S.I. No. 55/1989:

MERCHANT SHIPPING (LIGHT DUES) ORDER, 1989.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (LIGHT DUES) ORDER, 1989.

I, BRENDAN DALY, Minister for the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Act, 1983 (No. 18 of 1983), and the Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1987 ( S.I. No. 91 of 1987 ), hereby order as follows:

(1) This Order may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1989.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on the 1st day of April, 1989.

2. In this Order "the Order of 1987" means the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1987 ( S.I. No. 333 of 1987 ).

3. The Second Schedule (inserted by the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1983 ( S.I. No. 247 of 1983 )) to the Merchant Shipping (Merchantile Marine Fund) Act, 1898, is hereby amended by--

( a ) the substitution for Part I (inserted by Article 3 of the Order of 1987) of the following:

"PART I

Scale of Payments

1. Sailing ships: £2.10 per 10 tons per voyage.

2. Ro/ro ferries: £3.70 per 10 tons per voyage on the first 1,000 tons, plus £7.40 per 10 tons per voyage on any excess over 1,000 tons.

3. Ships other than sailing ships and Ro/ro ferries: £4.20 per 10 tons per voyage.

4. In place of payments per voyage the following payments:

( a ) for pleasure yachts which the general lighthouse authority is satisfied are ordinarily kept or used outside the State, Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man, a payment in respect of any visit of: £2.10 per 10 tons for every period of 30 days or less comprised in such visit,

( b ) for tugs or pleasure yachts not included in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph an annual payment of: £25.20 per 10 tons.", and

( b ) the substitution for Part II of the following:

"PART II

Rules

1. ( a ) There shall be a minimum charge of £35 per voyage in respect of payments under paragraphs 1 to 3 of Part I of this Schedule.

( b ) There shall be a minimum charge of £7 for pleasure yachts covered by paragraph 4 (a) of Part I of this Schedule in respect of any period of 30 days or less in which dues are payable.

( c ) There shall be a minimum annual charge of £70 for tugs and pleasure yachts covered by paragraph 4 (b) of Part I of this Schedule.

2. In relation to paragraphs 1 to 3 of Part I of this Schedule a ship whether home trade or foreign-going shall not in any year be required to make payments on account of light dues for more than 7 voyages. The voyages of ships shall be determined in accordance with Rules 3 to 6 of these Rules, depending on whether they are home trade ships or foreign-going ships.

3. A ship shall not pay dues both as a home trade ship and as a foreign-going ship for the same voyage, but a ship, trading from a port outside home trade limits and discharging cargo or landing passengers or mails at any port within home trade limits, shall be deemed to be on one voyage as a foreign-going ship until she has arrived at the last port of discharge of cargo or landing of passengers or mails brought from beyond home trade limits; and a ship, trading to a port outside home trade limits and loading cargo or receiving passengers or mails at any port within home trade limits, shall be deemed to be on one voyage as a foreign-going ship from the time she starts from the first port of loading of cargo or receiving of passengers or mails destined for a port beyond home trade limits.

4. The voyage of a home trade ship shall be reckoned from port to port, but a home trade ship shall not be required to pay dues for more than 2 voyages in one month.

5. The voyage of a foreign-going ship trading outwards shall be reckoned from the first port of loading in the State, Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man of cargo destined for a port outside home trade limits.

6. The voyage of a foreign-going ship trading inwards shall be reckoned from her last port of loading outside home trade limits to the last port in the State, Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man at which any cargo laden outside those limits is discharged.

7. Dues payable per voyage under this Act shall be paid and shall be collected only at ports where a ship loads or discharges cargo or passengers or mails.

8. Every such payment as is referred to in paragraph 4 (a) of Part I of this Schedule shall be payable at the commencement of the period in respect of which it is made.

9. ( a ) The payment under paragraph 4 (b) of Part I of this Schedule shall be payable within 28 days after service of the notice of levy for that amount by a general lighthouse authority or its authorised collector provided that--

(i) a new vessel shall pay only £2.10 per 10 tons for each month after the date of her first registration until the 1st day of April following such registration;

(ii) there shall be a minimum charge of £7 in respect of any month in which dues are payable.

(b) A general lighthouse authority or its authorised collector shall serve notice of levy referred to above within the year or period in respect of which the payments are to be made. A notice of levy may be served by post and shall be treated as duly served if served on any one of the registered owners.

10. For the purposes of this Schedule--

(a) a ship's tonnage shall be its net or register tonnage (as the case may be) entered in its certificate of tonnage issued by or on behalf of the certifying authority of the administration or State of Registry, or in the case of an unregistered vessel, the tonnage reckoned in accordance with the Thames measurement adopted by Lloyd's Register;

(b) a year shall be reckoned from the 1st day of April in any year;

(c) in calculating any payment of light dues where the vessel's tonnage is not a multiple of 10 tons, any excess of 5 tons or less shall be rounded down and any excess of more than 5 tons shall be rounded up to the nearest such multiple;

(d) "Ro/ro ferry" means a ship--

(i) provided with cargo or road or rail vehicle spaces extending to either a substantial length or the entire length of the ship in which vehicles or cargo can be loaded or unloaded normally in a horizontal direction;

(ii) which operates on regular advertised services available to accompanied motor vehicles or unaccompanied trailers on payment of an advertised fare or similar tariff charge; and

(iii) engaged on voyages which begin or end in the State where neither the distance between the last outward port of call in the State and the final port of destination nor the return voyage exceeds 700 nautical miles. The final port of destination is the last port of call in the scheduled voyage at which the ship commences its return voyage to the State.".

4. The Order of 1987 is hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 21st day of March, 1989.

BRENDAN DALY.

Minister for the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order amends the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1983 in providing for:

(a) A common tariff for home trade and foreign-going ships (though the distinction is preserved chiefly for the purpose of determining the meaning of "voyage"). The rates for foreign-going ships remain the same; those for home trade ships are doubled per voyage but for a maximum of 7 rather than 14 liable voyages.

(b) A separate tariff for Ro/ro ferries.

(c) The ending of the concessionary rate for visiting cruise ships.

(d) Home trade ships not to be required to pay dues on more than two voyages a month (instead of three).

(e) The introduction of minimum charges: £35 per voyage where the charge is per voyage, £70 for tugs and pleasure yachts which pay an annual rate, and £7 per month for yachts which pay by the month.

(f) The introduction of requirements for the serving of notices of levy where the payments are annual; these payments are to be made within 28 days of issue of the notice.

(g) The definition of tonnage is amended to take account of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 which provides for 'net' rather than 'register' tonnage.