Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Rules, 1968

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 205/1968
• Year: 1968

S.I. No. 205 of 1968.
MERCHANT SHIPPING (LOAD LINE) RULES, 1968.
ARRANGEMENT OF RULES.
PART I.
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL.
Rule.
1. Short title and commencement.
2. Interpretation.
3. Ships to which Rules apply.
PART II.
SURVEYS AND CERTIFICATES
4. Application to Assigning Authority for the assignment of freeboards and issue of load line certificates.
5. Load line survey.
6. Surveyor's report.
7. Assignment of freeboards.
8. Issue and form of Load Line Certificates.
9. Duration.
10. Extension.
11. Cancellation.
12. Periodical inspection of ships.
13. Exemption and Exemption Certificates.
PART III.
LOAD LINES AND MARKS
14. Appropriate marks.
15. Marking.
16. Deck-line.
17. Load Line Mark.
18. Load Lines.
19. Timber Load Lines.
20. Appropriate Load Line.
21. Position of Load Lines.
22. Method of marking.
23. Authorisation of removal, etc., of appropriate marks.
24. Mark of Assigning Authority.
PART IV.
RULES AS TO CONDITIONS OF ASSIGNMENT
25. Requirements relevant to the assignment of freeboards.
26. Compliance with conditions of assignment.
27. Record of particulars.
PART V.
FREEBOARDS
28. Types of freeboard.
29. Determination of freeboards.
30. Greater than minimum freeboards.
31. Special position of deck-line: correction of freeboards.
PART VI.
GENERAL
32. Information as to stability of ships.
33. Information as to loading and ballasting of ships.
34. Recognition of certificates issued by other Governments.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
Forms of Certificates.
SECOND SCHEDULE.
Appropriate Load Lines—Zones, Areas and Seasonal Periods.
THIRD SCHEDULE.
Record of Particulars.
FOURTH SCHEDULE.
Conditions of Assignment.
FIFTH SCHEDULE.
Freeboards.
SIXTH SCHEDULE.
Freeboard Tables.
SEVENTH SCHEDULE.
Information as to Stability of Ships.
S.I. No. 205 of 1968.
MERCHANT SHIPPING (LOAD LINE) RULES, 1968.
I, ERSKINE H. CHILDERS, Minister for Transport and Power, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 and 29 of the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act, 1968 (No. 17 of 1968), and having had regard in particular to the Convention of 1966, hereby make the following rules :—
PART I.PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL
	1 Short title and commencement.	1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Rules, 1968.
(2) These Rules shall come into operation on the 4th day of October, 1968.
	2 Interpretation.	2.—In these Rules—
" the Act " means the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act, 1968 (No. 17 of 1968);
" amidships " means the middle of the ship's length (L);
" deck cargo regulations " means the deck cargo regulations for the time being in force under section 25 of the Act;
" freeboard " means the distance measured vertically downwards amidships from the upper edge of the deck-line described in Rule 16 of these Rules to the position at which the upper edge of the load line appropriate to the freeboard is to be marked;
" freeboard deck " means in relation to a ship the deck described in paragraph 1(1) of the Fifth Schedule to these Rules;
" length " and the symbol " (L) " in relation to a ship mean the length of the ship ascertained in accordance with regulations made under section 1(6) of the Act ;
" load line certificate " means a load line certificate issued pursuant to these Rules;
" the Minister " means the Minister for Transport and Power;
" sailing ship " means a ship designed to carry sail, whether as the sole means of propulsion or as a supplementary means;
" Surveyor " means a surveyor of ships appointed either by the Minister under the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1968, or by any other Assigning Authority;
" watertight " means capable of preventing the passage of water in any direction.
	3 Ships to which Rules apply.	3. These rules apply to all ships except ships of war, ships solely engaged in fishing and pleasure yachts not engaged in trade.
PART IISURVEYS AND CERTIFICATES
	4 Application to Assigning Authority for the assignment of freeboards and issue of load line certificates.	4.—(1) The Assigning Authorities for the purposes of these Rules shall be the Minister or other person authorised by the Minister to assign freeboards to a ship or to issue a load line certificate in respect of a ship.
(2) Application for the assignment of freeboards to a ship and for the issue of a load line certificate in respect of the ship shall be made to an Assigning Authority by or on behalf of the owner of the ship, who shall furnish to the Authority such plans, drawings, specifications and other documents and information relating to the design and construction of the ship as the Authority may require.
