S.I. No. 312/1983:

MERCHANT SHIPPING (CARGO SHIP SAFETY EQUIPMENT SURVEY) RULES, 1983.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (CARGO SHIP SAFETY EQUIPMENT SURVEY) RULES, 1983.

I, JAMES MITCHELL, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 427 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (inserted by section 11 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952)) as amended by section 10 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 (No. 20 of 1966) and by section 6 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1981 (No. 33 of 1981), section 18 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 as amended by section 10 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1981 , section 19 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 as amended by section 11 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1981 , the Transport, Fuel and Power (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1959 ( S.I. No. 125 of 1959 ), and the Tourism and Transport (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1980 ( S.I. No. 11 of 1980 ) hereby make the following Rules--

1. (1) These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Survey) Rules, 1983, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of December, 1983.

(2) In these Rules--

"anniversary date" means the date in each year corresponding to the date of expiry of the cargo ship safety equipment certificate;

"international voyage" means a voyage from a port in one country to a port in another country;

"Marine Notice" means a notice described as such, issued by the Department of Transport;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Transport;

"nominated surveyor" means a surveyor nominated by the Minister to undertake the surveys required by these Rules and includes a marine surveyor of the Department of Transport;

"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the Minister;

"proper officer" means an Irish consul, a superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office or any officer in a port in the State exercising the functions of such a superintendent;

"safety equipment" means life-saving appliances, fire appliances, lights, shapes, means of making sound signals, pilot ladders and associated equipment, mechanical pilot hoists, echo-sounder installations, gyro compass installations, direction-finder installations and radar installations;

"safety rules" means the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 302 of 1983 ), the Merchant Shipping (Fire Appliances) (Post-1980 Ships) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 303 of 1983 ), the Merchant Shipping (Fire Appliances) (Amendment) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 304 of 1983 ), the Merchant Shipping (Fire Appliances) (Application to other Ships) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 305 of 1983 ), the Merchant Shipping (Fire Appliances) Rules, 1967 ( S.I. No. 101 of 1967 ), the Collision Regulations (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Order, 1977 ( S.I. No. 229 of 1977 ), the Signals of Distress (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Rules, 1977 ( S.I. No. 234 of 1977 ), the Merchant Shipping (Navigational Equipment) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 309 of 1983 ) and the Merchant Shipping (Pilot Ladders and Hoists) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 314 of 1983 );

"tanker" means a cargo ship constructed or adapted for the carriage in bulk of liquid cargoes of a flammable nature;

"tons" means gross tons and the gross tonnage of a ship having alternative gross tonnage shall be taken to be the larger of those tonnages;

2. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Rule, these Rules apply to sea-going ships registered in the State (except passenger ships, fishing vessels and pleasure craft) of 500 tons or over engaged in international voyages.

(2) The Minister may grant exemptions from all or any of the provisions of these Rules (as may be specified in the exemption) for classes of cases or individual cases on such terms (if any) as he may so specify and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

(3) Every ship in relation to which these Rules apply and in respect of which a safety equipment certificate has been issued before these Rules come into operation and remains in force, shall be surveyed in accordance with Rule 4 of these Rules not later than twelve months after these Rules come into operation unless, during that period, the ship is surveyed in accordance with Rule 3 of these Rules.

3. (1) The owner of every ship in relation to which these Rules apply and in respect of which a cargo ship safety equipment certificate has not been issued or requires to be renewed, shall cause the same to be surveyed by a nominated surveyor subject to the provisions of Rule 5 of these Rules and any application for a survey shall be accompanied by such information relating to the ship as the nominated surveyor may require for the purposes of the survey.

(2) Every application for the survey of a ship under this Rule shall be made by or on behalf of the owner of the ship to the Minister and be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

(3) The nominated surveyor shall, upon receipt of an application, survey the ship and satisfy himself that the safety equipment:

(a) complies with the requirements of the safety rules applicable to the ship, or is exempt from those requirements and

(b) is in all respects satisfactory for the service for which the ship is intended, having regard to the period for which a cargo ship safety equipment certificate in respect of the ship is to be issued.

(4) The nominated surveyor, if satisfied on the survey that he may properly do so, shall forward to the Minister a declaration of survey containing such particulars of the ship and its equipment as are required by the Minister to enable him to issue a cargo ship safety equipment certificate in respect of the ship.

