The Merchant Shipping (Hours of Work) Regulations 2002

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Merchant Shipping Act 1995;

“collective agreement” means a collective agreement within the meaning of section 178 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992(1), the trade union parties to which are independent trade unions within the meaning of section 5 of that Act;

“company”, in relation to a ship, means the owner or any other organisation or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner;

“complaint” means any information or report submitted by a member of the crew, a professional body, an association, a trade union or, generally, any person with an interest in the safety of the ship, including an interest in safety or health hazards to its crew;

“the Directive” means Council Directive 1999/63/EC(2) concerning the Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the European Community Shipowners' Association and the Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union;

“employer”, in relation to a seafarer, means the person by whom the worker is employed;

“employment”, in relation to a seafarer, means employment under his contract or engagement, and “employed” shall be construed accordingly;

“hours of rest” means time outside hours of work and does not include short breaks;

“hours of work” means time during which a seafarer is required to do work on the business of the ship;

“master”, in the application of these Regulations to hovercraft, includes the captain of a hovercraft;

“MCA” means the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport;

“Merchant Shipping Notice” means a Notice described as such and issued by the MCA; and any reference to a particular Merchant Shipping Notice includes a reference to any document amending or replacing that Notice which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant from time to time and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice;

“offshore installation” means any installation which is intended for underwater exploitation of mineral resources or exploration with a view to such exploitation;

“pleasure vessel” means—

(a)

any vessel which is—

(i)

wholly owned by an individual or individuals and used only for the sport or pleasure of the owner or the immediate family or friends of the owner, or

(ii)

owned by a body corporate and used only for sport or pleasure of employees or officers of the body corporate, or their immediate family or friends,

and is on a voyage or excursion which is one for which the owner is not paid for or in connection with operating the vessel or carrying any person, other than as a contribution to the direct expenses of the operation of the vessel incurred during the voyage or excursion, or

(b)

any vessel which is wholly owned by or on behalf of a members' club formed for the purpose of sport or pleasure which, at the time it is being used, is used only for the sport or pleasure of members of that club or their immediate family; and for the use of which any charges levied are paid into club funds and applied for the general use of the club;

and no payments other than those mentioned above are made by or on behalf of users of the vessel, other than by the owner, and in this definition, “immediate family” means, in relation to an individual, the husband or the wife of the individual, and a brother, sister, ancestor or lineal descendant of that individual or that individual’s husband or wife;

“relevant inspector” means a person mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of section 258(1) of the Act;

“sail training vessel” means a sailing vessel which is being used either—

(a)

to provide instruction in the principles of responsibility, resourcefulness, loyalty and team endeavour and to advance education in the art of seamanship; or

(b)

to provide instruction in navigation and seamanship for yachtsmen;

and is operating under one of the following codes—

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Commercial Sailing Vessels(3);

Code of Practice for the Safety of Large Commercial Sailing and Motor Vessels(4);

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Commercial Motor Vessels(5); or

The Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or Pleasure Operating from a Nominated Departure Point(6);

“seafarer” means any person, including a master, who is employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship, on the business of the ship, but does not include persons who are training in a sail training vessel or persons who are not engaged in the navigation of, or have no emergency safety responsibilities on, such a vessel;

“sea-going” means a ship certified by the competent authority for navigation at sea;

“ship”, in the application of these Regulations to hovercraft, includes hovercraft;

“United Kingdom ship” means a ship which—

(a)

is a United Kingdom ship within the meaning of section 85(2) of the Act; or

(b)

is a hovercraft registered under the Hovercraft Act 1968(7); and

“workforce agreement” means an agreement between an employer and his employees or their representatives in respect of which the conditions set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations are satisfied.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations “competent authority” means—

(a) in relation to the United Kingdom, the MCA, and

(b) in relation to any other member State, the national maritime administration maintained by that State for the inspection of ships.

(3) Subject to paragraphs (1) and (2), words and expressions used in these Regulations shall have the same meaning as in the Directive or in Council Directive 1999/95/EC concerning the enforcement of provisions in respect of seafarers' hours of work on board ships calling at Community ports(8), as appropriate.

(1)

1992 c. 52.

(2)

O.J. L167, 2.7.1999, p. 33.

(3)

Published by The Stationery Office in 1993 (ISBN 0-11-551184-9).

(4)

Published by The Stationery Office in 1997 (ISBN 0-11-551911-4).

(5)

Published by The Stationery Office in 1993 (ISBN 0-11-551185-7).

(6)

Published by The Stationery Office in 2000 (ISBN 0-11-551812-6).

(7)

1968 c. 59.

(8)

O.J. L014, 20.1.2000, p. 29.