The Tonnage Tax (Training Requirement) Regulations 2000

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Finance Act 2000;

“back-up officer” means a master or a deck or engineer officer required for the purpose of enabling a ship to be operated on an indefinite basis, allowing for leave, in addition to the officers required by the safe manning document;

“base rate” means the interest rate set by the Bank of England which is used as the basis for other banks' rates;

“British citizen” means a person who is a British citizen within the meaning of the British Nationality Act 1981(1);

“British citizen from the Channel Islands or Isle of Man” means a person who holds British citizenship by virtue of the fact that he, a parent or grandparent was born, adopted, naturalised or registered in one of those islands, and neither he nor any parent or grandparent was born, adopted, naturalised or registered in the United Kingdom, and he has never been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for five years;

“Chamber of Shipping” means the trade association for the United Kingdom shipping industry, incorporated under that name as a company limited by guarantee;

“conversion training” means training of at least ten months' duration for a merchant navy rating, a person formerly employed in Her Majesty’s Navy or a skipper or crew member of a fishing vessel, which leads to a first certificate of competency;

“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992(2) as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993(3);

“EEA State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement;

“effective officer complement” means the class comprising the relevant officers and back-up officers for a ship, and is calculated in accordance with regulation 4;

“eligible officer trainee” has the meaning given by regulation 7;

“first certificate of competency” means any of the following certificates referred to in the STCW Convention—

(a)

the appropriate certificate for an officer in charge of a navigational watch referred to in Regulation II/1.1, II/3.1 or II/3.3,

(b)

the appropriate certificate for an officer in charge of an engineering watch referred to in Regulation III/1.1;

“IMO number” means the number assigned to the ship in accordance with Resolution A.600(15) of 19th November 1987 of the International Maritime Organization;

“Maritime Training Trust” means the body of that name which has been set up by the Chamber of Shipping, the National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers (NUMAST) and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) to hold and allocate monies contributed by organisations for the purpose of promoting the training of seafarers;

“Merchant Navy Training Board” means the body of that name which is recognised by the Secretary of State under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973(4) as a national training organisation for maintaining and enhancing skills in the shipping industry;

“nationality groups” means the following groups:

(a)

British citizens,

(b)

nationals of EEA States other than the United Kingdom, and

(c)

people who do not fall within paragraph (a) or (b);

“Ratings Task Force” means the ad hoc group of that name comprising representatives from industry, trade unions and government and chaired by the Chamber of Shipping;

“relevant course” means a course which leads to a first certificate of competency;

“relevant four month period” means a period of four months commencing 1st October, 1st February or 1st June;

“relevant officer” means a master or a deck or engineer officer;

“safe manning document” means a document described as such or as a safe manning certificate and issued, in the case of a United Kingdom ship, by the Secretary of State, and in the case of any other ship, by or on behalf of the government of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly;

“the STCW Convention” means the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended on 7th July 1995;

“United Kingdom ship” means a ship registered in the United Kingdom under Part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995(5); and

“year” means a twelve month period beginning on 1 October.

(1)

1981 c. 61.

(2)

Cmnd. 2073.

(3)

Cmnd. 2183.

(4)

1973 c. 50; section 2 was substituted by the Employment Act 1988 (c. 19) section 25(1).

(5)

1995 c. 21.