MERCHANT SHIPPING (LOAD LINES) ACT, 1968

AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISION AS TO LOAD LINES FOR SHIPS AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [24th June, 1968.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1 Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act, except in so far as the context otherwise requires—

“alteration” includes deterioration;

“clearance” includes a transire;

“the Convention of 1966” means the International Convention on Load Lines signed in London on the 5th day of April, 1966;

“Convention country” and “Contracting Government” have the meanings assigned to them by section 30 (2) of this Act;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Transport and Power;

“parent country”, in relation to a ship, means the country or territory in which the ship is registered, or, if the ship is not registered anywhere, means the country or territory whose flag the ship flies;

“registered ship” means a ship registered under the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955;

“valid Convention certificate” has the meaning assigned to it by section 13 (5) of this Act.

• (2) In this Act, subject to the next following subsection, “international voyage” means a voyage between—

• (a) a port in the State and a port outside the State, or

• (b) a port in a Convention country (other than the State) and a port in any other country or territory (whether a Convention country or not) which is outside the State.

• (3) In determining, for the purposes of the last preceding subsection, what are the ports between which a voyage is made, no account shall be taken of any deviation by a ship from her intended voyage which is due solely to stress of weather or any other circumstance which neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled; and for the purposes of that subsection any colony, protectorate or other dependency, any territory for whose international relations a Government is separately responsible, and any territory for which the United Nations are the administering authority, shall be taken to be a separate territory.

• (4) In this Act “new ship” means a ship whose keel is laid, or which is at a similar stage of construction, on or after the material date, and “existing ship” means a ship which is not a new ship; and for the purposes of this subsection the material date—

• (a) in relation to a ship whose parent country is a Convention country other than the State, is the date as from which it is declared under section 30 of this Act either that the Government of that country has accepted or acceded to the Convention of 1966 or that it is a territory to which that Convention extends, and

• (b) in relation to any other ship, is the date of the commencement of this Act.

• (5) Any reference in this Act to the gross tonnage of a ship shall be construed as a reference to the tonnage of the ship as ascertained in accordance with the tonnage regulations of the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955; and, where in accordance with those regulations alternative tonnages are assigned to a ship, the gross tonnage of the ship shall, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to be the larger of those tonnages.

• (6) For the purposes of this Act the length of a ship shall be ascertained in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

• (7) Any reference in this Act to any provision of the Convention of 1966 shall, in relation to any time after that provision has been amended in pursuance of Article 29 of that Convention, be construed as a reference to that provision as so amended.

• (8) Except in so far as the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any other enactment.

2 Ships to which Act applies.

2.—This Act applies to all ships except—

• (a) ships of war;

• (b) ships solely engaged in fishing; and

• (c) pleasure yachts not engaged in trade.

3 Load line rules.

3.—(1) The Minister shall make rules in accordance with the following provisions of this Act (which shall be known as and are in this Act referred to as the load line rules), and in making those rules the Minister shall have regard in particular to the Convention of 1966.

• (2) The load line rules shall make provision—

• (a) for the surveying and periodical inspection of ships to which this Act applies;

• (b) for determining freeboards to be assigned from time to time to such ships;

• (c) for determining, in relation to any such ship, the deck which is to be taken to be the freeboard deck of the ship, and for requiring the position of that deck to be indicated on each side of the ship by a mark of a description prescribed by the rules; and

• (d) for determining, by reference to that mark and the freeboards for the time being assigned to any such ship, the positions in which each side of the ship is to be marked with lines of a description prescribed by the rules, indicating the various maximum depths to which the ship may be loaded in circumstances prescribed by the rules.

• (3) The load line rules shall include the following provisions, that is to say—

• (a) provisions specifying such requirements in respect of the hulls, superstructures, fittings and appliances of ships to which this Act applies as appear to the Minister to be relevant to the assignment of freeboards to such ships;

• (b) provisions whereby, at the time when freeboards are assigned to a ship in accordance with the load line rules, such particulars relating to those requirements as may be determined in accordance with the rules are to be recorded in such manner as may be so determined; and

• (c) provisions for determining by reference to those requirements and that record whether, at any time after freeboards have been so assigned to a ship and while they continue to be so assigned, the ship is for the purposes of this Act to be taken to comply, or not to comply, with the conditions of assignment;

and those provisions shall be set out separately in the load line rules under the title of “rules as to conditions of assignment”.