4. (1) The owner of every ship in respect of which a cargo ship safety equipment certificate has been issued shall, subject to the requirements of Rules 2 (3) and 5 of these Rules and so long as the certificate remains in force, cause the ship to be surveyed at the interval and in the manner specified in paragraphs (2) and (4) of this Rule, for the purpose of seeing whether the certificate should remain in force, and if the ship is not so surveyed, the Minister may cancel the certificate.

(2) The survey shall be termed an intermediate survey in respect of tankers of ten years of age and over and an annual survey in respect of other ships. The survey shall be carried out within three months before or after the anniversary date of the cargo ship safety equipment certificate. The age of a ship shall be determined from the year of build as indicated on the ship's certificate of registry.

(3) Every application for the survey of a ship under this Rule shall be made by or on behalf of the owner of the ship to the Minister and any application for a survey shall be accompanied by such information relating to the ship as the Minister may require for the purposes of the survey and the prescribed fee.

(4) The nominated surveyor shall, upon receipt of an application, survey the ship in accordance with the procedures specified by the Minister in Marine Notice No. 28 of 1983 and shall satisfy himself:

(a) that such parts of the ship and its equipment specified in the Marine Notice as are the subject of the application for survey remain efficient; and

(b) that no material alterations have been made in the equipment of the ship to which the cargo ship safety equipment certificate relates without the approval of the Minister.

(5) On completion of the survey in accordance with the requirements of the preceding paragraph, the nominated surveyor shall, where he is so satisfied:

(a) in the case of an intermediate survey of a tanker of ten years of age and over, endorse the supplement to the cargo ship safety equipment certificate, or

(b) in the case of an annual survey, endorse the attachment to the cargo ship safety equipment certificate to that effect.

5. (1) A survey made pursuant to Rules 3 or 4 of these Rules in a port in the State or the territorial waters thereof shall be carried out by a marine surveyor of the Department of Transport.

(2) After the date on which these Rules come into operation, in every period of five years, at least one survey pursuant to Rules 3 or 4 shall be carried out by a marine surveyor of the Department of Transport.

6. (1) The owner or master of every ship in relation to which these Rules apply shall ensure that:

(a) the condition of the safety equipment is maintained so as to comply with the relevant safety rules;

(b) after any survey required by these Rules has been completed, no material change shall be made in the safety equipment subject to such survey without the approval of the Minister; and

(c) whenever an accident occurs to a ship or a defect is discovered either of which affects the safety of the ship or the efficiency or completeness of its safety equipment, it shall be reported at the earliest opportunity to the Minister or a proper officer, either of whom shall cause investigations to be initiated to determine whether a survey by a nominated surveyor is necessary and shall in that even require such a survey to be carried out. If the ship is in a port outside the State the master or owner shall, in addition, make such a report immediately to the appropriate authorities of the country in which the port is situated.

(2) The nominated surveyor shall ascertain from the appropriate authorities of the country in which the port is situated that the report referred to in paragraph (1) (c) of this Rule has been made.

7. (1) In any case where the nominated surveyor determines that the condition of the safety equipment does not correspond substantially with the particulars of the cargo ship safety equipment certificate or is such that the ship is not fit to proceed to sea without danger to the ship or persons on board, the nominated surveyor shall advise the owner or master of the corrective action which in his opinion is required, and shall notify the Minister.

(2) If such corrective action is not taken within such period (being a reasonable period) as the nominated surveyor may specify, the nominated surveyor shall, at the end of that time, immediately notify the Minister who may, on receipt of such notification, suspend the validity of the cargo ship safety equipment certificate issued in relation to the ship. The Minister shall give notice of any such suspension to the owner and to the nominated surveyor; the nominated surveyor shall notify the master.

(3) The master shall thereupon deliver up the certificate issued in relation to the ship to the nominated surveyor on demand and the owner shall on receipt of notice of suspension deliver up the duplicate certificate to the Minister.

(4) When the nominated surveyor is satisfied that corrective action has been taken he shall notify the Minister. The Minister shall thereupon, in any case where the validity of the certificate has been suspended:

(a) restore the validity of the certificate;

(b) give notice thereof to the owner; and

(c) return the duplicate certificate to the owner.

The nominated surveyor shall return the certificate issued in relation to the ship, to the master.

(5) Where the ship is not within a port in the State and corrective action in accordance with paragraph (2) of this Rule has not been taken, the nominated surveyor shall in addition immediately notify the appropriate authorities of the country in which the port is situated.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 18th day of October, 1983.

JAMES MITCHELL,

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Rules implement the provisions of the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, concerning safety equipment certification of cargo ships of 500 tons or over.