LegalizeMerchant Shipping Act , 1992
PART I Preliminary and General
1. Short title, commencement, construction and collective citation.
— (1)This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992.
(2)This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as, by order or orders made by the Minister under this section, may be fixed therefor either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions.
(3)This Act shall be construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1983, and may be cited together therewith as the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1992.
2. Interpretation.
— (1)In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—
“authorised officer” means—
(a)any person authorised in writing by the Minister to exercise the powers conferred on an authorised officer by this Act,
(b)a person holding commissioned naval rank in the Permanent Defence Forces, while in uniform,
(c)a member of the Garda Síochána, while in uniform, or
F1[(d) as respects the harbour of which he or she is the harbour master or is in charge of, a person appointed to be such by one of the following, that is to say:
(i) a company within the meaning of the Harbours Act 1996;
(ii) the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in respect of a fishery harbour centre (within the meaning of the Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968);
(iii) a local authority (within the meaning of section 2 (as amended by Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Local Government Reform Act 2014 ) of the Local Government Act 2001);
(iv) Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail, in respect of Rosslare Harbour;]
“authorised person ” means a surveyor or a person authorised in writing by the Minister to carry out inspections of vessels for the purposes of Part III;
“certificate” means a passenger ship's certificate issued under section 8 and in force and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
F3["dangerous goods" means those goods referred to in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO by Resolution MSC.122(75) on 24 May 2002, and any amendments made to it up to and including those adopted by the 105th session of the Maritime Safety Committee by Resolution MSC.501(105) of 28 April 2022;]
F2[“fishing vessel”means a vessel designed, equipped or used commercially for catching or taking fish or other living resources of the sea (including the sea bed) or freshwater;]
“licence” means a passenger boat licence granted under section 15 and in force and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
“master”, in relation to a vessel, means the person having, for the time being, the command or charge of the vessel;
“the Minister” means the F4[Minister for Transport];
F3["offshore facility" means a structure, floating or fixed, used to support offshore industrial activities;]
F3["offshore industrial activities" mean the construction, maintenance, decommissioning, operation or servicing of offshore facilities including those related to exploration and exploitation of resources by the renewable or hydrocarbon energy sector, aquaculture, ocean mining or similar activities;]
F3["offshore service vessel" means a vessel carrying or accommodating more than 12 industrial personnel in relation to which an industrial personnel safety certificate has been issued undersection 48of theMerchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Act 2025(No. 2 of 2025), which certificate remains valid under Part 5 of the Act;]
“owner”, in relation to a vessel, means the person registered under the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955, as its owner or, if no person is so registered, the person who owns the vessel, and includes any part owner, charterer, manager or operator of the vessel;
“passenger” means any person carried on a vessel other than—
(a)the owner or a person to whom the vessel is on hire or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the vessel on the business of the vessel, or
(b)a person on board the vessel either in pursuance of the obligation laid upon the master of the vessel to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstances that could not have been prevented or forestalled by the master or the owner of the vessel;
“passenger boat” means—
(a)a vessel carrying not more than 12 passengers for reward or having on board for the purposes of carriage for reward not more than 12 passengers, or
(b)a vessel that is carrying not more than 12 passengers, or has on board for the purposes of carriage not more than 12 passengers, and is on hire pursuant to a contract or other arrangement under which a crew or part of a crew is provided for the vessel by its owner,
and includes a vessel carrying not more than 12 persons to or from their place of work, or having on board not more than 12 persons for the purposes of such carriage, and owned by or on hire to their employer and a vessel registered outside the State and carrying not more than 12 passengers between places in the State, or having on board not more than 12 passengers for the purposes of such carriage, but does not include such a vessel carrying passengers to or from the State or having on board passengers for the purposes of such carriage, F5[…] F6[…] F7[a vessel in respect of which a certificate is in force or an offshore service vessel];
