Arbitration
22.—(1) If an applicant is dissatisfied for any reason with the outcome of a relevant survey carried out in respect of a United Kingdom NLS ship, the applicant may serve a written notice on the responsible person within 21 days of receiving notification of that outcome—
(a)stating that there is a dispute between them; and
(b)requesting that the dispute be referred to a single arbitrator.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), an arbitrator referred to in paragraph (1) must be appointed by agreement between the applicant and the responsible person.
(3) In default of an agreement between the applicant and the responsible person, the arbitrator is such person as may be appointed by the President or Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators following a request made by—
(a)a party, after giving written notice to the other party; or
(b)the parties jointly,
but this paragraph does not apply in Scotland.
(4) No person is to be an arbitrator under this regulation unless that person is—
(a)a person who holds a certificate to act as—
(i)a master or chief mate on a seagoing ship of 3,000 gross tonnage or more, in accordance with Regulation II/2 of Chapter 2 of the Annex to the STCW Convention; or
(ii)a chief engineer officer or second engineer officer on a seagoing ship powered by main propulsion machinery of 3,000kW propulsion power or more, in accordance with Regulation III/2 of Chapter 3 of the Annex to the STCW Convention;
(b)a person who holds a certificate of competency equivalent to a certificate referred to in sub-paragraph (a);
(c)a naval architect;
(d)a qualified person;
(e)a person with special experience of shipping matters or of activities carried on in ports; or
(f)a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
(5) An arbitrator appointed under this regulation has the powers of an inspector conferred by section 259 of the 1995 Act.
(6) In the application of this regulation to Scotland—
(a)any reference to an arbitrator is to be construed as a reference to an arbiter; and
(b)the reference in paragraph (2) to a single arbitrator appointed by agreement between the applicant and the responsible person is to be construed as a reference to a single arbiter so appointed or, in default of agreement, appointed by a sheriff.
(7) The rules for arbitration set out in Merchant Shipping Notice M1613(1) apply unless alternative procedures are agreed between the applicant and the responsible person before the commencement of arbitration proceedings.
(8) In this regulation—
“applicant” means a person who makes an application for a survey required by these Regulations;
“qualified person” means—
a person who satisfies the judicial-appointment eligibility condition defined in section 50 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007(2) on a seven-year basis;
a person who is an advocate or solicitor in Scotland of at least seven years’ standing; or
a person who is a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland or a solicitor of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland of at least seven years’ standing;
“responsible person” means—
the Certifying Authority responsible under regulation 15 or 16 for the issue of the relevant NLS certificate in connection with which a survey required by these Regulations is carried out; or
in the case of a dispute relating to a relevant additional survey required by regulation 14, the Certifying Authority which issued the relevant NLS certificate in respect of the ship;
“the STCW Convention” means the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, as amended(3), and any reference to a Regulation in a numbered Chapter of the Annex to the STCW Convention is a reference to a Regulation contained in the numbered Chapter in Attachment 1 to the Final Act of the 2010 Manila Conference of Parties to the STCW Convention.
MSN 1613 Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 1995: Arbitration Procedure, published by the MCA on 1st June 1995.
Cmnd 9266. The Command Paper is available electronically at http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1984/TS0050.pdf. Hard copies of the Command Papers are available for inspection free of charge but by appointment at the Parliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament, London, SW1A 0PW. Following a review of the Convention amendments were adopted by a Conference of Parties to the STCW Convention in Manila from 21st to 25th June 2010 and a consolidated text produced. This 2011 Consolidated version of the Convention, including the Final Act of the 2010 Manila Conference of Parties to the STCW Convention, is available from IMO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-801-15284. Further amendments have been made by IMO resolutions MSC.373(93) and MSC 396.(95). It is prospectively amended by IMO regulation MSC.417(97) which comes into effect on 1st July 2018. Copies of the resolutions are available from the IMO Library.