Merchant Shipping (Safety and Loadline Conventions) Act , 1933

PART I. Safety of Life at Sea.

Construction and Surveys.

1 Construction and survey regulations to implement Chapter II of Safety Convention.

1.—(1) The construction regulations applicable to passenger steamers plying on international voyages shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to implement the provisions relating to construction, machinery, equipment and marking of load lines which are contained in Chapter II of the Safety Convention and the Regulations referred to therein (except in so far as the said provisions are otherwise implemented by the Merchant Shipping Acts):

Provided that—

(a) the Minister may treat any passenger steamer constructed before the first day of July, nineteen hundred and thirty-one (not being a steamer converted to passenger service on or after that date) as complying with any such requirement, if the Minister is satisfied that such steps, if any, as are reasonable and practicable have been taken, to make the steamer comply with that requirement;

(b) the Minister may, as respects passenger steamers plying on any international coasting voyage, modify any such requirement, if and to the extent that he is satisfied that the risks incurred by passenger steamers plying on that voyage are such as to make it unreasonable or unnecessary to require steamers so plying to comply with that requirement;

(c) the Minister may, as respects steamers for the time being engaged in any passenger trade in which they are employed in the carriage of large numbers of unberthed passengers, modify any such requirement, if he is satisfied that compliance with that requirement by steamers so engaged is impracticable and to the extent that he is satisfied that modifications are required by the conditions of the trade; and

(d) the Minister may, as, respects any steamer plying on short international voyages, modify any of the requirements of the construction regulations which implement the provisions of the Safety Convention contained in Regulations IX, X, XV and XIX thereof, if and to the extent that the Minister is satisfied that that requirement is neither reasonable nor practicable in the case of that steamer.

(2) If it appears to the Minister—

(a) that passenger steamers plying on any international voyage incur exceptional risks owing to weather and traffic conditions; and

(b) that owing to the small proportion of space allotted to cargo in any steamer constructed after the thirtieth day of June, nineteen hundred and thirty-one, or converted to passenger service after that date, the steamer can be sub-divided to a greater extent than is required by the Safety Convention;

the Minister shall direct a ship surveyor to satisfy himself before stating in a declaration of survey that the steamer is fit to ply on that voyage, that the steamer is sub-divided to such greater extent as appears to the Minister to be practicable and expedient in the interests of safety.

(3) The survey regulations applicable to passenger steamers plying on international voyages shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to implement the provisions relating to surveys which are contained in Chapter II of the Safety Convention and the Regulations referred to therein (except in so far as the said provisions are otherwise implemented by the Merchant Shipping Acts).

2 Amendments as to declarations of survey.

2.—(1) A declaration of survey made by a ship surveyor in respect of a passenger steamer shall, instead of stating the particulars required by paragraph (d) of sub-section (3) of section two hundred and seventy-two of the Principal Act, state the voyages or class of voyages on which, as regards construction and equipment, the steamer is in the surveyor's judgment fit to ply.

(2) A declaration of survey made by an engineer surveyor in respect of a passenger steamer shall, instead of stating the particulars required by paragraph (e) of sub-section (4) of the said section, state the voyages or class of voyages on which, as regards machinery, the steamer is in the surveyor's judgment fit to ply.

(3) If in the judgment of any such surveyor a passenger steamer is fit to ply on international voyages while engaged in a special passenger trade only, his declaration of survey shall state that fact.

3 Alteration of ships and additional surveys.

3.—(1) The owner or master of a passenger steamer to which this section applies shall, as soon as possible after any alteration is made in the steamer's hull, equipments or machinery which affects the efficiency thereof or the seaworthiness of the steamer, give written notice to the Minister containing full particulars of the alteration, and, if notice is not so given, the owner or master of the steamer shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(2) If the Minister has reason to believe that since the making of the last declaration of survey in respect of a passenger steamer to which this section applies—

(a) any such alteration as aforesaid has been made in the hull, equipments or machinery of the steamer; or

(b) the hull, equipments or machinery of the steamer have sustained any injury or are otherwise insufficient;

the Minister may, without prejudice to his powers under section two hundred and seventy-nine of the Principal Act, require the steamer to be again surveyed to such extent as he thinks fit, and, if such requirement is not complied with, may cancel any certificate issued in respect of the steamer under section two hundred and seventy-four of the Principal Act or under this Part of this Act.

(3) This section applies to every passenger steamer, whether registered in Saorstát Eireann or not so registered in respect of which any such certificate as aforesaid is for the time being in force, and for the purpose of this section the expression “alteration” in relation to the hull, equipments or machinery of a steamer includes the renewal of any part thereof.

Life-Saving Appliances.

