Crew accommodation
20.—(1) In this Part, “crew accommodation” means accommodation, including the construction, machinery, fittings and equipment of that accommodation, intended for or used by fishermen.
(2) A fishing vessel must comply with the requirements relating to crew accommodation set out in—
(a)Merchant Shipping Notice 1871, where the length overall of the vessel is less than 15 metres;
(b)Merchant Shipping Notice 1872, where the length overall of the vessel is 15 metres or more; but the registered length of the vessel is less than 24 metres, or
(c)Merchant Shipping Notice 1873, where the registered length of the vessel is 24 metres or more.
(3) A breach of paragraph (2) is an offence by the fishing vessel owner.
(4) The skipper, or a crew member appointed by the skipper for that purpose, must, at intervals not exceeding 7 days, and accompanied by at least one member of the crew, inspect the crew accommodation to ensure that it is clean, decently habitable and safe and maintained in a good state of repair.
(5) The skipper of the fishing vessel, or the crew member appointed by the skipper for that purpose, must record the findings of the inspection undertaken pursuant to paragraph (4) in the official log book of the vessel specifying—
(a)the time and date of the inspection;
(b)the name and rank of each person making the inspection; and
(c)the particulars of any respect in which the crew accommodation was found by the person making the inspection not to comply with these Regulations.
(6) In this regulation, “length overall” and “registered length” have meaning given in the Fishing Vessels (Codes of Practice) Regulations 2017(1).