European Communities (Merchant Shipping) (Organisation of Working Time) Regulations, 2003

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 532/2003
• Year: 2003

I, DERMOT AHERN, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purposes of giving effect to Directive 1999/63/EC of the Council of 21 June 19991 and to Directive 1999/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 19992 , hereby make the following regulations:
	Citation	1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Merchant Shipping) (Organisation of Working Time) Regulations 2003.
	Interpretation	2. (1) In these Regulations -
“authorised officer” means a person appointed under Regulation 11;
“Competent Authority” means the Marine Survey Office of the Department;
“complaint” means any information or report submitted by a seafarer, a professional body, an association, a trade union or, generally any person with an interest in the safety of the ship, including an interest in the safety or health of seafarers;
“Department” means the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources;
“Directive” means, as the context admits or requires, Directive 1999/63/EC or Directive 1999/95/EC and a reference to the Directives is a reference to each of them;
“Directive 1999/63/EC” means Directive 1999/63/EC of the Council of 21 June 1999;
“Directive 1999/95/EC” means Directive 1999/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999;
“fishing vessel” means a vessel designed, equipped or used commercially for catching or taking fish or other living resources of the sea (including sea bed) or freshwater;
“hours of rest” means time outside hours of work and does not include short breaks;
“hours of work” means any time during which a seafarer is required to do work on the business of, or in connection with, the ship;
“ILO Convention No. 147” means the convention concerning Minimum Standards in Merchant Ships adopted by the International Labour Organisation on or about 29 October 1976;
“ILO Convention No. 180” means the convention concerning Seafarers' Hours of Work and the Manning of Ships 1996 adopted by the International Labour Organisation on or about 22 October 1996;
“master” includes every person (except a pilot) having command or charge of a ship;
“Marine Notice” means a notice described as such and issued by the Department and any reference to a particular Marine Notice includes a reference to that notice as amended or replaced from time to time;
“Minister” means the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources;
“partially smooth waters” means the areas of water specified in a Marine Notice within the period or periods, if any, specified therein;
“pleasure vessel” means:
(a) any vessel that is-
(i) wholly owned by an individual or individuals and used only for the sport and pleasure of the owner or the immediate family and friends of the owner, or
(ii) owned by a body corporate and used only for the sport or pleasure of employees or officers of the body corporate, or their immediate family or friends,
and is on a voyage or excursion which is one for which the owner is not paid for or in connection with operating the vessel or carrying any person, other than as a contribution to the direct expenses of the operation of the vessel incurred during the voyage or excursion, or
(b) any vessel that is wholly owned by or on behalf of a members' club formed for the purpose of sport or pleasure which, at the time it is being used, is used only for the sport or pleasure of members of that club or their immediate family; and for the use of which any charges levied are paid into club funds and applied for the general use of the club;
and no payments other than those mentioned above are made by or on behalf of users of the vessel (other than by the owner) and in this definition “immediate family” means, in relation to an individual, the husband or wife of the individual and a brother, sister, lineal ancestor or lineal descendant of that individual or that individual's husband or wife;
“Port Authorities” means Port Companies which operate under the Harbours Act 1996 and Harbour Authorites which operate under the Harbours act, 1946 .
“Protocol to ILO Convention No. 147” means the protocol to ILO Convention No. 147 adopted by the International Labour Organisation on or about 22 October 1996;
“registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered on the General Register of Medical Practitioners under the Medical Practitioners Act 1978 ;
“relevant complaint” has the meaning ascribed thereto by Regulation 14(2);
“scheduled hours of rest” means hours of rest scheduled in a table under Regulation 7;
“seafarer” means any person, including a master, who is employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship to which these Regulations apply;
“seagoing” means a ship going beyond the limits of smooth and partially smooth waters;
“smooth waters” means any areas of water not being to sea or partially smooth waters, and in particular, the areas of water specified in a Marine Notice;
“ship” means any seagoing vessel, whether publicly or privately owned, which is ordinarily engaged in commercial maritime operations, being a ship other than:
(a) a fishing vessel; or
(b) a pleasure vessel.
“shipowner”, in relation to a ship, means the owner of the ship or any other organisation or person, such as the manager or bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner;
(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in a Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.
(3) In these Regulations —
(a) a reference to a Regulation or a Schedule is to a Regulation of, or Schedule to, these Regulations, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulations is intended, and
(b) a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.
	Scope	3. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations apply to:
(a) ships registered in the State, wherever they may be; and
(b) ships (other than ships referred to in subparagraph (a)) irrespective of their state of registration, when in a port in the State
(2) Regulations 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 do not apply to a ship that is not registered in the State.
(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a ship that is registered in two or more states is deemed to be registered in the territory of the state whose flag it flies.
(4) When inspecting a ship registered in the territory of or flying the flag of a state which has not signed ILO Convention No 180 or the Protocol to ILO Convention No 147 neither the Competent Authority nor an authorised officer shall give to such ship or its crew more favourable treatment than that given or to be given to a ship flying the flag of a state which is a party to that Convention or Protocol or to the crew of such a ship.
	Competent Authority	4. A function conferred on the Competent Authority by these Regulations may be performed by an authorised officer.
	General duty of shipowners and masters	5. (1) Subject to Regulation 8, it shall be the duty of every shipowner and every master of a ship to ensure that:
(a) seafarers are provided with at least the minimum hours of rest specified in Regulation 6;
(b) manning levels on board ship are determined, approved or revised taking into account the need to avoid or minimise, as far as is reasonably practicable, excessive hours of work, to ensure sufficient rest and to limit fatigue.
(2) It shall be the duty of every shipowner to provide the master of a ship with all necessary resources for the purposes of compliance with obligations under these Regulations.
	Hours of rest	6. (1) A seafarer is entitled to minimum hours of rest that are not less than:
(a) 10 hours in any 24 hour period; and
(b) 72 hours in any 7 day period.
(2) Hours of rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which shall be at least 6 hours in length and the interval between consecutive such periods shall not exceed 14 hours.
(3) Musters, fire drills and abandon ship drills prescribed by law shall be conducted in a manner that minimises the disturbance of hours of rest and does not induce fatigue.
(4) A seafarer who is on call on board ship shall have an adequate compensatory rest period if his scheduled hours of rest are disturbed by call-outs to work.
	Provision of Information	7. (1) The master of a ship shall ensure that a table complying with paragraph (2) is posted in a prominent and easily accessible place in the ship.
(2) A table under paragraph (1) shall:
(a) specify for each position, the schedule of service at sea and service in port;
(b) specify for each position, the daily minimum hours of rest required by these Regulations;
(c) be in the format set out in Schedule 1 or in a format substantially to like effect; and
(d) be in each working language of the ship and in English.
	Exception for emergencies	8. (1) The master of a ship may require a seafarer to perform any hours of work necessary for the immediate safety of the ship, persons on board or cargo, or for the purpose of giving assistance to another ship or persons in distress at sea or where due to any other emergency or the occurrence of other unusual and unforeseeable circumstances outside the control of the master and the shipowner it would not be practicable to comply with Regulation 5(1)(a).
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the master may suspend the scheduled hours of rest and may require a seafarer to perform any hours of work necessary.
(3) As soon as practicable after the normal situation has been...