S.I. No. 370/1988:

MERCHANT SHIPPING (CLOSING OF OPENINGS IN ENCLOSED SUPERSTRUCTURES AND IN BULKHEADS ABOVE THE BULKHEAD DECK) RULES, 1988.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (CLOSING OF OPENINGS IN ENCLOSED SUPERSTRUCTURES AND IN BULKHEADS ABOVE THE BULKHEAD DECK) RULES, 1988.

I, BRENDAN DALY, Minister for the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 33 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952), and the Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions), Order, 1987 ( S.I. No. 91 of 1987 ), hereby make the following Rules:--

1. (1) These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Closing of Openings in Enclosed Superstructures and in Bulkheads above the Bulkhead Deck) Rules, 1988.

(2) ( a ) Subject to subparagraph (b), these Rules shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1989.

( b ) Rule 10 (2) (b) of these Rules shall come into operation on the 1st day of March, 1989.

2. (1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires--

"bulkhead deck" means the uppermost deck up to which transverse watertight bulkheads are carried;

"doors" includes bow visors and appliances described in Rule 4 (1) (c);

"enclosed superstructure" means a superstructure:--

( a ) which has enclosing bulkheads of efficient construction in which all access openings are fitted with sills and weathertight doors, and

( b ) in which all other openings in the sides or ends or superstructure deck thereof are fitted with efficient weathertight means of closing;

"length" means the ship's overall length;

"locked" means secured by a device which prevents unauthorised operation;

"margin line" has the same meaning as the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) Rules, 1985 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1985 );

"Marine Notice" means a notice described as such and issued by the Minister;

"the Minister" means the Minister for the Marine;

"passenger ship" means a ship for the carriage of more than 12 passengers and propelled by electricity or other mechanical power;

"required to be watertight" means required by the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) Rules, 1985 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1985 ), to be watertight;

"required to be weathertight" means required by the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 300 of 1983 ), to be weathertight;

"ro/ro passenger ship" means a passenger ship provided with cargo or vehicle spaces in which vehicles or cargo can be loaded and unloaded in a horizontal direction;

"superstructure" means a decked structure situated on or above the bulkhead deck which either extends from side to side of the ship or is such that its side plating is not inboard of the shell plating of the ship by more than 4 per cent of the breadth of the ship; and, where the bulkhead deck of the ship consists of a lower deck, includes that part of the hull of the ship which extends above the bulkhead deck;

"superstructure deck" means a deck forming the top of a superstructure;

"watertight" and "weathertight" have the same meanings as in the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) Rules, 1985 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1985 ), and the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 300 of 1983 ), respectively.

(2) For the purpose of these Rules a voyage commences when a ship leaves its berth or anchorage at a port.

(3) For the purpose of these Rules, a door shall be deemed to be above the margin line if the sill of the opening with which it is associated is above that line.

(4) A reference in these Rules to the owner shall, in the case of a ship managed by a person other than its owner (whether on behalf of the owher or some other person or on his own behalf), be construed as including a reference to that person.

(5) A reference in these Rules to numbered Rule is a reference to the Rule of that number in these Rules.

(6) A reference to a Marine Notice includes a reference to any subsequent Marine Notice amending or replacing the Marine Notice.

3. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Rule these Rules apply to ro/ro passenger ships registered in the State and to other ro/ro ships while they are within a port in the State.

(2) Paragraphs (2) and (3) of Rule 6, paragraphs (1) and (2) (in so far as they relate to a berth outside the State) of Rule 9 and Rule 10 (2) shall not apply to ships registered outside the State.

(3) These Rules shall not apply to any ro/ro passenger ship which is not registered in the State by reason of her being within a port in the State if she would not have been therein but for stress of weather or any other circumstance which could not have been prevented by the master, the owner or the charterer (if any).

4. (1) The following loading doors in a ro/ro passenger ship:

( a ) gangway and cargo loading doors fitted in the shell or boundaries of enclosed superstructures,

( b ) bow visors so fitted,

( c ) weathertight ramps so fitted and used instead of doors for closing openings for cargo vehicle loading, and

( d ) cargo loading doors in the collision bulkhead.

shall be closed and locked before the ship leaves its berth and shall be kept closed and locked until the ship has been secured at its next berth:

Provided that where a bow visor or a weathertight ramp of the type described in subparagraph (1) (c) of this Rule cannot be opened or closed while the ship is secured at its berth it may be opened or left open while the ship approaches or draws away from its berth, as the case may be, but only in so far as is necessary to enable the door to be then opened or closed and subject to the limitation that in no case shall such a door be opened when the ship is more than one ship's length from the cargo loading or discharging position of its berth.

(2) Paragraph (1) of this Rule shall not apply to small doors intended to be used for pilot access, fuelling or other matters necessary for the operation of the ship, but not intended to be used by passengers or for loading cargo.

