Merchant Shipping Act, 1947

• Jurisdiction: Ireland

Number 46 of 1947.
MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1947.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section 1. Definitions. 2. Obligation to hoist the national flag. 3. Prohibition on hoisting flag distinctive of nationality other than the national flag. 4. Temporary registration of ship on time or voyage charter. 5. Discharge of member of crew at port in the State. 6. Fine on conviction of offence of absence without leave. 7. Recognition of certificates of competency. 8. Direction restricting registration of ship. 9. Regulations restricting closing or transfer of registry. 10. Restriction on transfer or mortgage. 11. Regulations with respect to safety. 12. Regulations with respect to welfare and conditions of employment. 13. Rules relating to bills of lading. 14. Repeals. 15. Short title, commencement, construction and collective citation.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Number 46 of 1947.
MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1947.
AN ACT TO RE-ENACT CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING TO SHIPS MADE BY ORDERS UNDER THE EMERGENCY POWERS ACTS, 1939 TO 1945, TO PROVIDE FOR GIVING EFFECT TO CERTAIN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OR CONVENTIONS RELATING TO SHIPS AND TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACTS, 1894 TO 1939. [23rd December, 1947.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—
	Definitions.	1.—In this Act—
	the word “contravention” includes, in relation to any provision, failure to comply with that provision;
	the expression “Irish ship” means
	(a) a ship which is registered in the State under the Principal Act, or
	(b) a ship of which the owner is one or more than one Irish citizen and which is neither registered in the State under the Principal Act nor registered under the law, of any other State;
	the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;
	the expression “the Principal Act” means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.
	Obligation to hoist the national flag.	2.—(1) The national flag shall be hoisted on an Irish ship on entering or leaving a port outside the State and, if the ship is of fifty tons gross tonnage or upwards, on entering or leaving a port in the State.
	(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a fishing boat duly entered in the fishing boat register and lettered and numbered as required by Part IV of the Principal Act.
	(3) The Minister may, notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, issue to any body of persons a warrant authorising members of the body to hoist on specified Irish ships a specified flag in lieu of the national flag, and the Minister may by any such warrant impose conditions and restrictions on the exercise of the authority thereby conferred and may revoke any such warrant.
	(4) Where a ship to which a warrant issued under subsection (3) of this section relates enters or leaves a port outside the State or, if the ship is of fifty tons gross tonnage or upwards, enters or leaves a port in the State, the hoisting on the ship in accordance with the warrant of the flag specified in the warrant shall have effect as a compliance with subsection (1) of this section.
	(5) Where there is a contravention of this section, the master of the ship concerned shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.
	Prohibition on hoisting flag distinctive of nationality other than the national flag.	3.—(1) There shall not be hoisted on an Irish ship any flag distinctive of nationality other than the national flag or that flag with a white border or that flag when comprised in a flag hoisted under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (3) of section 2 of this Act.
	(2) Where there is a contravention of this section, the master of the ship concerned shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.
	Temporary registration of ship on time or voyage charter.	4.—A ship which is not an Irish ship and which is taken on time or voyage charter by a charterer in the State may, if the Minister so approves, be registered in the State under the Principal Act and shall remain so registered during the period or voyage for which the ship is so taken on charter and no longer.
	Discharge of member of crew at port in the State.	5.—(1) A stipulation to which this section applies shall be a lawful and effectual stipulation, and a form therefor may accordingly be approved by the Minister pursuant to subsection (1) of section 114 of the Principal Act.
	(2) This section applies to a stipulation, in an agreement entered into by the master of a ship with the crew, that the master may discharge a member of the crew at a port in the State subject to his having given notice of discharge to such member twenty-four hours or more before the discharge.
	Fine on conviction of offence of absence without leave.	6.—A seaman who is guilty of the offence of absence without leave specified in paragraph (b) of section 221 of the Principal Act shall, without prejudice to the provisions of that paragraph, be liable on summary conviction of the offence to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
	Recognition of certificates of competency.	7.—(1) Where the Government of another State provide for the holding of examinations for the grant of certificates of competency as masters, mates or engineers on board ship or as skippers or second hands on board fishing boats and the Minister is satisfied that the certificates so granted are granted on such principles as to show qualifications of competency which are adequate qualifications for service in Irish ships, the Government may by order provide that certificates so granted shall be of the same force within the State as if they had been granted by the Minister under Part II or section 414 (as the case may be) of the Principal Act, and such certificates shall have effect within the State and shall be liable, as respects their effect within the State, to suspension or cancellation accordingly.
	(2) Where a certificate is suspended or cancelled by virtue of this section, it shall, if it is not in the possession of the Minister, be delivered by the holder to the Minister, and the Minister shall return any certificate so suspended or cancelled to the authority by whom it was issued together with a report on the circumstances of the suspension or cancellation.
	(3) The Government may by order amend or revoke any order previously made under this section.
	Direction restricting registration of ship.	8.—(1) The Minister may direct that a specified ship or any ship of a specified class shall not be registered at a port in the State under the Principal Act save with the approval of the Minister.
	(2) A ship to which a direction under this section relates shall not be registered at a port in the State under the Principal Act save with the approval of the Minister.
	Regulations restricting closing or transfer of registry.	9.—(1) The Minister may provide by regulations that the registry in the State under the Principal Act of a specified ship or of any ship of a specified class shall not be closed or transferred to a port outside the State save with the approval of the Minister.
	(2) The registry in the State under the Principal Act of a ship to which regulations under this section relate shall not be closed or transferred to a port outside the State save with the approval of the Minister.
	Restriction οn transfer or mortgage.	10.—(1) A person shall not transfer or mortgage, or transfer any mortgage of, any Irish ship or any share in an Irish ship unless—
	(a) the transaction is approved of by the Minister, or
	(b) the transaction is a transaction declared by regulations under subsection (3) of this section to be an excepted transaction for the purposes of this section.
	(2) If an instrument is executed which purports to be a transfer, mortgage or transfer of a mortgage of an Irish ship or a share therein and the transaction to which the instrument relates is neither approved of by the Minister nor a transaction declared by regulations under subsection (3) of this section to be an excepted transaction for the purposes of this section, the instrument shall be void.
	(3) The Minister may by regulations declare that a transaction which—
	(a) is a transfer, mortgage or transfer of a mortgage in which both the transferor or mortgagor and the transferee or mortgagee is one or more than one of the following:
	(i) a person ordinarily resident in the State,
	(ii) a company incorporated in the State, or
	(b) is a transfer, mortgage or transfer of a mortgage of a ship of a specified class or any share therein,
	shall be an excepted transaction for the purposes of this section.
	Regulations with respect to safety.	11.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for securing the safety of vessels to which this section applies, and may include in such regulations any supplemental or ancillary provisions which he considers proper.
	(2) Regulations under this section may apply to the whole of the State or to part thereof and different regulations may be made for different parts of the State.
	(3) Regulations under this section may, in particular, provide for any of the following matters:
	(a) licensing of vessels,
	(b) prohibition of carriage of passengers in vessels not licensed,
	(c) attachment of conditions to licences, including, in particular, conditions with respect to.
	(i) standards of seaworthiness to be maintained,
	(ii) life saving and fire fighting appliances to be carried,
	(iii) maximum number of passengers to be carried,
	(iv) limits within or routes on which vessels...