Directive 2008/106/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 18 U.K. On-board communication

Member States shall ensure that:

(a)

without prejudice to points (b) and (d), there are at all times, on board all ships flying the flag of a Member State, means in place for effective oral communication relating to safety between all members of the ship’s crew, particularly with regard to the correct and timely reception and understanding of messages and instructions;

(b)

on board all passenger ships flying the flag of a Member State and on board all passenger ships starting and/or finishing a voyage in a Member State port, in order to ensure effective crew performance in safety matters, a working language is established and recorded in the ship’s log-book;

the company or the master, as appropriate, shall determine the appropriate working language; each seafarer shall be required to understand and, where appropriate, give orders and instructions and report back in that language;

if the working language is not an official language of the Member State, all plans and lists that must be posted shall include translations into the working language;

(c)

on board passenger ships, personnel nominated on muster lists to assist passengers in emergency situations are readily identifiable and have communication skills that are sufficient for that purpose, taking into account an appropriate and adequate combination of any of the following factors:

(i)

the language or languages appropriate to the principal nationalities of passengers carried on a particular route;

(ii)

the likelihood that an ability to use elementary English vocabulary for basic instructions can provide a means of communicating with a passenger in need of assistance whether or not the passenger and crew member share a common language;

(iii)

the possible need to communicate during an emergency by some other means (e.g. by demonstration, hand signals, or calling attention to the location of instructions, muster stations, life-saving devices or evacuation routes) when verbal communication is impractical;

(iv)

the extent to which complete safety instructions have been provided to passengers in their native language or languages;

(v)

the languages in which emergency announcements may be broadcast during an emergency or drill to convey critical guidance to passengers and to facilitate crew members in assisting passengers;

(d)

on board oil tankers, chemical tankers and liquefied gas tankers flying the flag of a Member State, the master, officers and rating are able to communicate with each other in (a) common working language(s);

(e)

there are adequate means for communication between the ship and the shore-based authorities; these communications shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter V, Regulation 14, paragraph 4, of the SOLAS 74;

(f)

when carrying out port State control under Directive 95/21/EC, Member States also check that ships flying the flag of a State other than a Member State comply with this Article.