S.I. No. 106/1967 - Merchant Shipping (Musters) Rules, 1967.

S.I. No. 106 of 1967.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (MUSTERS) RULES, 1967.

I, ERSKINE H. CHILDERS, Minister for Transport and Power, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 427 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (as amended by section 11 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952), and section 10 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1966 (No. 20 of 1966)) and the Transport, Fuel and Power (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1959 ( S.I. No. 125 of 1959 ), hereby make the following rules :—

1. (1) These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Musters) Rules, 1967.

(2) These Rules shall come into operation on the 14th day of May, 1967.

(3) Part IV of the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving and Fire Appliances) Rules, 1953 ( S.I. No. 341 of 1953 ), is hereby revoked.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these Rules.

3. (1) In these Rules "muster" includes a boat-drill and a fire-drill.

(2) These Rules apply to ships registered in the State and to any other ship while in any port in the State, unless the ship would not have been in the port but for stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master, the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled.

(3) For the purposes of these Rules the ships to which these Rules apply shall be arranged in the same classes as those in which ships are arranged for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Rules, 1967 ( S.I. No. 100 of 1967 ), and any reference in these Rules to a ship of any class shall be construed accordingly.

4. (1) The Master of every ship of Classes I, II, II (A), III, VII, VII (A) and VIII shall prepare a muster list showing in respect ofeach member of the crew the special duties which are allotted to him and the station or stations to which he shall go in the event of an emergency (hereinafter referred to as "emergency station" or "emergency stations").

(2) The muster list shall specify definite signals, to be made on the whistle or siren, for calling all the crew to their emergency stations and in passenger ships one of such signals shall be the signal required by Rule 5 (2). In ships of Class I and in ships of 150 feet in length or over of Classes VII, VII (A) and VIII, such signals shall be supplemented by other means of warning which shall be electrically operated and which shall be capable of being operated from the bridge. The muster list shall also specify the means of indicating when the ship is to be abandoned.

(3) The muster list shall show the duties assigned to the different members of the crew in connection with :—

(a) the closing of the watertight doors, fire doors, sidescuttles, valves and closing mechanism of scuppers, ash-shoots, or other similar openings in the ship's side;

(b) the equipping of the boats and other life-saving appliances;

(c) the launching of the boats and liferafts attached to davits or to other launching appliances;

(d) the general preparation of any other boats and other lifesaving appliances;

(e) the muster of the passengers (if any); and

(f) the extinction of fire.

(4) The duty of seeing that the boats and other life-saving appliances are at all times ready for use shall be specified in the muster list as the duty of one or more officers.

(5) The muster list shall show the several duties assigned to the members of the stewards' department in relation to the passengers at a time of emergency. The duties shall include :—

(a) warning the passengers;

(b) seeing that they are suitably clad and have put on their lifejackets in a proper manner;

(c) assembling the passengers at muster stations;

(d) keeping order in the passages and on the stairways and generally controlling the movements of the passengers; and

(e) seeing that a supply of blankets is taken to the lifeboats.

(6) The muster list shall be prepared, or, if a new list is not necessary, revised after the agreement with the crew has been signed and before the ship proceeds to sea, and shall be dated and signed by the Master.

(7) If after the muster list has been prepared, any change takes place in the crew which necessitates an alteration in the muster list, the Master shall either revise the list or prepare a new list.

(8) Copies of the muster list shall be posted in several parts of the ship, and in particular in the crew's quarters, before the ship proceeds to sea and shall be kept so posted while the ship is at sea.

5. (1) Muster stations for all passengers shall be appointed for the event of an emergency and the position of those stations and the meaning of all signals affecting passengers, with precise instructions as to what they are to do, shall be clearly stated in such languages as are appropriate on cards posted in their cabins and in conspicuous places in other passenger quarters.

(2) The emergency signal for summoning passengers to the muster stations shalle be a succession of seven or more short blasts followed by one long blast on the whistle or siren. In ships of Class I this signal shall be supplemented by other means of warning audible throughout the ship which shall be electrically operated and capable of being operated from the bridge.

6. (1) In ships of Class I a muster of the crew shall be held before the ship leaves her final port of departure in the State and a muster of the passengers, embarked at any port, shall be held within twenty-four hours after leaving such port.

(2) In ships of Classes I, II, II (A) and III, musters of the crew shall take place at intervals of not more than seven days, when practicable, to ensure that the crew understand and are drilled in the duties assigned to them for the event of an emergency.

(3) In ships of Classes VII, VII (A), VIII, VIII (A), IX and in ships of Class X of 70 feet in length or over and in ships of Class XI which proceed beyond Home Trade limits, musters of thecrew shall take place at intervals of not more than fourteen days, and if more than 25 per cent. of the crew have been replaced at any port, one of such musters shall take place within 24 hours of leaving that port. In all other ships of Classes X and XI the Master shall take steps to ensure that the crew understand the uses of the life-saving equipment and fire appliances on board and know where they are kept.

(4) Different groups of boats shall be used in turn at successive boat drills so that every lifeboat shall be swung out at least once a month and, if practicable and reasonable, lowered at least once every four months. The musters and inspections shall be so, arranged that the crew thoroughly understand and are practised in the duties they have to perform, and that all life-saving appliances and fire appliances with the gear appertaining to them are always ready for immediate use.

(5) The Master shall take steps to ensure that the crew are properly instructed in the handling and operation of the liferafts on board.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 3rd day of May, 1967.

ERSKINE H. CHILDERS,

Minister for Transport and Power.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Rules implement the provisions of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960, relating to boat drills and fire drills on ships.