• (4) The load line rules shall also include provisions requiring such information relating to the stability of any ship to which freeboards are assigned thereunder, and such information relating to the loading and ballasting of any such ship, as may be determined in accordance with the rules to be provided for the guidance of the master of the ship in such manner as may be so determined.

• (5) In relation to any matter authorised or required by this Act to be prescribed by the load line rules, those rules may make different provision by reference to (or to any combination of) any of the following, that is to say, different descriptions of ships, different areas, different seasons of the year and any other different circumstances.

• (6) Except in so far as the context otherwise requires, in this Act “deck-line” means such a mark as is referred to in subsection (2) (c) of this section and “load lines” means such lines as are referred to in subsection (2) (d) of this section.

4 Compliance with load line rules by registered ships.

4.—(1) Subject to any exemption conferred by or under this Act, a ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, shall not proceed or attempt to proceed to sea unless—

• (a) the ship has been surveyed in accordance with the load line rules;

• (b) the ship is marked with a deck-line and with load lines in accordance with those rules;

• (c) the ship complies with the conditions of assignment; and

• (d) the information required by those rules to be provided as mentioned in section 3 (4) of this Act is provided for the guidance of the master of the ship in the manner determined in accordance with the rules.

• (2) If any ship proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of the preceding subsection, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds.

• (3) Any ship which in contravention of subsection (1) of this section attempts to proceed to sea without being surveyed and marked as mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of that subsection may be detained until she has been so surveyed and marked.

• (4) Any such ship as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section which does not comply with the conditions of assignment shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purposes of section 459 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

5 Submersion of load lines on registered ships.

5.—(1) Where a ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, is marked with load lines, the ship shall not be so loaded that—

• (a) if the ship is in salt water and has no list, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship is submerged, or

• (b) in any other case, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship would be submerged if the ship were in salt water and had no list.

• (2) If any ship is loaded in contravention of the preceding subsection, the owner and master of the ship shall (subject to subsection (5) of this section) each be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and on conviction on indictment—

• (a) to a fine not exceeding four hundred pounds, and

• (b) to such additional fine, not exceeding an amount calculated in accordance with the next following subsection, as the court thinks fit to impose, having regard to the extent to which the earning capacity of the ship was increased by reason of the contravention.

• (3) Any additional fine imposed under subsection (2) (b) of this section shall not exceed four hundred pounds for every complete inch, and for any fraction of an inch over and above one or more complete inches, by which—

• (a) in a case falling within subsection (1) (a) of this section, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship was submerged, or

• (b) in a case falling within subsection (1) (b) of this section, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship would have been submerged as therein mentioned;

and, if the amount by which that load line was or would have been submerged was less than a complete inch, any such additional fine shall not exceed four hundred pounds.

• (4) If the master of a ship takes the ship to sea when she is loaded in contravention of subsection (1) of this section, or if any other person, having reason to believe that the ship is so loaded, sends or is party to sending her to sea when she is loaded in contravention of that subsection, then (without prejudice to any fine to which he may be liable in respect of an offence under subsection (2) of this section) he shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection and liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of such amount as the court may consider proper.

• (5) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (2) of this section, it shall be a defence to prove that the contravention was due solely to deviation or delay and that the deviation or delay was caused solely by stress of weather or other circumstances which neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) could have prevented or forestalled.

• (6) Without prejudice to any proceedings under the preceding provisions of this section, any ship which is loaded in contravention of subsection (1) of this section may be detained until she ceases to be so loaded.

