Merchant Shipping (Registration, etc.) Act 1993 (repealed 1.1.1996)

Safety U.K.

11 (1) Omit sections 446 to 448 of the 1894 Act (provisions about dangerous goods substantially superseded by safety regulations).

(2) Section 449 shall be amended as follows—

(a) in subsection (1), for the words “as aforesaid” (in both places) substitute “ as required by safety regulations ”;

(b) in subsection (2), for the words “this Act” substitute “ safety regulations ”; and

(c) after subsection (2) insert—

“(3) In this section—

• “dangerous goods” means goods that are designated as dangerous goods by safety regulations; and

• “safety regulations” means regulations under section 21 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1979.”.

12 (1) Omit sections 459 to 461 of the 1894 Act (provisions for the detention of unsafe ships no longer reflected in modern practice).

(2) After section 30 of the 1988 Act (offences where ship is unsafe), there shall be inserted the following section—

“30A Power to detain unsafe ship

“30A (1) Where a ship in a port in the United Kingdom appears to a relevant inspector to be an unsafe ship the ship may be detained.

(2) The power of detention conferred by subsection (1) above is exercisable in relation to foreign ships as well as United Kingdom ships.

(3) The officer detaining the ship shall serve on the master of the ship a detention notice which shall—

(a) state that the relevant inspector is of the opinion that the ship is an unsafe ship;

(b) specify the matters which, in the relevant inspector’s opinion, make the ship an unsafe ship; and

(c) prohibit the ship from going to sea until it is released by competent authority.

(4) In the case of a ship which is not a British ship the officer detaining the ship shall cause a copy of the detention notice to be sent as soon as practicable to the nearest consular officer for the country to which the ship belongs.

(5) In this section—

• “competent authority” means any officer mentioned in section 692(1) of the 1894 Act;

• “relevant inspector” means any person mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of section 76(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1970; and

• “unsafe ship” means a ship which is not fit to go to sea as mentioned in section 30(1) of this Act;

and the reference to going to sea shall be construed in accordance with subsection (9) of section 30.”.

(3) Sections 4 and 5 of the 1984 Act (arbitration and compensation) shall apply in relation to a detention notice under section 30A of the 1988 Act and the matters specified in the notice as those sections apply in relation to a prohibition notice under section 2 of that Act and the matters specified in a prohibition notice, subject, however, to the following modifications.

(4) The modifications referred to above are as follows:

(a) the substitution of references to the relevant inspector (within the meaning of section 30A) for references to the inspector referred to in those sections;

(b) the right to refer a question to the arbitrator shall be available to the owner of the ship whether or not the master of the ship also exercises that right;

(c) the giving of the notice referring the question to the arbitrator shall not suspend the operation of the detention notice unless, on the application of the person referring the question, the arbitrator so directs;

(d) the arbitrator shall have regard, in coming to his decision, to any other matters not specified in the detention notice which appear to him to be relevant to whether the ship was or was not an unsafe ship;

(e) the arbitrator shall include in his decision a finding whether there was or was not a valid basis for the detention of the ship as an unsafe ship.

(5) In the application of sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) above to Scotland any reference to an arbitrator shall be construed as a reference to an arbiter.

(6) Any provision of the Merchant Shipping Acts which deems a ship to be an unsafe ship for the purposes of section 459 or 462 of the 1894 Act shall be construed as deeming the ship to be an unsafe ship for the purposes of section 30A of the 1988 Act.

13 (1) In section 21 of the 1979 Act (regulations to secure health and safety on ships) insert the following subsection—

“(3A) The power to make regulations conferred by subsection (1)(a) above shall extend also to the making of regulations for the prevention of collisions between seaplanes on the surface of water and between ships and seaplanes and subsection (3)(k) above and subsections (4) to (6) below and section 22(l) shall have effect accordingly.”.

(2) In consequence of that extension of powers, omit sections 418 and 419 (collision regulations for seaplanes) and 421 (power to make local regulations) of the 1894 Act.

(3) In section 22(1) of the 1979 Act (provisions supplementary to s.21), at the end insert—

“(e) make provision for compensation to be paid, where a signal is used or displayed otherwise than in accordance with the regulations, for any expense or loss caused in consequence of the signal’s being taken for a signal of distress;

and any compensation falling to be paid by virtue of regulations under paragraph (e) above may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered in the same manner as salvage. ”.