Merchant Shipping Act 1995

PART I — BRITISH SHIPS

British ships and United Kingdom ships

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• (1) A ship is a British ship if—

• (a) the ship is registered in the United Kingdom under Part II; or

• (b) the ship is, as a Government ship, registered in the United Kingdom in pursuance of an Order in Council under section 308; or

• (c) the ship is registered under the law of a relevant British possession; or

• (d) the ship is a small ship other than a fishing vessel and—

• (i) is not registered under Part II, but

• (ii) is wholly owned by qualified owners, and

• (iii) is not registered under the law of a country outside the United Kingdom.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) above—

• “qualified owners” means persons of such description qualified to own British ships as is prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of that paragraph; and

• “small ship” means a ship less than 24 metres in length (“length” having the same meaning as in the tonnage regulations).

• (3) A ship is a “United Kingdom ship” for the purposes of this Act (except section 85 and 144(3)) if the ship is registered in the United Kingdom under Part II (and in Part V “United Kingdom fishing vessel” has a corresponding meaning).

British flag

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• (1) The flag which every British ship is entitled to fly is the red ensign (without any defacement or modification) and, subject to subsections (2) and (3) below, no other colours.

• (2) Subsection (1) above does not apply to Government ships.

• (3) The following are also proper national colours, that is to say—

• (a) any colours allowed to be worn in pursuance of a warrant from Her Majesty or from the Secretary of State;

• (b) in the case of British ships registered in a relevant British possession, any colours consisting of the red ensign defaced or modified whose adoption for ships registered in that possession is authorised or confirmed by Her Majesty by Order in Council.

• (4) Any Order under subsection (3)(b) above shall be laid before Parliament after being made.

Offences relating to British character of ship

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• (1) If the master or owner of a ship which is not a British ship does anything, or permits anything to be done, for the purpose of causing the ship to appear to be a British ship then, except as provided by subsections (2) and (3) below, the ship shall be liable to forfeiture and the master, the owner and any charterer shall each be guilty of an offence.

• (2) No liability arises under subsection (1) above where the assumption of British nationality has been made for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy or by a foreign ship of war in the exercise of some belligerent right.

• (3) Where the registration of any ship has terminated by virtue of any provision of registration regulations, any marks prescribed by registration regulations displayed on the ship within the period of 14 days beginning with the date of termination of that registration shall be disregarded for the purposes of subsection (1) above.

• (4) If the master or owner of a British ship does anything, or permits anything to be done, for the purpose of concealing the nationality of the ship, the ship shall be liable to forfeiture and the master, the owner and any charterer of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence.

• (5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (4) above, those subsections apply in particular to acts or deliberate omissions as respects—

• (a) the flying of a national flag;

• (b) the carrying or production of certificates of registration or other documents relating to the nationality of the ship; and

• (c) the display of marks required by the law of any country.

• (6) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000 a fine;

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine, or both.

• (7) This section applies to things done outside, as well as to things done within, the United Kingdom.

Penalty for carrying improper colours

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• (1) If any of the following colours, namely—

• (a) any distinctive national colours except—

• (i) the red ensign,

• (ii) the Union flag (commonly known as the Union Jack) with a white border, or

• (iii) any colours authorised or confirmed under section 2(3)(b); or

• (b) any colours usually worn by Her Majesty’s ships or resembling those of Her Majesty, or

• (c) the pendant usually carried by Her Majesty’s ships or any pendant resembling that pendant,

are hoisted on board any British ship without warrant from Her Majesty or from the Secretary of State, the master of the ship, or the owner of the ship (if on board), and every other person hoisting them shall be guilty of an offence.

• (2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) above shall be liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

• (3) If any colours are hoisted on board a ship in contravention of subsection (1) above, any of the following, namely—

• (a) any commissioned naval or military officer,

• (b) any officer of customs and excise, and

• (c) any British consular officer,

may board the ship and seize and take away the colours.

• (4) Any colours seized under subsection (3) above shall be forfeited to Her Majesty.

• (5) In this section “colours” includes any pendant.

Duty to show British flag

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• (1) Subject to subsection (2) below, a British ship, other than a fishing vessel, shall hoist the red ensign or other proper national colours—

• (a) on a signal being made to the ship by one of Her Majesty’s ships (including any ship under the command of a commissioned naval officer); and

• (b) on entering or leaving any foreign port; and

• (c) in the case of ships of 50 or more tons gross tonnage, on entering or leaving any British port.