• (7) For the purposes of the application of this section to a ship in any circumstances prescribed by the load line rules in accordance with section 3 (2) (d) of this Act, “the appropriate load line” means the load line which, in accordance with those rules, indicates the maximum depth to which the ship may be loaded in salt water in those circumstances.

6 Miscellaneous offences in relation to marks.

6.—Where a ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, is marked in accordance with any requirements as to marking imposed by or under this Act, then if—

• (a) the owner or master of the ship fails without reasonable cause to keep the ship so marked, or

• (b) any person conceals, removes, alters, defaces or obliterates, or causes or permits any person under his control to conceal, remove, alter, deface or obliterate, any mark with which the ship is so marked, except where he does so under the authority of a person empowered under the load line rules to authorise him in that behalf,

he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds.

7 Issue of load line certificates.

7.—(1) Where a ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, has been surveyed and marked in accordance with the load line rules, the appropriate certificate shall be issued to the owner of the ship on his application.

• (2) For the purposes of this section the appropriate certificate—

• (a) in the case of an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage, and in the case of a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length, is a certificate which shall be called and is in this Act referred to as an International Load Line Certificate (1966), and

• (b) in the case of any other ship, is a certificate which shall be called and is in this Act referred to as an Irish load line certificate.

• (3) Subject to the next following subsection, any certificate required by subsection (1) of this section to be issued—

• (a) shall be issued by the Minister or by a person authorised in that behalf by the Minister, and

• (b) shall be in such form, and shall be issued in such manner, as may be prescribed by the load line rules.

• (4) The Minister may request the Government of a Contracting State other than the State to issue an International Load Line Certificate (1966) in respect of any ship to which this Act applies which is a registered ship and falling within subsection (2) (a) of this section; and the following provisions of this Act shall have effect in relation to such a certificate so issued, which contains a statement that it has been issued at the request of the Minister, as they have effect in relation to an International Load Line Certificate (1966) issued by the Minister.

8 Effect of load line certificate.

8.—Where a certificate, issued in pursuance of section 7 of this Act and for the time being in force, is produced in respect of the ship to which the certificate relates—

• (a) the ship shall be deemed to have been surveyed in accordance with the load line rules, and

• (b) if lines are marked on the ship corresponding in number and description to the deck-line and load lines as required by the load line rules, and the positions of those lines so marked correspond to the positions of the deck-line and load lines as specified in the certificate, the ship shall be deemed to be marked as required by those rules.

9 Duration, endorsement and cancellation of load line certificates.

9.—(1) The load line rules shall make provision for determining the period during which any certificate issued under section 7 of this Act is to remain in force, including—

• (a) provision enabling the period for which any such certificate is originally issued to be extended within such limits and in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the rules, and

• (b) provision for cancelling any such certificate in such circumstances as may be so prescribed.

• (2) While any such certificate is in force in respect of a ship, there shall be endorsed on the certificate such information relating to—

• (a) periodical inspections of the ship in accordance with the load line rules, and

• (b) any extension of the period for which the certificate was issued,

as may be prescribed by the rules.

10 Ships not to proceed to sea without load line certificate.

10.—(1) Subject to any exemption conferred by or under this Act, no ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, shall proceed or attempt to proceed to sea unless the appropriate certificate is in force in respect of the ship.

• (2) Before any such ship proceeds to sea, the master of the ship shall produce the appropriate certificate to the officer of customs from whom a clearance for the ship is demanded; and a clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until the appropriate certificate is so produced.

• (3) If any ship proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of this section, the master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds.

• (4) In this section “the appropriate certificate” means the certificate which is the appropriate certificate for the purposes of section 7 of this Act.

11 Publication of load line certificate and entry of particulars in official log-book.

11.—(1) Where a certificate is issued in respect of a ship under section 7 of this Act—

• (a) the owner of the ship shall forthwith on receipt of the certificate cause it to be framed and posted up in some conspicuous place on board the ship, and shall cause it to be kept so framed and posted up and legible so long as the certificate remains in force and the ship is in use, and

• (b) the master of the ship, before making any other entry in any official log-book relating to the ship, shall enter in it the particulars as to the positions of the deck-line and the load lines which are specified in the certificate.