“passenger ship” means a vessel carrying more than 12 passengers or having on board more than 12 passengers for the purposes of carriage and includes a vessel carrying more than 12 persons to or from their place of work, or having on board more than 12 persons for the purposes of such carriage, and owned by or on hire to their employer and a vessel registered outside the State and carrying more than 12 passengers between places in the State, or having on board more than 12 passengers for the purposes of such carriage, but does not include such a vessel carrying passengers to or from the State or having passengers on board for the purposes of such carriage F3[or an offshore service vessel] F5[…] F6[…];
F8["personal watercraft" means a craft of less than 4 metres in length which uses an internal combustion engine having a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and which is designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing or kneeling on, rather than within the confines of, a hull;]
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;
“the Principal Act” means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;
“radio surveyor” means a radio surveyor within the meaning of section 16 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952;
F3["recognised organisation" means an organisation recognised in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 391/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009^3on common rules and standards for ship inspections and survey organisations (Recast);]
“registered” means registered under the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1983;
“skipper”, in relation to a fishing vessel, means the person having for the time being the command or charge of the vessel;
“surveyor” means a person appointed under section 724 of the Principal Act to be a surveyor of ships for the purposes of that Act;
“vessel” includes any ship or boat and any other vessel used in navigation F8[and personal watercraft].
(2)In this Act—
(a)a reference to a Part or section is a reference to a Part or section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,
(b)a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and
(c)a reference to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act.
3. Laying of regulations before Houses of Oireachtas.
—Regulations made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made and, if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by either such House within the next subsequent 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulations are laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
4. Repeals.
— (1)Each enactment mentioned in column (2) of the Schedule to this Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule.
(2)All instruments or documents (other than licences under section 94 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907, for pleasure boats or pleasure vessels to be used for carrying passengers for hire) made, issued or granted under a provision of the enactments repealed by this section and in force immediately before the commencement of the corresponding provision of this Act shall continue in force after such commencement as if made or issued under the said corresponding provision and may be amended or revoked accordingly.
5. Expenses.
—The expenses of the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.
PART II Passenger Ships
6. Annual survey.
— (1)A vessel being used as a passenger ship shall be surveyed at least once in each year in accordance with this Part.
(2)If, in respect of a vessel, there is a failure or refusal to comply with subsection (1), the owner of the vessel shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding F10[€5,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or
(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding F10[€100,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
7. Mode of survey and declaration of survey for purposes of issue of passenger ship's certificate.
—The survey of a vessel for the purposes of this Part shall be carried out by a surveyor and, if the vessel is required to be provided with a F11[radiocommunications] installation, by a radio surveyor, and the surveyor or each surveyor, if satisfied on the survey that it is proper to do so, shall deliver to the owner a declaration (in this Part referred to as “ a declaration of survey ”) in such form, and containing statements in relation to such matters concerning the vessel and disclosed by the survey as may be prescribed.
8. Issue of passenger ship's certificate.
— (1)On the receipt of a declaration of survey in relation to a survey carried out not more than 2 months before the date of such receipt, the Minister, if he is satisfied that this Part has been complied with, shall, subject to subsection (4), issue to the owner of the vessel concerned a certificate in relation to the vessel (which shall be known as a passenger ship's certificate and is referred to in this Act as “ a certificate ”) stating such compliance and containing requirements, in accordance with the declarations in the declaration of survey delivered by the surveyor concerned, as to—
(a)the limits (if any) beyond which the vessel shall not ply,
(b)the maximum number of passengers that the vessel shall carry (specifying, if necessary, the numbers to be carriedin different parts of the vessel) and any conditions and variations to which the number is subject.
(2)A certificate shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions (if any) as the Minister may impose, at the time of the grant of the certificate or subsequently, and any such conditions or restrictions shall be specified in the certificate or in another document given or sent to the holder of the certificate by the Minister.
(3)A certificate shall, unless previously revoked or suspended, remain in force for one year or for such period, being less than one year, as may be specified in the certificate and shall then expire.