5. (1) Closure of the doors specified in Rule 4 (1) shall be supervision and checked by an officer appointed for that purpose by the reporting of master of the ship concerned.

(2) When such a door is closed, the officer appointed under paragraph (1) of this Rule to check its closure shall report to the master (or an officer in charge of the bridge) before the ship proceeds on any voyage that it is closed and locked.

6. (1) Watertight or weathertight doors above the margin line (except doors fitted in collision bulkheads to which Rule 4 applies) which are fitted in bulkheads which are required to be watertight or weathertight, as the case may be, and which separate or form the ship boundary of cargo spaces shall be closed and locked before the ship leaves its berth and shall be kept closed and locked until the ship has been secured at its next berth.

(2) Watertight and weathertight doors above the margin line fitted in bulkheads which are required to be watertight or weathertight, other than those doors described in Rule 4 (1) and paragraph (1) of this Rule, shall be kept closed whilst the ship is on any voyage except when open on the express authority of the master.

Any watertight or weathertight door which may be opened in accordance with paragraph (2) of this Rule shall be kept clear of obstructions which might prevent its rapid closure.

7. Notwithstanding the provisions of Rules 4 (1) and 6 (1), gangway and cargo loading doors may be opened in an emergency but only when the master considers such opening will not put the safety of the ship at risk.

8. Entries shall be made in the official log book of a ro/ro passenger ship recording the following:--

( a ) the times of the last closing, before the ship proceeds on any voyage, of the watertight and weathertight doors referred to in Rules 4 and 6 and of the next opening of such doors;

( b ) the times of the opening and closing of any watertight and weathertight door pursuant to Rules 6 (2) and 7.

9. (1) The owner of a ro/ro passenger ship shall ensure that the ship is provided with a list (in this Rule referred to as "the Berth List") of all loading berths at which it is intended that the ship shall load or discharge cargo or vehicles.

(2) The Berth List shall list separately for each port which the ship is intended to visit to load or discharge cargo or vehicles--

( a ) the loading berths at which the ship in question can, when so loading or discharging, comply with the requirements of Rule 4 (1) of these Rules without relying on the proviso thereto, and

( b ) where it is intended that the ship shall so load or discharge in the manner permitted by that proviso, the loading berths at which it will so load or discharge.

The berths of the type described in sub-paragraph (2) (b) of this Rule shall be listed separately from those of the type described in subparagraph (2) (a) of this Rule.

(3) A copy of the ship's Berth List shall be supplied to the Minister as soon as may be after its completion and thereafter at least once in each year.

(4) A ro/ro passenger ship shall not, except in an emergency, load or discharge cargo or vehicles through a loading door at any berth which is not listed in the ship's Berth List and in the copy thereof supplied to the Minister.

10. (1) The owner of a ro/ro passenger ship shall ensure that the ship is providing with written operational instructions concerning the doors to which these Rules apply.

(2) Such written instructions shall be--

( a ) based upon the advice contained in a Marine Notice (being a notice described as such and issued by the Minister) or

( b ) approved of by the Minister.

(3) The instructions shall include the following information:--

( a ) the circumstances in which the doors to which these Rules apply may be opened and are required to be closed,

( b ) a list of the small doors described in Rule 4 (2),

( c ) the requirements in relation to the verification and reporting of the closure of doors,

( d ) procedures for opening doors in an emergency,

( e ) the entries required by these Rules to be made in the official log book of the ship, and

( f ) a reference to the Berth List and any additional information relating thereto which may be necessary together with a clear statement that loading and discharging may be done only at the berths listed in the Berth List.

(4) The instructions aforesaid shall be kept on the ship at all times in the custody of the master.

11. A door or bow visor shall not be opened or closed on a ro/ro passenger ship except in compliance with the written instructions provided in accordance with Rule 10.

12. An officer appointed in accordance with Rule 5 (1) of these Rules shall not report a door to be closed when it is not in fact closed and locked.

13. It shall be a defence to a charge of an offence under these Rules for the person charged to show that he took all reasonable steps to avoid the commission of the offence.

14. (1) The Minister may, subject to such conditions (if any) as he may specify, exempt any class of ships from the provisions of any of these Rules and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any exemption so granted.

(2) An exemption under this Rule may, upon giving reasonable notice of his intention to do so to those concerned, be revoked by the Minister.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 31st day of December, 1988.

BRENDAN DALY,

Minister for the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Rules apply to ro/ro passenger ships registered in the State and to ro/ro passenger ships other than those registered in the State while they are within a port in the State and include such requirements as appear necessary to implement and impose additional, more precise requirements, for the control of watertight and weathertight doors fitted in the hull and enclosed superstructures above the bulkhead deck and for the supervision of their closing and for relevant entries in the official log book.