Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014

Refusal of registration and removal of ships from Register

21. (1) The Minister shall refuse to register a ship in any of the following circumstances:

(a) the ship does not have, to his or her satisfaction, safety certificates issued under the Merchant Shipping Acts where required;

(b) the ship does not have, to his or her satisfaction, pollution prevention certificates issued under the Sea Pollution Acts where required;

(c) the person registering the ship is not a qualified person under section 15 ;

(d) failure to comply with the standards or conditions prescribed under section 12 (2) and (3);

(e) the ship, if previously registered outside the State, has no certificate of deletion from that state’s ship register;

(f) failure to produce the documents or information prescribed under section 18 (5) for the registration of a ship;

(g) false declarations made in connection with registration or renewal applications under this Act;

(h) the ship is not carved and marked to the satisfaction of the Minister where required;

(i) any other circumstance that the Minister deems appropriate having regard to the need to preserve the integrity of the Register.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister may remove a ship from the Register in any of the following circumstances:

(a) non-compliance with safety, pollution, security standards and living and working conditions under the Merchant Shipping Acts and Sea Pollution Acts, following consideration of a report in that regard from the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport;

(b) non-compliance with the provisions of regulations made under this Act;

(c) on notification from the owner of a transfer of registration outside the State;

(d) on application from the owner when the ship is not required to be registered;

(e) the ship is transferred under Part 6 to a person who is not a qualified person under section 15 ;

(f) a lapse in ship registration where an application for the renewal of ship registration is not made in accordance with section 19 or the application for renewal of ship registration is refused;

(g) the ship has been destroyed or recycled, lost or stolen, as notified in writing to the Minister by the owner of the ship or, in the absence of such notification, where the Minister is satisfied that this is the situation;

(h) false declarations made in connection with registration or renewal applications under this Act;

(i) the ship is no longer eligible to be registered;

(j) the ship is registered in another state;

(k) the ship is not carved and marked to the satisfaction of the Minister where required;

(l) non-compliance with the requirements of subsections (1) and (3)(b) of section 16 ;

(m) failure by the registered owner to notify the Minister of a change in registration particulars of a ship in accordance with section 28 ;

(n) any other circumstance in relation to this Act that the Minister deems appropriate having regard to the need to preserve the integrity of the Register.

(3) In addition to the circumstances outlined in subsection (2), the Minister may remove a sea-fishing boat from the Register in any of the following circumstances:

(a) when a sea-fishing boat licence granted in respect of the boat, is revoked, suspended or ceases to have effect;

(b) when the boat is required under section 4 (inserted by section 97 of the Act of 2006) of the Act of 2003 to have a sea-fishing boat licence but at the time of registration did not have such a licence, and has not acquired such a licence within 6 months of the grant of a non-operative registration.