Background and Summary
3.This Act amends legislation relating to pilotage, harbour authorities, the general lighthouse authorities and the manning of ships, as well as extending the powers of port police, to address the problems outlined below.
4.Many harbours require ships traversing their waters to use a maritime pilot with appropriate experience, generating additional costs for shipping companies. Although a harbour authority can grant a pilotage exemption certificate, where ships’ officers have the required skills and knowledge, the restrictions on the granting, suspension and revocation of such certificates made this arrangement unnecessarily inflexible.
5.There was no straightforward legal progress to enable a port to close, should it become uneconomic to operate. Closure could be achieved only by promoting a private Act of Parliament, which is both time-consuming and costly for the harbour authority as well as Parliament and the Government. Similarly, there was no process for relieving a Competent Harbour Authority (as defined in the 1987 Pilotage Act) of its legal duties to provide pilotage where activity at the port no longer warrants the provision of pilotage services.
6.Powers of general direction are conferred on some harbour authorities by the Acts or Orders establishing them. Such powers are a useful and efficient means to ensure safety and smooth operations. But many harbour authorities lack them and they would each need to apply for a Harbour Revision Order to obtain them. This can be a lengthy and costly process.
7.Six harbours in England have their own ports police forces. However, officers in those forces were limited to carrying out their duties within the port and within one mile of the port. This unnecessarily limited their ability to protect maritime businesses from crime.
8.The three General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) for the UK and Ireland were restricted in the extent to which they could reduce their operating costs by engaging in commercial operations where they have surplus capacity. This reduced the opportunity to earn income that could help keep down the level of Light Dues charged on ships visiting UK ports. It was also necessary to provide the GLAs with clear powers to provide essential aids to navigation outside UK territorial waters and to use modern, cost-effective electronic warnings to mark wrecks as well as more traditional methods of lights and buoys.
9.The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 contains regulation-making powers which authorise references to external documents, for example an industry-agreed standard, in the areas of safety and environmental protection. This provides a simple and effective method of quickly incorporating necessary technical amendments into legislation. However, this option was not available for the power to make regulations on manning requirements, complicating the process for transposing internationally agreed changes to manning standards.
10.In response to these problems, this Act introduces measures to reduce burdens on the ports and shipping industry, and improve safety for vessels in harbours and the seas around the United Kingdom. It includes provisions governing pilotage, the management of harbours, and the powers and duties applicable to harbour authorities, port constables and the GLAs.