• (2) Before any ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, leaves any dock, wharf, harbour or other place for the purpose of proceeding to sea, the master of the ship—

• (a) shall enter in the official log-book such particulars relating to the depth to which the ship is for the time being loaded as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act, and

• (b) subject to the next following subsection, shall cause a notice, in such form and containing such of those particulars as may be specified in the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph, to be posted up in some conspicuous place on board the ship;

and, where such a notice has been posted up, the master of the ship shall cause it to be kept so posted up and legible until the ship arrives at some other dock, wharf, harbour or place.

• (3) The regulations may exempt home trade ships, or any class of home trade ships specified in the regulations, from the requirements as to notices contained in the last preceding subsection.

• (4) If a person fails to comply with any requirement imposed on him by the preceding provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

12 Inspection of ships.

12.—(1) A ship surveyor or engineer surveyor may inspect any ship to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, for the purpose of seeing that the provisions of this Act have been complied with in respect of the ship.

• (2) For the purposes of any such inspection any such surveyor shall have all the powers of an inspector under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

13 Valid Convention certificates.

13.—(1) This section applies to any ship which, being a ship to which this Act applies and not being a registered ship—

• (a) is registered in a Convention country or, not being registered in any such country or elsewhere, flies the flag of a Convention country, and

• (b) is either an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length.

• (2) The Minister may, at the request of the Government of the parent country of a ship to which this section applies, issue in respect of the ship a certificate in such form as may be prescribed by the load line rules, if the Minister is satisfied that he could properly issue a certificate in respect of the ship under section 7 (1) of this Act if the ship were a registered ship.

• (3) The load line rules shall make such provision as appears to the Minister to be appropriate for securing that certificates which are issued as International Load Line Certificates (1966) in respect of ships to which this section applies, and are so issued by Governments other than the Government, shall be recognised for the purposes of this Act in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the rules.

• (4) Certificates issued as mentioned in subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section shall be included among the certificates known as “International Load Line Certificates (1966)”.

• (5) In this Act “valid Convention certificate” means a certificate which either—

• (a) has been issued under subsection (2) of this section and is for the time being in force, or

• (b) having been issued as mentioned in subsection (3) of this section, is produced in circumstances in which it is required by the load line rules to be recognised for the purposes of this Act.

14 Compliance with load line rules by ships other than registered ships.

14.—(1) Subject to the next following subsection, and to any exemption conferred by or under this Act, a ship to which this Act applies, not being a registered ship, shall not proceed or attempt to proceed to sea from any port in the State unless—

• (a) the ship has been surveyed in accordance with the load line rules;

• (b) the ship is marked with a deck-line and with load lines in accordance with those rules;

• (c) the ship complies with the conditions of assignment; and

• (d) the information required by those rules to be provided as mentioned in section 3 (4) of this Act is provided for the guidance of the master of the ship in the manner determined in accordance with the rules.

• (2) The preceding subsection does not apply to a ship in respect of which a valid Convention certificate is produced.

• (3) If any ship proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of the preceding provisions of this section, the owner and master of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds.

• (4) Any ship which in contravention of this section attempts to proceed to sea without being surveyed and marked as mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section may be detained until she has been so surveyed and marked.

• (5) If any such ship as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, not being a ship in respect of which a valid Convention certificate is produced, does not comply with the conditions of assignment, then—

• (a) if the ship is an Irish ship, she shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purposes of section 459 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, or

• (b) if the ship is a foreign ship, section 462 of that Act shall have effect in relation to the ship as if she were unsafe by reason of one of the matters specified in that section.

15 Submersion of load lines on ships other than registered ships.

15.—(1) Where a ship to which this Act applies, not being a registered ship, is within any port in the State, and is marked with load lines, the ship shall not be so loaded that—

• (a) if the ship is in salt water and has no list, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship is submerged, or

• (b) in any other case, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship would be submerged if the ship were in salt water and had no list.