	5 Load line survey.	5.—(1) After receipt of the application and the documents and information required by Rule 4 the Assigning Authority shall cause the ship to be surveyed by a Surveyor in order to ascertain—
(a) whether the ship complies with such of the requirements of Rule 25 and the Fourth Schedule to these Rules as are applicable to the ship; and
(b) such other data as may be necessary—
(i) for the assignment of freeboards to the ship in accordance with Part V and the Fifth Schedule to these Rules and
(ii) to enable information to be supplied to the master of the ship pursuant to Rules 32 and 33.
(2) In the course of the survey to be carried out pursuant to paragraph (1) the ship and any of her fittings or equipment shall be submitted to such tests as may, in the opinion of the Assigning Authority, be necessary to ascertain the matters referred to in that paragraph. Tests carried out as to stability shall be subject to the requirements of Rule 32 and of paragraph 2(3) of the Fourth Schedule to these Rules.
(3) The owner of the ship shall afford all necessary facilities for a survey pursuant to this Rule and shall at the request of the Assigning Authority furnish for the Authority's use and retention, if required, such further documents or information relating to the ship as the Authority may require.
	6 Surveyor's report.	6.—(1) On completion of the survey the Surveyor shall furnish to the Assigning Authority a report giving the results of the survey and his findings in relation to the matters specified in Rule 5.
(2) There shall be appended to the report mentioned in paragraph (1) the record of particulars required for the purposes of section 3(3)(b) of the Act and the requirements of Rule 27 shall apply in respect of that record.
(3) In the case of a ship which is required to comply with the requirements of the Fourth Schedule to these Rules relating to stability the Surveyor shall furnish to the Minister information necessary to enable the Minister to determine whether the ship complies with those requirements.
	7 Assignment of freeboards.	7.—(1) The Assigning Authority shall—
(a) if satisfied on receipt of the Surveyor's report that the ship complies with the requirements of Rule 25 and the Fourth Schedule to these Rules (other than those relating to stability) applicable to her, and
(b) on receipt from the Minister of notification that the Minister is satisfied that the ship complies with those requirements insofar as they relate to stability—
assign freeboards to the ship in accordance with Part V and the Fifth Schedule to these Rules.
(2) On assigning freeboards the Assigning Authority shall furnish to the owner of the ship the following, namely;
(a) particulars of the freeboards so assigned,
(b) directions specifying—
(i) which of the load lines described in Part III of these Rules are to be marked on the sides of the ship in accordance with the requirements of that Part, and
(ii) the position in which those load lines, the deck-line and the load line mark are to be so marked, and
(c) two copies of the Surveyor's report.
	8 Issue and form of Load Line Certificates.	8. Subject to the provisions of Rule 13, the Assigning Authority shall, on being satisfied that the ship has been duly marked in accordance with the directions referred to in the preceding Rule, issue to the owner of the ship either an International Load Line Certificate (1966) or an Irish load line certificate, as may be required by the Act, in the form set out for such certificates respectively in the First Schedule to these Rules; and for that purpose each of the Assigning Authorities other than the Minister is hereby authorised by the Minister to issue load line certificates in pursuance of section 7(3)(a) of the Act.
	9 Duration.	9. Subject to the provisions of section 16(3) of the Act and except as otherwise provided in the following Rules of this Part, a load line certificate shall be valid until a date, not being a date more than five years after the date of completion of the survey referred to in Rule 5, to be determined by the Assigning Authority by which it is issued.
	10 Extension.	10.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) where—
(a) application has been made to an Assigning Authority by the owner of a ship in respect of which a load line certificate is in force for the issue of a load line certificate in respect of the ship to take effect on the expiry of the current load line certificate, and
(b) following such application the ship has been duly surveyed in accordance with Rule 5,
the Assigning Authority, if it is satisfied on receipt of the Surveyor's report that the ship complies with the requirements of Rule 25 and the Fourth Schedule to these Rules (other than those relating to stability) applicable to her and has received notification from the Minister that the ship complies with those requirements insofar as they relate to stability, but considers that it will not be reasonably practicable under the circumstances to issue the load line certificate applied for before the date of expiry of the current certificate, may extend the period of...