The Merchant Shipping (Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Survivability) Rules, 1998

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 429/1998
• Year: 1998

I, Michael Woods, Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 10 (1) (as amended by section 29 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1992 (No. 2 of 1992)) of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952) and the Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1987, ( S.I. No. 91 of 1987 ) as adapted by the Marine (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 301 of 1997 ), hereby make the following Rules:
	1 Citation	1 These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Survivability) Rules, 1998.
	2 Interpretation	2 In these Rules:-
"the agreement" means the agreement concerning specific stability requirements for roll-on/roll-off passenger ships undertaking regular scheduled international voyages between or to or from designated ports in North West Europe and the Baltic Sea, concluded at Stockholm on 27 and 28 February, 1996, set out in the Schedule to these Rules;
"Contracting Government" means a contracting Government to the Agreement;
"Contracting State" means a state the government of which is a contracting government;
"established regular scheduled service" means a regular scheduled service which has been in operation for a period of at least 12 months;
"Maritime administration" means the person who in a state other than the State exercises functions in relation to the agreement similar to those exercised by the Minister under these Rules;
"the Minister" means the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources;
"periodical survey" means the periodical survey required by section 271 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;
"regular scheduled service" means an advertised service for the carriage of passengers at fixed intervals along fixed routes to or from any port in a contracting state;
"ro-ro passenger ship" means a passenger ship of Class I, II or II(A) within the meaning of the Rules of 1985 containing cargo or vehicle spaces not normally subdivided in any way and extending to either a substantial length or the entire length of the ship in which vehicles or cargo can be loaded or unloaded in horizontal direction, that is —
(a) registered in the State, or
(b) entitled to fly the proper national colours (within the meaning of section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955 (No. 29 of 1955), and is for the time being within the territorial seas or elsewhere in the State;
"the Rules of 1983" means the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) Rules, 1983 ( S.I. No. 300 of 1983 );
"the Rules of 1985" means the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey) Rules, 1985 ( S.I. No. 274 of 1985 ) (as amended by the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey)(Amendment) Rules, 1994 ( S.I. No. 12 of 1994 ), and the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction and Survey)(Amendment No. 2) Rules, 1994, ( S.I. No. 131 of 1994 ).);
"territorial seas" means the territorial seas of the State, described in section 2 of the Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 1959 (No. 22 of 1959).
(2) In these Rules a reference to a Rule is to a Rule of these Rules and a reference to a paragraph is to the paragraph of the Rule in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended.
(3) A word or expression that is used in these Rules and is also used in the agreement shall have the same meaning in these Rules as it has in the agreement.
	3 Amendment of Rules	3. (1) Rule 11(I) of the Rules of 1983 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (a) —
"(a) In addition to the requirements of Rule 10 of these Rules, every ship to which this Part applies shall, subject to the Merchant Shipping (Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Survivability) Rules, 1998, be so constructed as to provide sufficient intact stability in all service conditions to enable the ship to withstand the final flooding of any one of the main compartments into which the ship is subdivided in accordance with the provisions of Rule 6 of these Rules. If two of the main compartments, being adjacent to each other, are separated by a bulkhead which is stepped under the conditions of paragraph 6 (3) (a) of the First Schedule to these Rules, the intact stability shall be adequate to withstand the final flooding of those two adjacent main compartments.".
(2) Rule 11(2) of the Rules of 1985 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (a) —
"(a) In addition to the requirements of Rule 10 of these Rules, every ship shall, subject to the Merchant Shipping (Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Survivability) Rules, 1998, be so constructed as to provide sufficient intact stability in all service conditions to enable the ship to withstand the flooding of any one of the main compartments into which the ship is sub-divided in accordance with the provisions of Rule 6 of these Rules. The sufficiency of intact stability required shall be calculated in accordance with Parts 1 and 2 of the Third Schedule to these Rules. If two of the main compartments, being adjacent to each other, are separated by a bulkhead which is stepped under the conditions of paragraph 6 (3) (a) of the First Schedule to these Rules, the intact stability shall be adequate to withstand the flooding of those two adjacent main compartments.".
	4 Value of A/Amax	4 (1) The value of A/Amax for a ro-ro passenger ship shall be established by calculation in accordance with the annex to the Calculation Procedure to Assess the Survivability Characteristics of Existing Ro-Ro Passenger Ships When Using a Simplified Method Based Upon Resolution A. 265 (VIII), developed by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation at its fifty-ninth session in June, 1991 (MSC/Circ. 574).
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a calculation made in accordance with the Annex referred to in paragraph (1) and the resulting value for A/Amex shall, in respect of a ro-ro passenger ship, be submitted to the Minister by the owner thereof not later than 3 months before the ro-ro passenger ship commences a regular scheduled service.
(3) On receipt of a calculation and resulting value for A/Amax submitted under paragraph (2) the Minister shall, if satisfied that the resulting value for A/Amax, in respect of the ro-ro passenger ship concerned, has been calculated in accordance with the Annex referred to in paragraph (1), and is correct, issue an approval in writing to the owner of such ro-ro passenger ship and shall specify in the approval the conditions, if any, on which it is given.
(4) A refusal by the Minister to approve a calculation and resulting value for A/Amax submitted under paragraph (1) shall be given in writing and shall specify the reasons for such refusal
(5) For the purposes of these Rules the value of A/Amax for a ro-ro passenger ship shall be the value approved by the Minister.
	5 Construction	5 (1) Subject to paragraph (2) where the value of A/Amax in respect of a ro-ro passenger ship falls within a range of values specified in column (1) of the Table to this Rule, that ro-ro passenger ship shall, on the completion of the first periodical survey carried out after the date specified in column (2) of the said Table, comply with the specific stability requirements of the agreement.
(2) Where the value for A/Amax in respect of a ro-ro passenger ship is 97.5% or greater the first periodical survey after the date specified in respect thereof in the Table to this Rule shall be completed by the 1st day of October 2002.
Table
Range of Values Date (1) (2) less than 85% 1 April 1997 85% or greater but less than 90% 31 December 1998 90% or greater but less than 95% 31 December 1999 95% or greater but less than 97.5% 31 December 2000 97.5% or greater 31 December 2001
	6 Seasonal Operation	6 (1) If an operator, who has been providing an established regular scheduled service between a port within the State and a port in another Contracting state (in this Rule referred to as the "other port") for a period of not less than 12 months, wishes to operate one or more additional ro-ro passenger ships for a period of less than 12 months between those ports he shall notify the Minister not later than three months before commencing such service.
(2) The significant wave heights which shall be used for determining the height of water when applying the technical standards contained in Annex 2 to the Agreement in relation to additional ro-ro passenger ships to which paragraph (1) applies shall be those agreed between the Minister and the maritime administration of the contracting state in which the other port is situated.
(3) If an operator fails to notify the Minister of his intention to operate additional ro-ro passenger ships on a service in accordance with paragraph (1) the significant wave heights which shall be used for determining the height of water when applying the technical standards contained in Annex 2 to the Agreement in relation to such additional ro-ro passenger ships shall be those set out in Annex 1 to the Agreement.
	7 Significant wave heights for domestic routes	7 (1) In the case of a ro-ro passenger ship being a ship of Class II(A) within the meaning of the Rules of 1985 the Minister may, on application to him or her in writing by the owner of such ro-ro passenger ship, approve the use of wave heights, other than the significant wave heights specified in Annex 1 to the Agreement, for the purpose of determining the height of water when applying the technical standards contained in Annex 2 to the Agreement.
(2) An approval given pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be in writing and shall specify the conditions (if any) on which it is given.
	8 Exemptions	8 (1) Subject to paragraph (2)...