Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1998
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Amendment of Merchant Shipping Act, 1992. |
4.—The Merchant Shipping Act, 1992 , is hereby amended— | |
(a) in section 2— | ||
(i) in the definition of “passenger boat”, by the deletion of “, a ferry boat working in chains”, and | ||
(ii) in the definition of “passenger ship”, by the deletion of “or a ferry boat working in chains”, | ||
(b) in section 14, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2): | ||
“(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), in proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence to prove that the contravention of subsection (1) was necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of a vessel or of saving life or otherwise to prevent an accident.”, | ||
and | ||
(c) by the insertion after section 14 of the following section: | ||
“Exemptions from licensing requirements. | ||
14A. (1) The Minister may by regulations— | ||
(a) exempt from the requirement to be licensed under section 14, on such terms and conditions as the Minister sees fit, a specified class or classes of vessel where in the opinion of the Minister it is appropriate to do so having regard to the nature of the vessels and the use to which they are to be put, and | ||
(b) in exceptional circumstances, exempt from the requirement to be licensed under section 14, on such terms and conditions as the Minister sees fit, any class of vessel carrying passengers between any inhabited island and the mainland of the State or between islands, where in the opinion of the Minister it is appropriate to do so. | ||
(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may make provision for safety and other requirements to be met by unlicensed vessels. | ||
(3) If, in respect of a vessel, there is a contravention of regulations made under this section, the owner and the master of the vessel shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.”. |