Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Act 2025

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Act 2025.

(2) The Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 2022 and this Act may be cited together as the Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 2025 and shall be construed together as one.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

2. Interpretation and application

2. (1) In this Act—

“Act of 2000” means the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000;

“appointed day” means the day appointed under section 6;

“Chief Investigator” means the person appointed under section 9(3)(a);

“conflicts of interest policy” has the meaning given to it in section 11(1);

“designated person” means a person designated pursuant to section 11(4);

“Directive” means Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009[^1] establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector and amending Council Directive 1999/35/EC and Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

“EMCIP” means European Marine Casualty Information Platform;

“EMSA” means European Maritime Safety Agency;

“IMO” means International Maritime Organization;

“investigator” means a person appointed under section 9(3)(b) and, unless the context otherwise requires, includes the Chief Investigator;

“investigator-in-charge” means an investigator who is responsible for the organisation, conduct and control of a marine safety investigation;

“Irish Coast Guard” means that part of the Department of Transport that is commonly known by that name;

“Irish ship” means a ship, other than a ship of war, known as such under section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955;

“Irish waters” includes the territorial sea, the waters on the landward side of the territorial sea, and the estuaries, rivers, lakes and other inland waters (whether or not artificially created or modified), of the State;

“MAIU” means the Marine Accident Investigation Unit;

“marine accident” means a marine casualty or a marine incident;

“Marine Accident Investigation Unit” has the meaning it is given in section 7;

“marine casualty” means an event, or a sequence of events, that has resulted in any of the following, which has occurred directly in connection with the operations of a ship:

(a) the death of, or serious injury to, a person;

(b) the loss of a person from a ship;

(c) the loss, presumed loss or abandonment of a ship;

(d) material damage to a ship;

(e) the stranding or disabling of a ship, or the involvement of a ship in a collision;

(f) material damage to marine infrastructure external to a ship that could seriously endanger the safety of the ship, another ship or an individual;

(g) severe damage to the environment, or the potential for severe damage to the environment, brought about by the damage of a ship or ships,

but does not include a deliberate act or omission done with the intention to cause harm to the safety of a ship, an individual or the environment;

“marine incident” means an event, or a sequence of events, other than a marine casualty, which has occurred directly in connection with the operations of a ship that endangered, or, if not corrected, would endanger the safety of the ship, its occupants or any other person or the environment, but does not include a deliberate act or omission done with the intention to cause harm to the safety of a ship, an individual or the environment;

“marine safety investigation” means an investigation into a marine accident, conducted with the objective of preventing marine casualties and marine incidents in the future and includes the collection of and analysis of evidence, the identification of causal factors and the making of safety recommendations as necessary;

“Marine Survey Office” means that part of the Department of Transport that is commonly known by that name;

“MCIB” means the Marine Casualty Investigation Board established by section 7 of the Act of 2000;

“Member State” means a state, other than the State, that is a Member State of the European Union;

“Minister” means Minister for Transport;

“personal watercraft” means a ship (other than a recreational craft) of less than 7 metres in length overall 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;

“preliminary assessment”, in relation to a marine accident, means the carrying out of an initial assessment of the marine accident in order to determine whether a marine safety investigation is warranted;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

“recreational craft” means a ship not engaged for the purposes of trade and intended for sports and leisure purposes, but does not include a personal watercraft or a small fast powered craft;

“Regulations of 2011” means the European Communities (Merchant Shipping) (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 276 of 2011);

“safety recommendation” means any proposal made, including for the purposes of registration and control, by the MAIU after having carried out a marine safety investigation on the basis of information derived from that investigation;

“ship” means a vessel or craft, other than a seaplane, which is capable of being used, or intended to be used, for navigation or transportation on water;

“small fast powered craft” means a ship (other than a recreational craft) of less than 7 metres in length overall with a total propulsion engine power of equal to or greater than 150 kW;

“vehicle” means any conveyance in or by which any person or thing, or both, is or are, as the case may be, transported, which is designed for use on land, in water or in the air, or in more than one of those ways, and includes—

(a) a part of a vehicle,

(b) an article designed as a vehicle but not capable of functioning as a vehicle, and

(c) any container, trailer, tank or any other thing which is or may be used for the storage of goods in the course of carriage and is designed or constructed to be placed on, in, or attached to, any vehicle;

“very serious marine casualty” means a marine casualty involving the total loss of a ship, the death of a person, or severe damage to the environment.