• (2) Subsection (1)(c) above does not apply to a small ship (as defined in section 1(2)) registered under Part II.

Duty to declare national character of ship

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• (1) An officer of customs and excise shall not grant a clearance or transire for any ship until the master of such ship has declared to that officer the name of the nation to which he claims that the ship belongs, and that officer shall thereupon enter that name on the clearance or transire.

• (2) If a ship attempts to proceed to sea without such clearance or transire, the ship may be detained until the declaration is made.

Proceedings on forfeiture of a ship

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• (1) Where any ship has either wholly or as to any share in it become liable to forfeiture under this Part—

• (a) any commissioned naval or military officer, or

• (b) any person appointed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section;

may seize and detain the ship and bring the ship for adjudication before the court.

• (2) Where a ship is subject to adjudication under this section the court may—

• (a) adjudge the ship and her equipment to be forfeited to Her Majesty; and

• (b) make such order in the case as seems just.

• (3) No officer or person bringing proceedings under this section shall be liable in damages in respect of the seizure or detention of the ship, notwithstanding that the ship has not been proceeded against or, if proceeded against, adjudicated not liable to forfeiture, if the court is satisfied that there were reasonable grounds for the seizure or detention.

• (4) If the court is not so satisfied the court may award costs (or in Scotland expenses) and damages to the party aggrieved and make such other order as the court thinks just.

• (5) In this section “the court” means the High Court or, in Scotland, the Court of Session.

Part II — Registration

General

Central register of British ships

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• (1) There shall continue to be a register of British ships for all registrations of ships in the United Kingdom.

• (2) The register shall be maintained by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen as registrar.

• (3) The Secretary of State may designate any person to discharge, on behalf of the registrar, all his functions or such of them as the Secretary of State may direct.

• (4) The Secretary of State may give to the registrar directions of a general nature as to the discharge of any of his functions.

• (5) The register shall be so constituted as to distinguish, in a separate part, registrations of fishing vessels and may be otherwise divided into parts so as to distinguish between classes or descriptions of ships.

• (6) The register shall be maintained in accordance with registration regulations and the private law provisions for registered ships and any directions given by the Secretary of State under subsection (4) above.

• (7) The register shall be available for public inspection.

Registration of ships: basic provisions

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• (1) A ship is entitled to be registered if—

• (a) it is owned, to the prescribed extent, by persons qualified to own British ships; and

• (b) such other conditions are satisfied as are prescribed under subsection (2)(b) below;

(and any application for registration is duly made).

• (2) It shall be for registration regulations—

• (a) to determine the persons who are qualified to be owners of British ships, or British ships of any class or description, and to prescribe the extent of the ownership required for compliance with subsection (1)(a) above;

• (b) to prescribe other requirements designed to secure that, taken in conjunction with the requisite ownership, only ships having a British connection are registered.

• (3) The registrar may, nevertheless, if registration regulations so provide, refuse to register or terminate the registration of a ship if, having regard to any relevant requirements of this Act, he considers it would be inappropriate for the ship to be or, as the case may be, to remain registered.

• (4) The registrar may, if registration regulations so provide, register a fishing vessel notwithstanding that the requirement of subsection (1)(a) above is not satisfied in relation to a particular owner of a share in the vessel if the vessel otherwise has a British connection.

• (5) Where a ship becomes registered at a time when it is already registered under the law of a country other than the United Kingdom, the owner of the ship shall take all reasonable steps to secure the termination of the ship’s registration under the law of that country.

• (6) Subsection (5) above does not apply to a ship which becomes registered on a transfer of registration to the register from a relevant British possession.

• (7) Any person who contravenes subsection (5) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

• (8) In this section “the relevant requirements of this Act” means the requirements of this Act (including requirements falling to be complied with after registration) relating to—

• (a) the condition of ships or their equipment so far as relevant to their safety or any risk of pollution; and

• (b) the safety, health and welfare of persons employed or engaged in them.

• (9) In this Part references to a ship’s having a British connection are references to compliance with the conditions of entitlement imposed by subsection (1)(a) and (b) above and “declaration of British connection” is to be construed accordingly.

