S.I. No. 12/1981 - Merchant Shipping (Certification of Marine Engineer Officers) Regulations, 1981.

S.I. No. 12 of 1981.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (CERTIFICATION OF MARINE ENGINEER OFFICERS) REGULATIONS, 1981.

I, ALBERT REYNOLDS, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 and 8 of the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Seamen) Act, 1979 (No. 37 of 1979), and the Tourism and Transport (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1980 ( S.I. No. 11 of 1980 ) hereby make the following Regulations:

PART I Preliminary and General

1 Citation and commencement.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Marine Engineer Officers) Regulations, 1981 and shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1981.

2 Interpretation.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Act of 1894" means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;

"the Act of 1979" means the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Seamen) Act, 1979 ;

"certificate of competency" means a certificate of competency as an engineer officer granted in accordance with these Regulations;

"certificate of service (engineer officer)" means a certificate of service (engineer officer) granted in accordance with these Regulations;

"service endorsement" means a service endorsement endorsed on a certificate of competency by virtue of these Regulations;

"examination" means an examination for a certificate of competency conducted by an examiner appointed for that purpose by the Minister;

"fishing boat" has the same meaning as in section 370 of the Act of 1894;

"GRT", in relation to a ship, means its gross registered tonnage, the gross tonnage of a ship having alternative gross tonnages being taken to be the larger of those tonnages;

"location" includes any offshore installation, any other installation (whether floating or resting on the sea-bed or the subsoil thereof) or any location at sea defined by reference to its latitude and longitude;

"Marine Notice" means a notice described as such and issued by the Department of Transport;

"Minister" means the Minister for Transport;

"partially smooth waters" means, in relation to any period specified in the First Schedule to the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Rules, 1967 ( S.I. No. 100 of 1967 ), the waters of any of the areas specified in column 3 in relation to the period, weather or ship;

"petroleum products" means the following substances produced directly or indirectly from crude oil—

fuels, lubricants, bitumen, wax, industrial spirits and any wide-range substance, that is to say a substance whose final boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure is more than 50°C higher than its initial boiling point;

"pleasure craft" means a vessel primarily used for sport or recreation;

"proper officer" means an Irish Consul, a Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office or any officer in a port in the State exercising the functions of such a Superintendent;

"qualified marine engineer officer" means an engineer officer of the engineering department of a ship to which these Regulations apply who is qualified in accordance with Regulation 4 (2) of these Regulations;

"registered power" means, in relation to a ship, the brake or shaft power specified in the ship's certificate of registry, that is to say, the total continuous rated brake or shaft power of all the propulsion engines, irrespective of whether some of the power may be diverted from the propulsion shafts or whether or not all the power is normally used;

"sail training ship" means a ship of 80 GRT or over which, although equipped to be propelled by sail, is also provided with a propulsion engine and which carries to sea (in addition to the trained crew) persons under training or instruction;

"smooth waters" means waters other than the sea or partially smooth waters and includes waters of any of the areas specified in the second column of the First Schedule to the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Rules, 1967;

"specified by the Minister" means specified in the Department of Transport Merchant Shipping publication entitled "Directions as to the Examination of Engineers under the Merchant Shipping Acts";

"trading area" means an area specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations.

(2) In these Regulations—

( a ) references to a certificate of a numbered class are references to a certificate of the class which bears that number as indicated in Regulation 5 (1) (a) of these Regulations;

( b ) references to a certificate with a service endorsement shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 8 of these Regulations.

3 Application.

3. (1) These Regulations apply to—

( a ) ships (including sail training ships but excluding fishing boats and pleasure craft) registered in the State which have a registered power of 350 kilowatts or more and which go to sea beyond the limits of smooth or partially smooth waters, and

( b ) ships (including sail training ships but excluding fishing boats and pleasure craft) registered outside the State which have a registered power of 350 kilowatts or more, which go to sea beyond the limits of smooth or partially smooth waters and which carry passengers between places in the State or on a voyage which begins and ends at the same place in the State and on which the ships call at no place outside the State.

(2) In respect of ships operating to, from or between locations in such closely defined limits as may be specified in a Marine Notice, the Minister may grant exemptions from all or any of the provisions of these Regulations (as may be specified in the exemption) for classes of cases or individual cases on such terms as he may so specify and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

PART II Certification of Engineer Officers

4 Manning of ships.

4. (1) Every ship to which these Regulations apply shall carry such number of qualified marine engineer officers as is required by Part III of these Regulations.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations an officer shall be qualified if he is the holder for the time being of a certificate of competency issued under these Regulations or of a certificate which is to be treated as equivalent to such a certificate by virtue of Regulation 6 of these Regulations, and, at the material time, any such certificate is in force in relation to the person named in it and is of a class appropriate to the engineer officer's capacity in the ship.

