S.I. No. 548/1998:

MERCHANT SHIPPING (PASSENGER SHIPS) REGULATIONS, 1998

MERCHANT SHIPPING (PASSENGER SHIPS) REGULATIONS, 1998

I, MICHAEL WOODS, Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by Section 7 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992 (No. 2 of 1992) and the Marine (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 301 of 1997 ) and for the purposes of giving effect to Council Directive 98/18/EC of 17 March, 1998¹, hereby make the following Regulations:

¹ O.J. No. L144, 15.5.98, p.1

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships) Regulations, 1998, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1999.

2. (1) In these Regulations,

"Directive" means council Directive 98/18/EC of 17 March, 1998;

"Minister" means the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources;

"SOLAS Convention" means the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended by the 1978 Protocol thereto, as reproduced in the publication "SOLAS Consolidated Edition, 1997, consolidated text of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 and its Protocol of 1978: articles, annexes and certificates", published by the International Maritime Organisation, London, 1997.

"Marine Notice" means a Notice described as such issued by the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources and which may be amended or replaced from time to time;

Whenever the words "the Administration" or "the Government" appear in the SOLAS Convention or the Directive, they shall be construed as meaning the Minister or in the case of a ship registered outside the State, the Government or the maritime administration of the Flag State concerned.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.

(3) Any reference to the SOLAS Convention or the Directive shall include a reference to any document amending same which is considered by the Minister to be relevant from time to time and is specified in a Marine Notice;

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

(5) The Rules and Regulations specified in the Schedule to these Regulations shall not apply to ships to which these Regulations apply.

3. These Regulations apply to ships engaged on domestic voyages when such ships are

• new passenger ships;

• existing passenger ships of 24 metres in length and over;

• high speed passenger ships,

as defined in Article 3(1) of the Directive, other than the classes of ships referred to in Article 3(2) of the Directive.

4. A passenger ship of any class to which these Regulations apply shall comply with the construction, survey, equipment and operational requirements for that class of ships specified in the Directive.

5. Ships to which these Regulations apply shall be designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the hull, main and auxiliary machinery and electrical and automatic plant standards specified for classification by the rules of an organisation recognised under Council Regulation 94/57/EC of 22 November, 1994² and authorised by the Minister in that behalf. Such rules shall be those in force at the date of the ship's construction.

² O.J. No. L319, 12.12.94, p.20

6. In satisfying himself that it is proper to issue a declaration of survey under Section 7 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992 (No. 2 of 1992) in respect of a passenger ship to which these Regulations apply a surveyor shall have regard to whether the requirements of Regulation 4 and Regulation 5 have been met.

SCHEDULE

GIVEN UNDER MY OFFICIAL SEAL, this 30 th day of December, 1998

Michael Woods

Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This S.I. implements EC Directive 98/18/EC which introduces a uniform level of safety of life and property on new and existing passenger ships and high speed craft.