(2) Parts 1 to 3 apply to marine accidents involving—

(a) a ship in Irish waters,

(b) an Irish ship, in waters anywhere, or

(c) a substantial interest of the State, irrespective of the location of the marine accident and of the flag of the ship or ships involved.

(3) Parts 1 to 3 shall not apply to marine accidents involving only ships of the Naval Service of the Defence Forces.

(4) A word or expression used in Parts 1 to 3 that is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Act as it has in the Directive.

3. Regulations

3. (1) The Minister may by regulations provide for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Regulations made under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(3) Every order, other than an order under section 1(3) or 6, regulation or rule made by the Minister 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 is passed by either such House within the next 21 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.

4. Expenses of Minister

4. The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.

5. Repeals and revocations

5. Subject to Part 4—

(a) the Act of 2000 is repealed on the appointed day, and

(b) the Regulations of 2011 are revoked on the appointed day.

PART 2 Marine Accident Investigation Unit

6. Appointed day

6. The Minister shall, by order, appoint a day to be the appointed day for the purposes of this Act.

7. Marine Accident Investigation Unit

7. (1) There shall be a unit within the Department of Transport which shall be known as the Marine Accident Investigation Unit (in this Act referred to as the “MAIU”) to perform the functions assigned to it under this Act or any other enactment.

(2) The MAIU shall come into being on the appointed day.

(3) The MAIU shall be independent, in its organisation and in the performance of its functions under section 8, of any person or body whose interests could conflict with its functions.

(4) The MAIU is designated as the marine safety investigation authority for the purposes of Article 8 of the Directive.

(5) The MAIU shall be given the means necessary for it to perform its functions under this Act.

8. Functions of MAIU

8. The functions of the MAIU shall be—

(a) subject to section 16, to conduct marine safety investigations in respect of very serious marine casualties and, where it considers it warranted after the carrying out of a preliminary assessment, other marine accidents,

(b) to carry out preliminary assessments of marine accidents,

(c) to establish the cause of a marine accident that it investigates,

(d) to make safety recommendations,

(e) to prepare and publish annual and other reports on each marine safety investigation it carries out, in accordance with sections 15 and 32,

(f) to engage with stakeholders for the purposes of assisting the MAIU with a marine safety investigation,

(g) to gather and analyse data relating to maritime safety, in particular for the purposes of the prevention of marine accidents, in so far as these activities do not affect its independence or entail responsibility in regulatory, administration or standardisation matters, and

(h) to promote maritime safety.

9. Appointment of investigators

9. (1) The MAIU shall be staffed with investigators who possess the requisite independence, qualifications and experience, who shall perform the functions of the MAIU.

(2) The MAIU shall be led by an investigator known as the Chief Investigator.

(3) The Public Appointments Service shall recommend to the Minister after competitions held by the Public Appointments Service for that purpose—

(a) a person for appointment by the Minister to the role of Chief Investigator, and

(b) persons for appointment by the Minister to the role of investigators.

(4) An investigator shall be furnished with a warrant of the investigator’s appointment and, when performing a function of the MAIU under this Act the investigator shall, if so required by any person affected, produce the warrant or copy of it to that person.

10. Functions of Chief Investigator

10. (1) The Chief Investigator shall—

(a) carry on and manage, and control generally, the administration and business of the MAIU,

(b) be the investigator-in-charge in respect of marine safety investigations or, where he or she considers it appropriate to do so, appoint another investigator as investigator-in-charge in relation to a particular marine safety investigation,

(c) provide the Minister with information (including financial information) relating to the performance by the Chief Investigator and the MAIU of their respective functions,

(d) manage the application of the policy published by the Minister pursuant to section 11(1), and

(e) manage the compliance of the MAIU with the independence requirements of Article 8 of the Directive and this Act.

(2) The Chief Investigator shall, having regard to section 7(5), make recommendations to the Minister, with respect to the level of staffing of the MAIU as the Chief Investigator considers necessary for the performance of the functions of the MAIU.