5 Classes of Certificates.

5. (1) ( a ) Certificates of competency shall be issued, in accordance with these Regulations, of the following classes:

Certificate of Competency (Marine Engineer Officer) Class 1

Certificate of Competency (Marine Engineer Officer) Class 2

Certificate of Competency (Marine Engineer Officer) Class 3

Certificate of Competency (Marine Engineer Officer) Class 4

( b ) Certificates of competency of Class 1, 2 or 4 shall be issued for motor or steam machinery or for combined motor and steam machinery.

( c ) Class 3 certificates shall be issued for motor machinery only.

(2) Service endorsements shall be issued in accordance with these Regulations in respect of certificates of competency of class 2, 3 or 4 for the appropriate description of ship set out in column (2) of the Table in Regulation 8 of these Regulations.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations a certificate of competency of a class set out in the list in paragraph (1) (a) of this Regulation with or without a service endorsement (pursuant to Regulation 8 of these Regulations) shall be treated as being a certificate of a higher class than a certificate of any class which is set out after it in that list with or without a service endorsement, if the higher class certificate is issued for the same type of machinery, whether motor or steam, as the lower class certificate.

6 Certificates equivalent to a certificate of competency under these Regulations.

6. (1) ( a ) Subject to subparagraph (b) of this paragraph a certificate of competency as engineer granted under section 93 of the Act of 1894 shall be treated as equivalent to a certificate of competency issued under these Regulations.

( b ) a certificate of competency of a class mentioned in column (1) of the Table to this paragraph shall be treated as equivalent to a certificate of competency issued under these Regulations of the class set out in column (2) of that Table opposite the mention in column (1).

( c ) A certificate of competency granted under section 93 of the Act of 1894 to which has been added by the Minister a certificate of service (engineer officer) under paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall be treated as equivalent to a certificate of competency of the appropriate class issued under these Regulations as marine engineer officer in respect of the same type of machinery as that for which the certificate of service was issued, subject to any limitation attached in accordance with paragraph 2 (d) of this Regulation.

( d ) A certificate of service (marine engineer officer) issued in accordance with these Regulations and granted by the Minister shall be treated as equivalent to a certificate of competency in the capacity for which the candidate has proved entitlement.

TABLE

Certificates of Service.

(2) ( a ) A certificate of service (engineer officer) shall be issued under these Regulations to an engineer officer who has fulfilled the conditions of Regulation 7 (2) of these Regulations and has satisfied the Minister that he has served as engineer officer in charge of a watch at sea in ships to which these Regulations apply—

(i) in a capacity not required to be served by an officer duly certificated under section 92 of the Act of 1894, and

(ii) for not less than 12 months in the capacity claimed.

( b ) A certificate of service issued under these Regulations shall be for the type of machinery, steam or motor, with which the engineer officer was concerned during the 12 months in the capacity claimed.

( c ) (i) A certificate of service in Classes 1, 2 or 3 for more than one type of machinery shall not be issued unless the engineer officer has had experience for not less than 12 months with each type of machinery in the capacity claimed or in a higher capacity.

(ii) A certificate of service in Class 4 for more than one type of machinery shall not be issued unless the engineer officer has had experience for not less than 12 months in the capacity claimed or in any higher capacity, including not less than 4 months experience with each type of machinery.

( d ) A certificate of service issued under these Regulations may, according to the engineer officer's service, be endorsed—

(i) for voyages within a trading area or areas;

(ii) with another capacity or capacities either for the same trading area or another trading area;

(iii) for the same or another type of machinery

( a ) in the same capacity or in another capacity,

( b ) in the same trading area or in another trading area; or

(iv) with a description of the ships and capacities in which the engineer officer may be carried.

(3) ( a ) The Minister may specify that the standard of competence to be attained by engineer officers of any description may be the standard of competency required for the issue of a certificate of competency by an authority empowered in that behalf by the laws of another country and that a certificate issued by any such authority shall be treated as evidence of the attainment of a standard of competence equivalent to the standard required for the issue of a specified class of certificate under these Regulations.

( b ) Any certificate issued by any such authority of another country to any such engineer officer which is expressed to remain in force for a definite period shall remain in force, unless renewed, only until the expiration of that period.

