Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952

Radio rules.

15.—(1) The Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, may make rules (in this Act referred to as radio rules) requiring ships to which this section applies to be provided with a radio installation other than a radio navigational aid of such a nature as may be prescribed by the rules and to maintain such a radio service and to carry such number of radio officers or operators, of such grades and possessing such qualifications, as may be so prescribed, and the rules may contain provisions for preventing so far as practicable electrical interference with the radio installation by other apparatus on board.

(2) This section applies to sea-going ships registered in the State and to other sea-going ships while they are within any port in the State.

(3) The said rules shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to be necessary to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention relating to radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony.

(4) The radio installation required under the said rules to be provided for a passenger steamer, or for any other ship of sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage or upwards, shall be a radiotelegraph installation, and that required to be provided for a ship of less than sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage, other than a passenger steamer, shall be either a radiotelephone installation or a radiotelegraph installation, at the option of the owner.

(5) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this section, rules under this section may—

(a) prescribe the duties of radio officers and operators, including the duty of keeping a radio log-book;

(b) apply to any radio log-book required to be kept under the rules any of the provisions of section 242 of the Principal Act (which provides for the delivery of the official log-book to the superintendent) and of section 256 of that Act (which provides among other things for the custody of the official log-book);

(c) require the master of a ship to cause to be entered in the official log-book such particulars relating to the operation of the radio installation, and the maintenance of the radio service, as may be specified in the rules.

(6) If the master of a ship fails to cause an entry to be made in the log-book in contravention of rules made in pursuance of paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of this section or if any radio officer or operator contravenes any rules made in pursuance of paragraph (a) thereof, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds; and if the rules made under this section are contravened in any other respect in relation to any ship, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds or on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(7) A surveyor of ships may inspect any ship for the purpose of seeing that she is properly provided with a radio installation and radio officers or operators in conformity with the said rules, and for that purpose shall have all the powers of an inspector of the Department of Industry and Commerce under the Merchant Shipping Acts; and if he finds that the ship is not provided with a radio installation or radio officers or operators in conformity with the said rules he shall give to the owner or master notice in writing pointing out the deficiency, and also pointing out what in his opinion is requisite to remedy the deficiency.

(8) Every notice given under subsection (7) of this section shall be communicated in the manner directed by the Minister to the chief officer of customs of any port at which the ship may seek to obtain a clearance or transire, and a clearance or transire shall not be granted to the ship and the ship shall be detained until a certificate under the hand of a surveyor of ships is produced to the effect that the ship is properly provided with a radio installation and radio officers or operators in conformity with the said rules.