The Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012

Co-operation with other States

12.—(1) A safety investigation commenced by the Chief Inspector under regulation 8 shall, where appropriate, be conducted in co-operation with,

(a) another member State, or

(b) another Substantially Interested State.

(2) A Substantially Interested State shall be allowed to participate in a safety investigation led by the Chief Inspector at any stage of that investigation by mutual agreement.

(3) Where a safety investigation has been commenced, under regulation 12(1) the Chief Inspector and any other States involved shall agree in the shortest possible time—

(a) which of them shall lead the safety investigation, and

(b) the procedures to be adopted for the purposes of such an investigation.

(4) For the purposes of this regulation a Substantially Interested State—

(a) has equal rights and access to witnesses and evidence involved in a safety investigation, and

(b) any representations that it may make to the lead investigating State must be taken into consideration for the purposes of the safety investigation.

(5) For the purposes of this regulation, paragraph (4)(a) shall only apply if the Chief Inspector is satisfied that the Substantially Interested State will comply with the provisions of Article 9 of the Directive.

(6) Where a Substantially Interested State has been allowed to participate in a safety investigation and no agreement in accordance with regulation 12(3)(a) has occurred then the Chief Inspector and such other member States or Substantially Interested States, or both shall—

(a) conduct parallel safety investigations,

(b) exchange evidence and information with each other for the purposes, as far as possible, of reaching shared conclusions, and

(c) in the case of two member States conducting parallel safety investigations, notify the European Commission of the reasons for doing so.

(7) The Chief Inspector may delegate the whole or any part of a safety investigation to another member State by mutual agreement with the member State.

(8) Where an investigation conducted under these Regulations involves a ro-ro ferry or a high-speed passenger craft to which Council Directive 1999/35/EC applies, the Chief Inspector shall enable an EEA State to participate or co-operate in accordance with the IMO Code.

(9) When a ro-ro ferry or high-speed passenger craft is involved in an accident in—

(a) United Kingdom waters a safety investigation shall be started by the Chief Inspector; or

(b) if the accident occurred outside of United Kingdom waters and outside the territorial waters of another member State the Chief Inspector shall start a safety investigation if the United Kingdom was the last point of departure.

(10) In the case of an accident to which regulation 12(9)(b) applies the United Kingdom remains responsible for the safety investigation unless it has been agreed with any other substantially interested member State, that the other member State will be responsible for leading the safety investigation.