiration of one year from that date.

(5) Subsection (5) of section 27 of this Act shall apply to any such certificate as is mentioned in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph as it applies to certificates issued under this Act.

3. (1) The Minister may by regulations provide—

(a) that any country to which the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1929, applies shall, for such purposes, for such a period and subject to such conditions as may be specified by or under the regulations, be treated for the purposes of this Act as if it were a country to which the Safety Convention applies; and

(b) that any certificate purporting to have been issued in accordance with the said Convention of 1929 and complying with such of the regulations made under subsection (2) of section 16 of the Act of 1933, as are applicable in the circumstances may, for such purposes, for such a period and subject to such conditions as may be specified by or under the regulations, be treated as if it were an accepted Safety Convention certificate within the meaning of this Act.

(2) Without prejudice to any general provision of this Schedule regarding the validity of regulations made under any Act repealed by this Act, regulations made under subsection (2) of section 16 of the said Act of 1933 shall continue in force so far as they are required for the purposes of this paragraph.

4. Nothing in section 31 of this Act shall require the master of a ship of less than sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage other than a passenger steamer to produce an accepted Safety Convention certificate being the equivalent of a radio certificate (whether or not qualified), or a certificate stating that she is wholly or partly exempt from the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy, radiotelephony and direction-finders, before the expiration of twelve months after the date of the commencement of this Act; nor the master of any ship to produce an accepted Safety Convention certificate being the equivalent of a safety equipment certificate (whether or not qualified) before the expiration of twenty-four months after that date; and the provisions of that section relating to clearance and detention of ships shall have effect accordingly.