Mercantile marine act, 1955

• Enactment Date: 22 December 1955
• Act Number: 29

Number 29 of 1955.
MERCANTILE MARINE ACT, 1955.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Part I .
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL.
Section 1. Short title. 2. Interpretation. 3. Non-application of this Act. 4. Power to Minister to prescribe fees. 5. Collection and disposal of fees. 6. Laying of orders, rules and regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas. 7. Expenses. 8. Repeals.
Part II .
IRISH SHIPS, NATIONAL COLOURS AND CHARACTER.
9. Irish ships. 10. National colours for Irish ships. 11. Prohibition on hoisting colours other than national colours. 12. Obligation to hoist national colours. 13. Penalty for unduly assuming Irish character. 14. Penalty for concealment of Irish or assumption of foreign character. 15. National character of ship to be declared before clearance. 16. Persons qualified to own registered ships. 17. Registry of State-owned ships. 18. Obligation to register ships owned by Irish citizens and Irish bodies corporate. 19. Reciprocating states. 20. Prohibition of registry and saver for certain ships. 21. Registry under the law of another country. 22. Penalty for unqualified person acquiring ownership of Irish ship. 23. Registrars. 24. Register book. 25. Survey and measurement of ship. 26. Marking of ship. 27. Application for registry. 28. Declaration of ownership on registry. 29. Evidence on first registry. 30. Entry of particulars in register book. 31. Documents to be retained by registrar. 32. Ports of registry. 33. Certificate of registry. 34. Custody of certificate. 35. Penalty for use of improper certificate. 36. Power to grant new certificate. 37. Provision for loss of certificate. 38. Endorsement of change of master on certificate. 39. Endorsement of change of ownership on certificate. 40. Delivery up of certificate of ship lost or ceasing to be owned by qualified persons. 41. Temporary certificate for ships becoming owned by qualified persons abroad. 42. Temporary passes in lieu of certificates of registry. 43. Transfer of ship or share. 44. Declaration of transfer. 45. Registry of transfer. 46. Transmission of property in ship on death, bankruptcy, etc. 47. Order for sale on transmission to unqualified person. 48. Transfer of ship on sale by order of court. 49. Power of court to prohibit transfer. 50. Mortgage of ship or share. 51. Entry of discharge of mortgage. 52. Priority of mortgages. 53. Mortgagee not treated as owner. 54. Mortgagee to have power of sale. 55. Mortgage not affected by bankruptcy. 56. Transfer of mortgages. 57. Transmission of interest in mortgage on death, bankruptcy, etc. 58. Powers of mortgage and sale may be conferred by certificate. 59. Requisites for certificates of mortgage and sale. 60. Restrictions on certificates of mortgage and sale. 61. Contents of certificates of mortgage and sale. 62. Restriction on transfer or mortgage. 63. Rules as to certificates of mortgage. 64. Rules as to certificates of sale. 65. Power of Revenue Commissioners in case of loss of certificate of mortgage or sale. 66. Revocation of certificates of mortgage and sale. 67. Rules as to name of ship. 68. Power to refuse registry under particular name. 69. Registry of alterations. 70. Regulations for registry of alteration. 71. Power to inquire into the title of a registered ship to be registered. 72. Registry anew on change of ownership. 73. Procedure for registry anew. 74. Transfer of registry. 75. Restrictions on re-registration of abandoned ships. 76. Regulations restricting closing or transfer of registry. 77. Provision for cases of infancy or other incapacity. 78. Notice of trusts not received. 79. Equities not excluded by Act. 80. Liability of owners. 81. Ship's managing owner or manager to be registered. 82. Power of registrar to dispense with declarations and other evidence. 83. Mode of making declarations. 84. Inspection of register book. 85. Documents admissible in evidence. 86. Forms of documents and instructions as to registry. 87. Instructions by Revenue Commissioners as to duties of their officers under this Act. 88. Forgery of documents. 89. False declarations concerning ownership, etc., of ships. 90. Proceedings on forfeiture of ship. 91. Ascertainment of tonnage of ships to be registered. 92. Tonnage once ascertained to be the tonnage of ship. 93. Space occupied by deck cargo to be liable to dues. 94. Surveyors and directions for measurement of ships. 95. Tonnage of ships of other countries. 96. Establishment of register office. 97. Register of seamen. 98. Misdemeanour.
FIRST SCHEDULE
Enactments Repealed
SECOND SCHEDULE
Ports of Registry
THIRD SCHEDULE
Documents of which the forms are to be directed by the Revenue Commissioners and consented to by the Minister
Number 29 of 1955.
MERCANTILE MARINE ACT, 1955.
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE NATIONAL CHARACTER, OWNERSHIP AND REGISTRY OF IRISH SHIPS, FOR THE MORTGAGE, SALE, TRANSFER AND MEASUREMENT OF TONNAGE OF SUCH SHIPS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [22nd December, 1955.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—
PART I. Preliminary and General.
	Short title.	1.—This Act may be cited as the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955.
	Interpretation.	2.—(1) In this Act—
	“the Act of 1894” means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 , and, save where the context otherwise requires, shall be construed as referring to that Act as amended or extended by subsequent enactments;
	“chief officer of customs and excise” includes the collector, or other chief officer of customs and excise at each port;
	“consular officer” includes any consular officer, whether he is or is not in the Civil Service of the State and also includes a person nominated whether individually or by reference to a class by the Minister for External Affairs, after consultation with the Minister, to exercise consular functions for the purposes of this Act or of any specified sections thereof;
	“diplomatic officer” means a person in the Civil Service of the State who is an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, a chargé d'affaires, a counsellor of embassy or legation, a secretary of embassy or legation or an attaché;
	“the General Register and Record Office” means the office to be maintained in accordance with section 96 of this Act;
	“Irish body corporate” means a body corporate established under and subject to the law of the State and having its principal place of business in the State;
	“master” includes every person (except a pilot) having command or charge of any ship;
	“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;
	“prescribed” means prescribed by a fees order under section 4 of this Act;
	“qualified person” means a person qualified under this Act to own a registered ship or a share therein;
	“reciprocating state” means a state declared by an order under section 19 of this Act for the time being in force to be a reciprocating state;
	“registered ship” means a ship registered under this Act;
	“ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation not propelled by oars;
	“State-owned ship” means a ship wholly owned by the Government or a Minister of State;
	“surveyor of ships” means a person appointed to be a surveyor of ships for the purposes of the Act of 1894 and “surveyor” shall be construed accordingly.
	(2) References in any enactment to the Act of 1894 shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as including a reference to this Act.
	(3) References in any enactment to Part I of the Act of 1894 shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to this Act.
	Non-application of this Act.	3.—This Act shall not apply to ships of the Naval Service of the Defence Forces which are wholly manned by personnel of that Service.
	Power to Minister to prescribe fees.	4.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe by order (in this Act referred to as a fees order) the fees to be charged for inspections made and certificates issued under this Act.
	(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, at any time by order revoke or amend a fees order or an order made under this subsection.
	Collection and disposal of fees.	5.—(1) All fees payable under a fees order shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.
	(2) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any fees payable under a fees order.
	Laying of orders, rules and regulations before Houses of the Oireachtas.	6.—Every order, rule and regulation made by virtue of this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution is passed by either House within the next...