• (2) Subsections (2), (3), (5) and (6) of section 5 of this Act shall have effect for the purposes of this section as if any reference in those subsections to subsection (1) of that section, or to paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the said subsection (1), were a reference to subsection (1), or (as the case may be) to the corresponding paragraph of subsection (1) of this section:

Provided that, in the case of a ship to which section 13 of this Act applies, the ship shall not be detained, and no proceedings shall be brought by virtue of this subsection, unless the ship has been inspected by a ship surveyor or engineer surveyor in pursuance of section 18 of this Act.

• (3) In relation to a ship in respect of which a valid Convention certificate is produced “load line” in subsection (1) of this section means a line marked on the ship in the position of a load line specified in that certificate; and for the purposes of the application of the relevant provisions to such a ship in any circumstances for which a particular load line is specified in the certificate, the “appropriate load line” means the load line which, in accordance with the certificate, indicates the maximum depth to which the ship may be loaded in salt water in those circumstances.

• (4) Where a valid Convention certificate is not produced in respect of a ship, for the purposes of the application of the relevant provisions to that ship in any circumstances prescribed by the load line rules in accordance with section 3 (2) (d) of this Act, “the appropriate load line” means the load line which, in accordance with those rules, indicates the maximum depth to which the ship may be loaded in salt water in those circumstances.

• (5) In subsections (3) and (4) of this section “the relevant provisions” means the provisions of subsection (1) of this section and any provisions of section 5 of this Act as applied by subsection (2) of this section.

16 Irish load line certificates.

16.—(1) Where a ship to which this Act applies, not being a registered ship, has been surveyed and marked in accordance with the load line rules, then on the application of the owner of the ship an Irish load line certificate shall be issued to him by the Minister or by a person authorised in that behalf by the Minister.

• (2) Subject to the next following subsection, the provisions of sections 8 and 9 of this Act shall have effect in relation to a certificate issued under the preceding subsection as they have effect in relation to a certificate issued under section 7 of this Act.

• (3) Any certificate issued under subsection (1) of this section in respect of a ship to which section 13 of this Act applies shall be valid only so long as the ship is not plying on international voyages, and shall be cancelled by the Minister if he has reason to believe that the ship is plying on international voyages.

17 Production of certificate to customs officer.

17.—(1) Subject to any exemption conferred by or under this Act, before a ship to which this Act applies, not being a registered ship, proceeds to sea from any port in the State, the master of the ship shall produce the appropriate certificate to the officer of customs from whom a clearance for the ship is demanded; and a clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until the appropriate certificate is so produced.

• (2) For the purposes of this section the appropriate certificate—

• (a) in the case of a ship to which section 13 of this Act applies, where a clearance for the ship is demanded in respect of an international voyage, is a valid Convention certificate;

• (b) in the case of any such ship, where a clearance for the ship is demanded in respect of any other voyage, is either a valid Convention certificate or an Irish load line certificate for the time being in force in respect of the ship; and

• (c) in any other case, is an Irish load line certificate for the time being in force in respect of the ship.

18 Provisions as to inspection.

18.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a ship surveyor or engineer surveyor may inspect any ship to which this Act applies, not being a registered ship, while the ship is within any port in the State; and for the purposes of any such inspection any such surveyor shall have all the powers of an inspector under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

• (2) Any such surveyor may go on board any ship to which section 13 of this Act applies, while the ship is within any port in the State, for the purpose of demanding production of any International Load Line Certificate (1966) or Irish load line certificate for the time being in force in respect of the ship.

• (3) If on any such demand a valid Convention certificate is produced to the surveyor in respect of the ship, the powers of the surveyor under subsection (1) of this section shall be limited to seeing—

• (a) that the ship is not loaded beyond the limits allowed by the certificate;

• (b) that lines are marked on the ship in the positions of the load lines specified in the certificate;

• (c) that no material alterations have taken place in the hull or superstructures of the ship which affect the position in which any of those lines ought to be marked; and

• (d) that the fittings and appliances for the protection of openings, the guard rails, the freeing ports and the means of access to the crew's quarters have been maintained on the ship in as effective a condition as they were in when the certificate was issued.