Registration regulations

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• (1) The Secretary of State shall by regulations (to be known as registration regulations) make provision for and in connection with the registration of ships as British ships.

• (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, registration regulations may, in particular, make provision with respect to any of the following matters—

• (a) the persons by whom and the manner in which applications in connection with registration are to be made;

• (b) the information and evidence (including declarations of British connection) to be provided in connection with such applications and such supplementary information or evidence as may be required by any specified authority;

• (c) the shares in the property in, and the numbers of owners (including joint owners) of, a ship permitted for the purposes of registration and the persons required or permitted to be registered in respect of a ship or to be so registered in specified circumstances;

• (d) the issue of certificates (including provisional certificates) of registration, their production and surrender;

• (e) restricting and regulating the names of ships registered or to be registered;

• (f) the marking of ships registered or to be registered, including marks for identifying the port to which a ship is to be treated as belonging;

• (g) the period for which registration is to remain effective without renewal;

• (h) the production to the registrar of declarations of British connection or other information relating thereto, as respects registered ships, at specified intervals or at his request;

• (i) the survey and inspection of ships registered or to be registered and the recording of their tonnage as ascertained (or re-ascertained) under the tonnage regulations;

• (j) the refusal, suspension and termination of registration in specified circumstances;

• (k) matters arising out of the expiration, suspension or termination of registration (including the removal of marks and the cancellation of certificates);

• (l) the charging of fees in connection with registration or registered ships;

• (m) the transfer of the registration of ships to and from the register from and to registers or corresponding records in countries other than the United Kingdom;

• (n) inspection of the register;

• (o) any other matter which is authorised or required by this Part to be prescribed in registration regulations;

but no provision determining, or providing for determining, the fees to be charged or prescribing any arrangements for their determination by other persons shall be made without the approval of the Treasury.

• (3) Registration regulations may—

• (a) make different provision for different classes or descriptions of ships and for different circumstances;

• (b) without prejudice to paragraph (a) above, make provision for the granting of exemptions or dispensations by the Secretary of State from specified requirements of the regulations, subject to such conditions (if any) as he thinks fit to impose; and

• (c) make such transitional, incidental or supplementary provision as appears to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient, including provision authorising investigations and conferring powers of inspection for verifying the British connection of a ship.

• (4) Registration regulations—

• (a) may make provision for the registration of any class or description of ships to be such as to exclude the application of the private law provisions for registered ships and, if they do, may regulate the transfer, transmission or mortgaging of ships of the class or description so excluded;

• (b) may make provision for any matter which is authorised or required by those provisions to be prescribed by registration regulations; and

• (c) shall make provision precluding notice of any trust being entered in the register or being receivable by the registrar except as respects specified classes or descriptions of ships or in specified circumstances.

• (5) Registration regulations may create offences subject to the limitation that no offence shall be punishable with imprisonment or punishable on summary conviction with a fine exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

• (6) Registration regulations may provide for—

• (a) the approval of forms by the Secretary of State; and

• (b) the discharge of specified functions by specified authorities or persons.

• (7) Registration regulations may provide for any of their provisions to extend to places outside the United Kingdom.

• (8) Any document purporting to be a copy of any information contained in an entry in the register and to be certified as a true copy by the registrar shall be evidence (and, in Scotland, sufficient evidence) of the matters stated in the document.

• (9) Registration regulations may provide that any reference in any other Act or in any instrument made under any other Act to the port of registry or the port to which a ship belongs shall be construed as a reference to the port identified by the marks required for the purpose by registration regulations.

Tonnage ascertained for registration to be tonnage of ship

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When the tonnage of any ship has been ascertained and registered in accordance with the tonnage regulations that tonnage shall be treated as the tonnage of the ship except so far as registration regulations provide, in specified circumstances, for the ship to be re-measured and the register amended accordingly.

Tonnage of ships of foreign countries adopting tonnage regulations

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• (1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make such provision in relation to the ships of a foreign country as is authorised by this section where it appears to Her that the tonnage regulations have been adopted by the foreign country and are in force there.

• (2) An Order under this section may order that the ships of the foreign country shall, without being re-measured in the United Kingdom, be treated as being of the tonnage denoted by their certificates of registration or other national papers, to the same extent, and for the same purposes as the tonnage denoted in the certificate of registration of a United Kingdom ship is treated as being the tonnage of that ship.