4 Rules for life-saving appliances to implement Chapter III of Safety Convention.

4.—The rules for life-saving appliances applicable to passenger steamers plying on international voyages shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to implement the provisions of Chapter III of the Safety Convention and the Regulations referred to therein (except in so far as the said provisions are otherwise implemented by the Merchant Shipping Acts):

Provided that—

(a) the Minister may, on such conditions as he thinks fit, exempt any steamer constructed before the first day of July, nineteen hundred and thirty-one, from any such requirement, if and to the extent that he is satisfied that that requirement is either impracticable or unreasonable in the case of that steamer;

(b) the Minister may, as respects passenger steamers plying on any international coasting voyage, modify any such requirement, if and to the extent that he is satisfied that the risks incurred by steamers plying on that voyage are such as to make it unreasonable or unnecessary for such steamers to comply with that requirement;

(c) the Minister may, as respects passenger steamers engaged in any passenger trade in which they are employed in the carriage of large numbers of unberthed passengers, if he is satisfied that it is impracticable for steamers so engaged to comply with the said requirements, modify the said requirements in such manner as may appear to him to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 5 of Article twelve of the Safety Convention;

(d) the Minister may, as respects any passenger steamer plying on short international voyages, make such modifications of the said requirements as appear to him to be authorised by the provisions of the Safety Convention contained in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) of Article thirteen, paragraph (4) of Regulation XXXVI, paragraph (11) of Regulation XXXVII, paragraph (2) of Regulation XXXVIII, and Regulation XXXIX.

5 Amendments of Merchant Shipping Acts as to life-saving appliances.

5.—(1) The power of the Minister under section four hundred and twenty-seven of the Principal Act to make rules for life-saving appliances shall include power to make rules with respect to all or any of the following matters, namely:—

(a) the marking of boats, lifeboats, life-rafts and buoyant apparatus so as to show the dimensions thereof and the number of persons authorised to be carried thereon;

(b) the manning of boats and lifeboats and the qualifications and certificates of lifeboat men;

(c) the provision to be made for mustering the passengers and crew and for embarking them in the boats and lifeboats (including provision as to the lighting of, and as to the means of ingress to, and egress from, different parts of the ship);

(d) the practising of boat drills;

(e) the assignment of specific duties to each member of the crew in the event of emergency;

(f) the methods to be adopted and the appliances to be carried for the prevention, detection and extinction of fire;

(g) the number, description and mode of construction of line throwing appliances to be carried.

(2) Sub-section (1) of section four hundred and thirty of the Principal Act (which imposes penalties for failure to comply with the rules for life-saving appliances) shall be amended by inserting after paragraph (d) thereof the following paragraph:—

“(e) if any provision of the rules for life-saving appliances applicable to the ship is contravened or not complied with.”

(3) The following section shall be substituted for section four hundred and thirty-one of the Principal Act:—

“431.—(1) A surveyor of ships may inspect any ship for the purpose of seeing that the rules for life-saving appliances have been complied with in her case, and for the purpose of any such inspection shall have all the powers of an Inspector of the Department of Industry and Commerce under this Act.

(2) If the surveyor finds that the rules for life-saving appliances have not been complied with, he shall give written notice to the owner or master stating in what respect the said rules have not been complied with, and what, in his opinion, is required to rectify the matter.

(3) Every notice so given shall be communicated in manner directed by the Minister to the Chief Officer of Customs of any port at which the ship may seek to obtain a clearance or transire, and a clearance or transire shall not be granted to the ship and the ship shall be detained until a certificate under the hand of a surveyor of ships is produced to the effect that the matter has been rectified.”

(4) Sub-section (4) of section two hundred and seventy-two of the Principal Act (which relates to the statements to be made in the declaration of survey made by an engineer surveyor) shall be amended by substituting in paragraph (c) thereof the words “appliances for the prevention, detection and extinction of fire” for the words “fire hose”, and sub-section (2) of section two hundred and eighty-five of the Principal Act shall cease to have effect.

(5) Sub-section (1) of section nine of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906 (which requires the master of every Saorstát Eireann ship to enter in the official log book a statement of every occasion on which boat drill is practised on board the ship) shall be amended by inserting at the end thereof the words “and if, in the case of a passenger steamer, boat drill is not practised on board the ship in any week, the master shall enter a statement of the reasons why boat drill was not practised in that week.”

Wireless Telegraphy.

6 Wireless telegraphy rules to implement Chapter IV of Safety Convention.

6.—(1) The wireless telegraphy rules applicable to ships plying on international voyages shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to implement the provisions of Chapter IV of the Safety Convention (except in so far as the said provisions are otherwise implemented by the Merchant Shipping Acts).

(2) The wireless telegraphy rules shall further require that the wireless telegraph installation to be provided on passenger steamers of five thousand tons gross tonnage or upwards shall (after such date not being later than the first day of January nineteen hundred and thirty-five as may be prescribed by the rules) include a wireless direction finding apparatus as required by Article forty-seven and paragraph 17 of Article thirty-one of the Safety Convention.

