Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act, 1968

Further powers to exempt ships.

20.—(1) In this section any reference to exempting a ship is a reference to exempting the ship either—

(a) from all the provisions of this Act and of the load line rules, or

(b) from such of those provisions as are specified in the instrument conferring the exemption.

(2) On the application of the owner of a ship to which this Act applies, which is a registered ship and is either an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length, the Minister may exempt the ship if in his opinion the ship embodies features of a novel kind such that, if the ship had to comply with all the requirements of this Act and of the load line rules, the development of those features and their incorporation in ships engaged on international voyages might be seriously impeded.

(3) On the application of the owner of a ship to which this Act applies, which is registered in the State and is either—

(a) an existing ship of less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of less than twenty-four metres in length, or

(b) a ship (not falling within the preceding paragraph) which does not ply on international voyages,

the Minister may exempt the ship.

(4) Without prejudice to the last preceding subsection, where a ship to which this Act applies, which is a registered ship and is either an existing ship of not less than one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage or a new ship of not less than twenty-four metres in length, does not normally ply on international voyages but is, in exceptional circumstances, required to undertake a single international voyage, the Minister, on the application of the owner of the ship, specifying the international voyage in question, may exempt the ship while engaged on that voyage.

(5) Any exemption conferred under this section may be conferred subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit; and, where any such exemption is conferred subject to conditions, the exemption shall not have effect unless those conditions are complied with.