Merchant Shipping (Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations, 1984

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 187/1984
• Year: 1984

S.I. No. 187 of 1984.
MERCHANT SHIPPING (CERTIFICATION AND WATCHKEEPING) REGULATIONS, 1984.
I, JAMES MITCHELL, Minister for Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 12 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1947 (No. 46 of 1947), sections 3 and 8 of the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Seamen) Act, 1979 (No. 37 of 1979) and the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1983 (No. 40 of 1983) hereby make the following Regulations:—
	1 Citation and Commencement	1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations, 1984 and shall come into operation on the 19th day of October, 1984.
	2 Interpretation	2. In these Regulations:—
"authorised person" means a person authorised by the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations;
"Certification Regulations" means the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Marine Engineer Officers) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 12 of 1981 ), and the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Deck Officers) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 13 of 1981 );
"employer" means the person for the time being employing the master;
"fishing vessel" means a vessel for the time being employed in sea fishing or a Government fishery research vessel, but does not include a vessel used otherwise than for profit;
"Irish ship" has the same meaning as in the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1983;
"Marine Notice" means a notice entitled "Marine Notice" issued by the Minister for Communications;
"the Minister" means the Minister for Communications;
"pleasure craft" means a vessel primarily used for sport or recreation;
"specified" means specified by the Minister in a Marine Notice.
	3 Application	3. These Regulations apply to sea-going Irish ships other than fishing vessels and pleasure craft, and to other such sea-going ships registered outside the State when they are within the State or the territorial waters thereof.
	4 Duty of master	4. The master of any ship to which these Regulations apply shall ensure that the watchkeeping arrangements for the ship are at all times adequate for maintaining safe navigational and engineering watches having regard to the matters set out in the First and Second Schedules to these Regulations.
The master shall give directions to the deck watchkeeping officers responsible for navigating the ship safely during their periods of duty, having particular regard to the matters set out in the First Schedule to these Regulations and the operational guidance specified by the Minister.
	5 Duty of chief engineer officer	5. The chief engineer officer of any ship to which these Regulations apply shall ensure that the engineering watchkeeping arrangements for the ship are at all times adequate for maintaining a safe watch, having regard to the matters set out in the Second Schedule to these Regulations. When deciding the composition of the watch the chief engineer officer shall take into account the principles set out in the Second Schedule to these Regulations and the operational guidance specified by the Minister.
	6 Watchkeeping arrangements in port	6. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation the master of any ship to which these Regulations apply which is safely moored or safely at anchor under normal circumstances in port, shall arrange for an appropriate and effective watch to be maintained for the purposes of safety. Such arrangements shall have regard to the principles and operational guidance specified by the Minister.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall not apply to any ship in respect of which there is in force for the time being an exemption granted under Regulation 3 (2) of the Certification Regulations.
	7 Watchkeeping arrangements in port for ships carrying hazardous cargo	7. (1) The master of any ship to which these Regulations apply which is carrying hazardous cargo and which is in port, even when safely moored or safely at anchor, shall in addition to any watchkeeping arrangements required under Regulation 6, in the case of:—
(a) a ship carrying cargo in bulk that is hazardous, whether it is or may be explosive, flammable, toxic, a threat to health or liable to pollute the environment, ensure that a safe deck watch and safe engineering watch are maintained by the ready availability on board of a duly qualified officer or officers, and ratings where appropriate; and
(b) a ship carrying hazardous cargo other than in bulk, whether it is or may be explosive, flammable, toxic, a threat to health or liable to pollute the environment, ensure that in organising safe watchkeeping arrangements he takes account of the nature, quantity, packing and stowage of the hazardous cargo and of any special conditions on board, afloat and ashore.
(2) Such watchkeeping arrangements shall take full account of the principles and operational guidance specified by the Minister.
	8 Manning and Certificates	8. (1) It shall be the duty of every employer of a master of a ship to which these Regulations apply to ensure that the ship carries sufficient qualified officers to enable the master and chief engineer officer to perform their respective duties pursuant to Regulations 4 to 7 of these Regulations. For the purposes of these Regulations an officer shall be qualified if he is the holder for the time being of:
(a) a certificate of competency or service as a deck officer or marine engineer officer issued or recognised as being equivalent under the Certification Regulations;
(b) a certificate of service issued under these Regulations; or
(c) in respect of ships registered outside the State, a certificate of competency or service issued or recognised as equivalent by the appropriate authority of the country in which the ship is registered, and at the material time such certificate is in force in relation to the person named in it and is appropriate to the description of ship and the capacity in which he is serving in the ship.
(2) An officer shall be deemed to be qualified for the purposes of this Regulation if he is qualified in accordance with the conditions of any exemption for the time being in force granted under Regulation 3 (2) of the Certification Regulations in relation to the ship in which he is serving.
	9 Issue of Certificate of Service	9. (1) Subject to paragraph (3) below:
(a) the conditions to be satisfied by a person before he may be issued with a certificate of service under these Regulations, including any exceptions with respect to any such conditions, and
(b) the manner in which the satisfaction of any such conditions is to be evidenced,
shall be such as may be specified by the Minister.
(2) Subject to the proviso to this paragraph and to paragraph (3) of this Regulation, a person who applies to be issued with a certificate of service shall also:
(a) have served at sea in Irish ships in the capacity for which a certificate of service is applied for, for a period of not less than three years falling in the period of seven years immediately preceding the date of coming into operation of these Regulations; and
(b) produce such evidence as the Minister may require in the particular case of his satisfactory conduct during the three years mentioned in (a) above;
Provided that, notwithstanding that the conditions set out in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above have not been complied with, the Minister taking into account the circumstances in a particular case, may, where he is satisfied that those conditions have been substantially complied with, issue a certificate of service subject to any limitation as to trading area or description of ship which may be endorsed on that certificate in the particular case.
(3) Notwithstanding that an applicant for a certificate of service fulfils the conditions specified by or by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this Regulation, the Minister shall not issue the certificate applied for unless he is satisfied, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, that the applicant is a fit person to be the holder of the certificate and to act competently in the capacity to which it relates.
(4) A certificate of service issued under these Regulations shall be treated for the purposes of the Certification Regulations as equivalent to a certificate of competency or service of a corresponding class granted by the Minister or recognised as being equivalent under the Certification Regulations, subject to any limitation as to trading area or description of ship endorsed on that certificate.
	10 Inspection	10. An authorised person may inspect any ship to which these Regulations apply for the purposes of:—
(a) verifying that all seafarers serving on board who are required to be certificated hold a valid certificate or exemption; and
(b) assessing the ability of the seafarers in the ship to maintain the watchkeeping standards required by these Regulations where there are grounds for believing that such standards are not being maintained because, while in a port in the State or in the approaches to that port, any of the following have occurred:
(i) the ship has been involved in a collision, grounding or stranding;
(ii) there has been a discharge of substances from the ship when underway, at anchor or at a berth, contrary to the law of the State;
(iii) the ship has been manoeuvred in an erratic or unsafe manner or navigational course markers or traffic separation schemes have not been followed.
	11 Procedure to be adopted when inspection reveals deficiencies	11. If an authorised person finds on an inspection carried out pursuant to Regulation 10 that there is:
(1) a failure of officers, required to hold a certificate of competency or service, to have an appropriate valid certificate or a valid exemption from that...