(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations:
(a) implement, as far as it is necessary to do so for the United Kingdom, Council Directive 96/50/EC of 23 July 1996 on the harmonisation of the conditions for obtaining national boatmasters’ certificates for the carriage of goods and passengers by inland waterway (OJ No. L235, 17.9.96, P.31), as amended by Regulation (EC) 1882/2003 of the EU Parliament and Council of 29 September 2003 (OJ No. L284, 31.10.2003, p.1);
(b) provide for standards of competence to be attained by masters of passenger vessels carrying no more than 250 passengers engaged on short voyages close to the coast;
(c) re-enact Part 3 of the Merchant Shipping (Local Passenger Vessels) (Masters’ Licences and Hours, Manning and Training) Regulations 1993 (self-employed masters’ hours of work).
Part 1 and Schedule 1 make provision for general matters, including the revocation of those parts of the Merchant Shipping (Local Passenger Vessels) (Masters’ Licences and Hours, Manning and Training) Regulations 1993 (S.I. 1993/1213, “the 1993 Regulations”) as are superseded.
Part 2 and Schedules 2, 3 and 4 implement the Directive in the following way:
(a) Regulation 7 provides that the Regulations apply to persons in charge of vessels of Classes IV to VI(A), IX(A) and IX(A)(T) when they are being navigated in waters of categories A, B, C and D and on some limited coastal voyages. It excludes from the scope of the Regulations those in charge of pleasure vessels and holders of certificates prescribed under the codes of practice for small seagoing vessels (“SCV Code qualifications”) and of certificates prescribed pursuant to the STCW Convention (“STCW certificates”) for masters of seagoing ships engaged on near-coastal voyages.
(b) Regulation 8 requires boatmasters to hold appropriate qualifications according to the type of vessel and the waters where it is being navigated. Three qualifications are new in relation to United Kingdom waters, namely the boatmaster’s licence, the boatmaster’s certificate (which may have been issued in the United Kingdom or an EEA State) and the Rhine navigation licence. Existing qualifications are valid for certain purposes, including STCW certificates for internal and inshore waters and qualifications currently acceptable under the non-statutory Inland Waters Small Passenger Boat Code.
(c) Because there are in the United Kingdom a large number of navigable inland waterways which are not linked to waterways in other Member States, regulations 9 to 14 provide for the issue of a nationally recognised licence in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Directive. Regulation 9 and Parts 1 and 3 of Schedule 3 specify the classes of licence which may be held and what authority they confer, regulation 10 provides for licence applications. Regulation 11 provides for applicants for licences and endorsements to have reached a specific minimum age (between 18 and 22, depending on the class of licence or endorsement) and, with some exceptions, to have completed a specified period of qualifying service on vessels. Regulation 12 imposes a medical fitness requirement and entitles the Secretary of State to revoke or suspend a licence if its holder is medically unfit and regulation 13 and Part 1 of Schedule 4 specifies the standards of competence to be attained and how they are assessed. Regulation 14 provides for validity periods and re-validation of licences (every 5 years for applicants aged 59, reducing in stages to yearly revalidation thereafter). There is special provision for former holders of Thames watermen’s licences.
(d) Regulations 15 to 19, Parts 2 and 3 of Schedule 3 and Part 2 of Schedule 4 make similar provision in respect of applications for and the issue of boatmasters’ certificates which, subject to local requirements and the terms of the Directive, are valid throughout the EEA. Part 3 of Schedule 3 provides for differences between certificates issued in the United Kingdom and those issued elsewhere in the EEA. There is no exact equivalent to regulation 14 but regulation 18 provides that a certificate issued in the UK remains valid after the holder attains the age of 45 only if he has a medical certificate (renewable every 5 years) confirming his fitness and also that every certificate must be revalidated yearly once its holder is 65. Certificates may be suspended or (in the case of UK certificates) revoked if the holder is medically unfit. In the case of non-UK certificates, the Secretary of State must inform the EEA State which issued the certificate of any suspension.
(e) Regulation 20 makes provision in respect of Rhine navigation licences, imposing medical fitness requirements on holders and enabling them to apply for a supplementary licence authorising them to navigate on local waters for which special knowledge is required.
(f) Regulation 21 disapplies certain local legislation to the extent that it is inconsistent with these provisions and in particular amends the Port of London Act 1968.
(g) Regulations 22 and 23 make provision about records and loss and surrender of licences and certificates and regulations 24 to 26 provide for enforcement by creating an offence where a vessel is operated with a medically unfit master, making provision for offences committed by bodies corporate and Scottish partnerships and providing for the detention of vessels.
Part 3 (regulations 27 to 30) re-enacts (with minor amendments) Part III of the 1993 Regulations which regulates the hours of work of self-employed masters of UK passenger vessels of Classes IV, V, VI and VI(A) in inland waters of categories A, B, C and D and on some limited coastal voyages.
Part 4 makes transitional provision for persons holding existing qualifications or no qualifications at all. Regulation 32 provides for licences issued under the 1993 Regulations to remain valid until expiry and for certain qualifications previously issued by local navigation authorities to remain valid for limited periods to enable holders to convert them to boatmasters licences. Regulation 33 enables holders of Thames watermen’s licences to continue working if they meet specified conditions and apply for boatmasters’ licences by 31st December 2006 (when all watermen’s licences expire) and further provides for the issue of boatmasters’ licences to them. Regulation 34 provides for experienced persons who currently are not required to hold any master’s qualification to obtain boatmasters’ licences – and by a shortened procedure if appropriate. Regulation 35 provides for the conversion of other qualifications to boatmasters’ licences and enables those licence and certificate holders who are authorised to act as masters in limited circumstances to convert their qualifications if they wish without having to undertake the full application and assessment procedure. This provision has effect until 31st December 2011. Schedule 5 makes provision for matters ancillary to regulations 34 and 35.
The Regulations are made under the powers contained in the 1995 Act except in so far as they amend or modify primary legislation or create new offences, as regards which they are made under the powers of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.
Copies of the STCW Convention and its annexes and amendments, including the STCW Code, can be obtained from the International Maritime Organization at 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment and a Transposition Note have been prepared for these Regulations and copies may be obtained from Bay 2/16, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 023 8032 9209) or viewed on the Agency’s website at www.mcga.gov.uk. Copies have also been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.