The Explosives (Appointment of Authorities and Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

Offshore installations

This section has no associated Explanatory Memorandum

2.—(1) This paragraph shall apply to a designated area or gas importation and storage zone to and in relation to—

(a)any offshore installation and any activity on it;

(b)any activity in connection with, or any activity immediately preparatory to an activity in connection with, an offshore installation, whether carried on from the installation itself, in or from a vessel or in any manner, other than an activity falling within sub-paragraph (4);

(c)a diving project involving—

(i)the survey and preparation of the sea bed for an offshore installation;

(ii)the survey and restoration of the sea bed consequent on the removal of an offshore installation.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), in this paragraph “offshore installation” means a structure which is, or is to be, or has been, used while standing or stationed in water, or on the foreshore or other land intermittently covered with water—

(a)for the exploitation, or exploration with a view to exploitation, of mineral resources by means of a well;

(b)for undertaking activities falling within paragraph 6(2);

(c)for the conveyance of things by means of a pipe;

(d)for undertaking activities that involve mechanically entering the pressure containment boundary of a well; or

(e)primarily for the provision of accommodation for persons who work on or from a structure falling within any of the provisions of heads (a) to (d),

together with any supplementary unit which is ordinarily connected to it, and all the connections.

(3) Any reference in sub-paragraph (2) to a structure or supplementary unit does not include—

(a)a structure which is connected by dry land by a permanent structure providing access at all time and for all purposes;

(b)a well;

(c)a mobile structure which has been taken out of use and is not yet being moved with a view to its being used for any of the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (2);

(d)any part of a pipeline; and

(e)a structure falling within paragraph 8(c).

(4) Subject to sub-paragraph (5), the following activities fall within this paragraph—

(a)transporting, towing or navigating an installation;

(b)any of the following activities carried on in or from a vessel—

(i)giving assistance in the event of an emergency;

(ii)training in relation to the giving of assistance in the event of an emergency;

(iii)testing equipment for use in giving assistance in the event of an emergency;

(iv)putting or maintaining a vessel on stand-by ready for an activity referred to in any of sub-heads (i) to (iii).

(5) Sub-paragraph (4)(b) does not apply in respect of a vessel in or from which an activity is carried on in connection with, or any activity that is immediately preparatory to an activity in connection with, an offshore installation other than an activity falling within sub-paragraph (4)(b).