• (4) If on an inspection of a ship under this section the ship is found to have been so materially altered in respect of the matters referred to in paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of the last preceding subsection that the ship is manifestly unfit to proceed to sea without danger to human life, then—

• (a) if the ship is an Irish ship, she shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purposes of section 459 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, or

• (b) if the ship is a foreign ship, section 462 of that Act shall have effect in relation to the ship as if she were unsafe by reason of one of the matters specified in that section.

• (5) Where a ship is detained under the provisions of that Act as applied by the last preceding subsection, the Minister shall order the ship to be released as soon as he is satisfied that the ship is fit to proceed to sea without danger to human life.

19 Power to make exemption orders.

19.—(1) If in the opinion of the Minister the sheltered nature and conditions of international voyages—

• (a) between near neighbouring ports in the State and in another Convention country, or

• (b) between near neighbouring ports in any two or more countries or territories outside the State,

make it unreasonable or impracticable to apply the provisions of this Act to ships plying on such voyages, and the Minister is satisfied that the Government of the other country or territory (or, as the case may be, of each of the other countries or territories) concurs in that opinion, the Minister may by order specifying those ports direct that ships plying on international voyages between those ports, or any class of such ships specified in the order, shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act.

• (2) The Minister may by order direct that ships under eighty tons register engaged solely in the coasting trade, or any class of such ships specified in the order, shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act while not carrying cargo, or (if the order so provides) shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act whether carrying cargo or not.

• (3) Any order under this section may be made subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit; and, where any such order is made subject to conditions, the exemption conferred by the order shall not have effect in relation to a ship unless the ship complies with those conditions.

20 Further powers to exempt ships.

20.—(1) In this section any reference to exempting a ship is a reference to exempting the ship either—

• (a) from all the provisions of this Act and of the load line rules, or

• (b) from such of those provisions as are specified in the instrument conferring the exemption.

• (2) On the application of the owner of a ship to which this Act applies, which is a registered ship and is either an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length, the Minister may exempt the ship if in his opinion the ship embodies features of a novel kind such that, if the ship had to comply with all the requirements of this Act and of the load line rules, the development of those features and their incorporation in ships engaged on international voyages might be seriously impeded.

• (3) On the application of the owner of a ship to which this Act applies, which is registered in the State and is either—

• (a) an existing ship of less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of less than twenty-four metres in length, or

• (b) a ship (not falling within the preceding paragraph) which does not ply on international voyages,

the Minister may exempt the ship.

• (4) Without prejudice to the last preceding subsection, where a ship to which this Act applies, which is a registered ship and is either an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length, does not normally ply on international voyages but is, in exceptional circumstances, required to undertake a single international voyage, the Minister, on the application of the owner of the ship, specifying the international voyage in question, may exempt the ship while engaged on that voyage.

• (5) Any exemption conferred under this section may be conferred subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit; and, where any such exemption is conferred subject to conditions, the exemption shall not have effect unless those conditions are complied with.

21 Issue of exemption certificates.

21.—(1) Where the Minister exempts a ship under the last preceding section, he shall issue the appropriate certificate to the owner of the ship.

• (2) For the purposes of this section the appropriate certificate—

• (a) where the exemption is conferred under subsection (2) or subsection (4) of the last preceding section, is a certificate which shall be called an International Load Line Exemption Certificate, and

• (b) where the certificate is conferred under subsection (3) of that section, is a certificate which shall be called an Irish load line exemption certificate.

• (3) Any certificate issued under this section shall be in such form, and shall be issued in such manner, as may be prescribed by the load line rules.

22 Duration and termination of exemptions and duration, endorsement and cancellation of exemption certificates.

22.—(1) The load line rules shall make provision for determining the period during which any exemption conferred under section 20 of this Act, or any certificate issued under section 21 of this Act, is to remain in force, including—

• (a) provision enabling the period for which any such exemption or certificate is originally conferred or issued to be extended within such limits and in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the rules, and

• (b) provision for terminating any such exemption, and for cancelling any such certificate, in such circumstances as may be so prescribed.