7 Amendments of the Merchant Shipping (Wireless Telegraphy) Act, 1919.

7.—(1) The power of the Minister in consultation with the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to make rules under sub-section (2) of section one of the Merchant Shipping (Wireless Telegraphy) Act, 1919, shall include power to make rules—

(a) requiring the master of a ship to enter in the official log book such particulars relating to the operation of the wireless telegraph installation and as to the maintenance of the wireless telegraph service, as may be specified in the rules; and

(b) making provision as to the certificates to be held by, and the duties of, operators and watchers.

(2) If the master of a Saorstát Eireann ship fails to comply with any such requirement, or if any operator or watcher on any such ship contravenes the said rules he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) The Minister shall not, in pursuance of the powers conferred on him by the said Act, exempt from the obligations imposed by that Act any ship plying on international voyages, unless the exemption of the ship appears to him to be authorised by paragraph (2) of Article twenty-seven, or by Article twenty-eight, of the Safety Convention.

(4) For the purposes of sub-section (2) of section three of the said Act the expression “passengers” shall have the same meaning as it has for the purpose of Part III of the Principal Act.

8 Appointment of wireless telegraphy surveyors.

8.—A person appointed to be a surveyor of ships under section seven hundred and twenty-four of the Principal Act may be appointed as a wireless telegraphy surveyor :

Provided that the functions of the Minister under the said section with respect to surveyors of ships shall not be exercised with respect to wireless telegraphy surveyors except with the approval of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

9 Survey of passenger steamers by wireless telegraphy surveyors.

9.—(1) The survey of a passenger steamer required by the Principal Act shall, in the case of every survey made after the commencement of this Part of this Act in respect of a sea-going steamer which is not exempt under the Merchant Shipping (Wireless Telegraphy) Act, 1919, from the obligations imposed by that Act, include a survey by a wireless telegraphy surveyor, and accordingly sub-section (1) of section two hundred and seventy-two of that Act shall be amended by inserting after the words “engineer surveyor of ships” the words “and, in the case of a sea-going passenger steamer required to be provided with a wireless telegraph installation, by a wireless telgraphy surveyor.”

(2) The following sub-section shall be inserted at the end of the said section two hundred and seventy-two:—

“(5) The declaration of the wireless telegraphy surveyor shall contain statements of the following particulars, namely:—

(a) the voyages or class of voyages on which, as regards wireless telegraphy, the steamer is fit to ply;

(b) that, having regard to the tonnage of the steamer and the voyages or class of voyages on which she is declared to be fit to ply, the wireless telegraph installation complies with the wireless telegraphy rules;

(c) that the certificates of the wireless telegraphy operators and watchers are such as are required by those rules.”

(3) Section two hundred and seventy-five of the Principal Act (which provides for appeals to a court of survey by persons aggrieved by the declaration of survey of a ship or engineer surveyor) shall be amended by inserting the words “or wireless telegraphy surveyor” after the words “engineer surveyor” in both places where they occur.

10 Survey of ships other than passenger steamers by wireless telegraphy surveyors.

10.—The owner of every Saorstát Eireann ship of sixteen hundred gross tonnage or upwards not being a passenger steamer or a ship exempt under the Merchant Shipping (Wireless Telegraphy) Act, 1919, from the obligations imposed by that Act, shall, before the ship first proceeds to sea on an international voyage from a port in Saorstát Eireann after the first day of January nineteen hundred and thirty-four and once in each year thereafter, cause the ship to be surveyed by a wireless telegraphy surveyor in the same manner as if she were a passenger steamer required to be provided with a wireless telegraph installation, and the provisions of sections two hundred and seventy-two, two hundred and seventy-three and two hundred and seventy-five of the Principal Act shall apply accordingly.

Certificates.

11 Issue of safety certificates and passenger steamers' exemption certificates.

11.—(1) If the Minister on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of a passenger steamer is satisfied that the steamer complies with all the construction regulations, rules for life-saving appliances and wireless telegraphy rules applicable to passenger steamers plying on international voyages, he shall, on the application of the owner of the steamer, issue in respect of the steamer a safety certificate stating that the steamer complies with the requirements of the Safety Convention, and any certificate issued under this sub-section is hereafter in this Part of this Act referred to as “a general safety certificate.”

(2) If, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of a passenger steamer in the case of which the Minister has modified the construction regulations or the rules for life-saving appliances in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to steamers plying on short international voyages, the Minister is satisfied that the steamer complies with the said regulations and rules as so modified, and also complies with the wireless telegraphy rules applicable to steamers plying on international voyages, the Minister shall, on the application of the owner of the steamer, issue in respect of the steamer a safety certificate stating that the steamer complies with the requirements of the Safety Convention applicable to a short international voyage, and any certificate issued under this sub-section is hereafter in this Part of this Act referred to as “a short voyage safety certificate.”

(3) If the Minister, on receipt of declarations of survey in respect of a passenger steamer, is satisfied that the steamer—