(3) The Chief Investigator shall not receive instruction from any officer of the Minister whose decision-making relates to any of the following:

(a) seaworthiness of ships;

(b) certification of compliance of ships or seafarers with maritime safety regulations;

(c) inspection of ships or ship operations to determine compliance with maritime safety regulations;

(d) manning of ships;

(e) safe navigation on water;

(f) construction, maintenance and repair of ships;

(g) vessel traffic and routing;

(h) port State control;

(i) flag state implementation;

(j) operation of seaports and harbours.

(4) The Chief Investigator may delegate the performance of any of his or her functions under subsection (1) to another investigator.

11. Conflicts of interest

11. (1) The Minister shall, within 6 months of the commencement of this section and thereafter where a decision to revise has been made under subsection (10)(b) or section 13(5), in consultation with the Chief Investigator, the designated person referred to in subsection (4) and any other person that the Minister considers appropriate, prepare and publish a policy (in this Act referred to as the ‘conflicts of interest policy’).

(2) The purpose of the conflicts of interest policy shall be to ensure the independence of the MAIU and the independence and impartiality of investigators.

(3) The conflicts of interest policy shall include processes and procedures in relation to—

(a) the identification of conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest,

(b) the stages at which conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest may arise,

(c) the identification of persons in relation to whom conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest may arise,

(d) the identification of persons who should be consulted in relation to the conflicts of interest policy, and

(e) processes for the disclosure of conflicts of interest.

(4) The Minister shall, before the appointed day and, subject to subsection (6), as the need arises thereafter, designate one of his or her officers (in this Act referred to as the “designated person”), being an officer who does not perform any functions that could conflict with the functions of the MAIU, to be a designated person for the purposes of this Part.

(5) The functions of the designated person shall be the following:

(a) to manage conflicts of interest that may arise in the MAIU;

(b) to advise the Minister in relation to the operation of the conflicts of interest policy and, where from time to time it becomes advisable to review the policy, of this fact and of the reasons for it;

(c) to manage matters relating to confidentiality that may arise in the MAIU.

(6) The designated person shall remain in his or her role until he or she dies, retires, resigns or comes to a mutual agreement with the Minister to no longer continue in that capacity and, in that event, the Minister shall designate another person under subsection (4).

(7) An investigator shall not be an employee or board member of any company or body that carries on activities that could conflict with the functions of the MAIU.

(8) Where an investigator, not being the Chief Investigator, believes that performing any of his or her functions in respect of a particular marine safety investigation would—

(a) potentially create a conflict of interest, the investigator shall recuse himself or herself from involvement in the investigation in question and shall notify the designated person and the Chief Investigator of the recusal, or

(b) reasonably give rise to the perception of a conflict of interest, the investigator shall notify the Chief Investigator and shall, where the Chief Investigator is of the view that it is the appropriate course of action, recuse himself or herself from the investigation in question.

(9) Where the Chief Investigator believes that—

(a) performing any of his or her functions in respect of a marine safety investigation would potentially create a conflict of interest or give rise to the perception of any conflict of interest, or

(b) an issue has arisen that may compromise the independence of the MAIU,

he or she shall disclose this view to the designated person and where the circumstances referred to in paragraph (a) arise, shall recuse himself or herself from the investigation in question and the designated person may, where the Chief Investigator is the investigator-in-charge of the investigation, appoint another investigator to be the investigator-in-charge.

(10) Where the designated person receives a notification under subsection (8)(a) or a disclosure under subsection (9), he or she shall—

(a) in the case of a disclosure under subsection (9), notify the unit within the Department of Transport that is responsible for human resources, which may carry out an enquiry as to whether there has been a breach of the conflicts of interest policy, and

(b) in either case form a view as to whether or not there should be a review of the conflicts of interest policy and, if he or she is of the view that a review is required, inform the Minister and the Chief Investigator of that view and of the reasons for it and the Minister shall decide whether to revise the conflicts of interest policy and subsection (1) shall apply to any such revision.

12. Removal from marine safety investigation

12. Where, following an enquiry under section 11(10)(a), the unit within the Department of Transport that is responsible for human resources determines that an investigator has breached the conflicts of interest policy—