• (2) While any such certificate is in force in respect of a ship, there shall be endorsed on the certificate such information relating to—

• (a) periodical inspections of the ship in accordance with the load line rules, and

• (b) any extension of the period for which the certificate was issued,

as may be prescribed by the rules.

23 International Load Line Exemption Certificates.

23.—(1) The load line rules shall make such provision as appears to the Minister to be appropriate for securing that exemption certificates which, in accordance with the Convention of 1966, are issued in respect of ships to which section 13 of this Act applies, and are so issued by Governments other than the Government, shall in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the rules have the like effect for the purposes of this Act as if they were valid Convention certificates.

• (2) Certificates issued as mentioned in the preceding subsection shall be included among International Load Line Exemption Certificates.

24 Subdivision load lines.

24.—(1) Where in pursuance of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on the 17th day of June, 1960, a passenger steamer to which this Act applies, being a registered ship, is marked with subdivision load lines, and the lowest of those lines is lower than the line which, apart from this subsection, would be the appropriate load line for the purposes of section 5 of this Act, the said section 5 shall have effect as if that subdivision load line were the appropriate load line for the purposes of that section.

• (2) Where in pursuance of the Convention aforesaid or any law of any country made for the purpose of giving effect to that Convention, a passenger steamer to which this Act applies, not being a registered ship, is marked with subdivision load lines, and the lowest of those load lines is lower than the line which, apart from this subsection, would be the appropriate load line for the purposes of section 15 of this Act, that section shall have effect as if that subdivision load line were the appropriate load line for the purposes of that section.

• (3) In this section “passenger steamer” has the meaning assigned to it by section 43 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952.

25 Deck cargo.

25.—(1) The Minister shall make regulations (in this section referred to as the deck cargo regulations) prescribing requirements to be complied with where cargo is carried in any uncovered space on the deck of a ship to which this Act applies; and different requirements may be so prescribed in relation to different descriptions of ships, different descriptions of cargo, different voyages or classes of voyages, different seasons of the year or any other different circumstances.

• (2) If the load line rules provide (either generally or in particular cases or classes of cases) for assigning special freeboards to ships which are to have effect only where a cargo of timber is so carried, then (without prejudice to the generality of the preceding subsection) the deck cargo regulations may prescribe special requirements to be complied with in circumstances where any such special freeboard has effect.

• (3) In prescribing any such special requirements as are mentioned in the last preceding subsection, the Minister shall have regard in particular to the provisions of Chapter IV of the Convention of 1966.

• (4) If any provisions of the deck cargo regulations are contravened—

• (a) in the case of a registered ship, or

• (b) in the case of any other ship while the ship is within any port in the State,

the master of the ship shall (subject to the next following subsection) be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding one thousand pounds.

• (5) Where a person is charged with an offence under the last preceding subsection, it shall be a defence to prove that the contravention was due solely to deviation or delay and that the deviation or delay was caused solely by stress of weather or other circumstances which neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) could have prevented or forestalled.

• (6) For the purpose of securing compliance with the deck cargo regulations, any person authorised in that behalf by the Minister may inspect any ship to which this Act applies which is carrying cargo in any uncovered space on her deck; and for the purposes of any such inspection any such person shall have all the powers of an inspector under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

26 Provisions as to fees.

26.—(1) In respect of any survey or inspection carried out in pursuance of the load line rules, and in respect of any certificate issued under this Act, there shall be paid such fee as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister with the approval of the Minister for Finance.

• (2) Subject to the next following subsection, any fees payable under the preceding subsection shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.

• (3) The last preceding subsection shall not apply to any fee paid in respect of—

• (a) a survey or inspection which is carried out otherwise than by a surveyor of ships appointed under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, or

• (b) a certificate issued otherwise than by the Minister.