(4)Subject to the provisions of this section, a certificate shall be in such form as the Minister may determine.
(5)Notwithstanding anything contained in a declaration of survey, if the owner of the vessel concerned has been convicted of—
(a)an offence under subsection (6) (c), or
(b)any other offence that, in the opinion of the Minister, is of such a nature that, in the interests of safety, the person should not be the holder of a certificate in relation to the vessel,
the Minister may refuse to grant a certificate in relation to the vessel to the person.
(6)If in respect of a vessel there is a failure or refusal to comply with a condition, restriction or requirement specified in the certificate relating to it, the owner (or, if the vessel is on hire, the person to whom it is on hire) and the master shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding F12[€5,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or
(b)on conviction on indictment of an offence consisting of a failure or refusal to comply with a condition or restriction specified in the certificate, to a fine not exceeding F12[€100,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both, or
(c)on conviction on indictment of an offence consisting of a failure or refusal to comply with a requirement specified in the certificate, to a fine not exceeding F12[€100,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
9. Revocation and suspension of certificate.
— (1)If the Minister is satisfied that—
(a)a declaration of survey on which a certificate was founded was in any material particular made erroneously,
(b)information furnished to the Minister in relation to the issue of a certificate was false or misleading in a material particular, or
(c)since the making of such a declaration as aforesaid, the hull, equipment or machinery of the vessel concerned has suffered any damage or the vessel has become unsuitable for the carriage of passengers or for the carriage of themaximum number of passengers specified in the certificate or for plying to the limits so specified,
he may, if he considers it appropriate to do so, revoke the certificate.
(2)The Minister may, if he considers it appropriate to do so, revoke or suspend a certificate if there is a failure or refusal to comply with a condition, restriction or requirement specified in the certificate.
F13[(2A) Where the Minister revokes or suspends a certificate in respect of a particular vessel, and is of opinion that it is in the interests of safety that the holder of the certificate should not be the holder of a certificate or licence in relation to other vessels, then the Minister may revoke or suspend any other certificate or licence held by the holder in relation to any other vessel.]
(3)If a certificate is suspended, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, refuse to remove the suspension unless the vessel concerned has been surveyed and a declaration of survey in respect of it has been delivered to its owner since the suspension.
10. Display of certificate.
— (1)Whenever a certificate is in force in relation to a vessel, the certificate or a copy thereof, shall be displayed in the vessel in a position in which it is visible to and legible by all persons on board.
(2) (a)If, without reasonable cause, there is a contravention of subsection (1) in respect of a vessel, the owner of the vessel shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F14[€1,000].
(b)If a vessel is being used as a passenger ship and there is, without reasonable cause, a contravention of subsection (1) in respect of the vessel, the owner and the master of the vessel shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F14[€5,000].
11. False declaration of survey or certificate.
— (1)A person shall not knowingly and wilfully make or assist in making, or procure the making of, a false or fraudulent declaration of survey or certificate or a fraudulent alteration of a declaration of survey or certificate.
(2)A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding F15[€5,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or
(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding F15[€100,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
12. Uncertificated passenger ship.
— (1)A vessel shall not be used as a passenger ship unless a certificate is in force in relation to it.
(2)If in respect of a vessel there is a contravention of subsection (1), the owner and the master of the vessel shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding F16[€5,000]or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or
(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding F16[€100,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
13. Insurance of passenger ships.
— (1)A vessel shall not be used as a passenger ship unless there is in force a policy of insurance under which the owner of the vessel or, if the vessel is on hire, the person to whom it is on hire is insured against any sum which he or his personal representative may become liable to pay by way of compensation, damages or costs in respect of injury, loss or damage to a passenger or property on the vessel, or to a person or property not on the vessel, caused by or arising out of the operation of the vessel.
This document does not substitute the official text published in the Irish Statute Book. We accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the transcription of the original into this format.