27 Miscellaneous supplementary provisions.

27.—(1) Without prejudice to the operation of this Act, section 63 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1933, shall have effect as if any reference therein to that Act included a reference to this Act.

• (2) Where a ship is detained under any provision of this Act which provides for the detention of a ship until an event specified in that provision occurs, section 460(2) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall apply as if the ship had been finally detained under that Act.

• (3) The provisions of sections 280 and 282 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall have effect in relation to any certificate which can be issued under this Act as they have effect in relation to a passenger steamer's certificate.

• (4) Section 436(3) of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall not have effect in relation to ships to which this Act applies, except any such ship which, by virtue of any order made or exemption conferred under this Act, is exempt from all the provisions of this Act.

• (5) In proceedings in any court, a document purporting to be a certificate issued under this Act shall be admissible in evidence and shall be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to be such certificate and shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, of the matters stated therein.

28 Effect of load line certificates of certain countries.

28.—(1) If, in the case of any country or territory outside the State, it appears to the Government—

• (a) that the provisions which, as part of the law of that country or territory, have effect for marking ships with load lines, and for the issue of certificates in respect of ships so marked, are based on the same principles as the corresponding provisions of this Act and of any rules or regulations under this Act and are equally effective, and

• (b) that provision has been, or in pursuance of any agreement will be, made by the law of that country or territory for recognising Irish load line certificates as having the like effect in ports of that country or territory as certificates issued under the provisions referred to in the preceding paragraph,

the Government may by order direct (subject to the next following subsection) that certificates issued under those provisions shall have the like effect for the purposes of this Act as if they were Irish load line certificates.

• (2) An order under subsection (1) of this section shall not have effect in relation to any ship which—

• (a) plies on international voyages, and

• (b) is a ship of a Convention country, and

• (c) is either an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length.

29 Provisions as to orders, regulations and rules.

29.—(1) Any order, regulation or rule made under this Act may contain such transitional or other incidental and supplementary provisions as may appear to the Government, or (as the case may be) to the Minister, to be appropriate.

• (2) An order under this Act made by the Government or the Minister may be amended or revoked by an order made by the Government or the Minister, as the case may be.

• (3) Every order, regulation or rule made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and if a resolution annulling the order, regulation or rule, as the case may be, is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order, regulation or rule is laid before it, the order, regulation or rule shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

30 Convention countries.

30.—(1) The Government, if satisfied—

• (a) that the Government of a country has accepted or acceded to, or has denounced, the Convention of 1966, or

• (b) that the Convention of 1966 extends, or has ceased to extend, to a particular territory,

may by order make a declaration to that effect.

• (2) In this Act “Convention country” means a country or territory which is either—

• (a) a country the Government of which has been declared under this section to have accepted or acceded to the Convention of 1966, and has not been so declared to have denounced that Convention, or

• (b) a territory to which it has been so declared that the Convention of 1966 extends, not being a territory to which it has been so declared that that Convention has ceased to extend,

and “Contracting Government” means any such Government as is referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

31 Repeals and transitional provisions.

31.—(1) Each enactment specified in column (2) in the Schedule to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule.

• (2) The Minister may by regulations provide that the provisions of this Act shall have effect subject to such transitional provisions as may be contained in the regulations.

32 Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement.

32.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act, 1968.

• (2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1966, and, without prejudice to the generality of this provision, references in those Acts to the Merchant Shipping Acts shall be construed as including references to this Act.

• (3) The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1966, and this Act may be cited together as the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1968.

• (4) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provisions and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.

SCHEDULE Enactments Repealed

Number and Year	Short Title	Extent of Repeal
(1)	(2)	(3)
No. 42 of 1933.	Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1933.	The whole Act (so far as unrepealed) excluding subsections (1) and (3) of section 58 and sections 63 and 67.
No. 12 of 1939.	Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Act, 1939.	Sections 3 and 4.
No. 29 of 1952.	Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952.	Sections 32 and 34.
No. 20 of 1966.	Merchant Shipping Act, 1966.	Section 15.