7 Conditions applicable to the issue of certificates.

7. (1) Subject to paragraph (3) of this Regulation—

( a ) the standards of competency to be attained and the conditions to be satisfied by a person before he may be issued with a certificate of competency or a certificate of competency with a service endorsement under these Regulations, including any exceptions applicable with respect to any such standards or conditions,

( b ) the manner in which the attainment of any such standards or the satisfaction of any such conditions is to be evidenced, and

( c ) the conduct of any examination for that purpose, the conditions of admission to them, and subject to the consent of the Minister for the Public Service the appointment and remuneration of examiners,

shall be such as may be specified by the Minister either in relation to certificates of competency or certificates of competency with a service endorsement in general or to either of such certificates of a particular class as may be so specified.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) of this Regulation, the conditions to be satisfied by an engineer officer who applies to be issued with a certificate of service (engineer officer) shall be—

( a ) that he has served as a watchkeeping engineer officer in a ship to which these Regulations apply during the period from the 1st day of September, 1974 to the 31st day of August, 1981,

( b ) that he has served as an engineer officer at sea for a period of not less than three years within the period specified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph and

( c ) that he has produced such evidence as the Minister may require in the particular case—

(i) of his having served for 12 months of such service in ships to which these Regulations apply in the capacity for which a certificate of service is claimed and

(ii) of his satisfactory conduct during those 12 months and during the last 12 months of sea service as an engineer officer if this is not the same period.

(3) Notwithstanding that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c) of this Regulation have not been complied with, the Minister, taking into account the circumstances in a particular case may, where he is satisfied that those conditions have been substantially complied with, issue a certificate of service (engineer officer) subject to any limitation of trade or type of ship which may be endorsed on that certificate in the particular case.

(4) Notwithstanding that an applicant for a certificate of competency, a service endorsement or a certificate of service (engineer officer) complies with the standards or fulfils the conditions specified by, or by virtue of, this Regulation, the Minister shall not issue the certificate applied for unless he is satisfied, having regard to all the relevant circumstances, that the applicant is a fit person to be the holder of a certificate and to act competently in the post to which it relates.

8 Endorsements.

8. Where a person is the holder of a certificate of competency of a class set out in column (1) of the Table to this Regulation, the Minister may, if he is satisfied that that person is competent to be carried as Chief Engineer Officer in a ship of the description specified in column (2) of that Table in relation to that class, endorse the certificate to that effect as a certificate of competency with the service endorsement of Chief Engineer Officer.

TABLE

9 Form, validity record and surrender of certificates.

9. (1) ( a ) Certificates of competency and certificates of service (engineer officer) shall be issued in duplicate, on payment of any appropriate fee, the original to be delivered to the person entitled to the certificate and the duplicate to be retained by the Minister.

( b ) Such a certificate shall remain valid for seagoing service only so long as the holder can comply with the standards and conditions as to medical fitness and competency to act in the appropriate capacity, specified by the Minister.

(2) A record of all certificates of competency and of all certificates of service (engineer officer) issued under these regulations and of the suspension, cancellation or alteration of, and any other matters affecting, any such certificate shall be kept in such manner as the Minister may require by such person as the Minister may direct.

(3) Where the holder of a certificate of competency of a particular class issued under these Regulations is issued with such a certificate of a higher class, he shall surrender the first-mentioned certificate to the Minister or to such person as the Minister directs, for cancellation.

10 Loss of Certificate.

10. (1) If a person entitled to a certificate of competency or a certificate of service (engineer officer) proves to the satisfaction of the Minister that the person has, without fault on his part, lost or been deprived of a certificate already issued to him, the Minister shall, and where he is not so satisfied may, on payment of such fee (if any) as he may require, cause a copy of the certificate to which the person appears to be entitled, to be issued to him.

(2) Any such copy shall, before it is so issued, be certified as such by such person as the Minister may have directed to keep the record referred to in Regulation 9 (2) of these Regulations.

PART III Numbers of Marine Engineer Officers to be Carried

11 Qualified marine engineer officers to be carried in ships.

11. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Regulation and to Regulation 12 of these Regulations, every ship of 350 kilowatt registered power or more to which these Regulations apply shall, when engaged on a voyage to or from a location or between locations in the trading area set out in relation to that description of ship in column (1) of the Table in Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations—

( a ) carry a chief engineer officer holding an appropriate (steam or motor) certificate of competency, or certificate of service, of the class specified in column (3) of that Table in relation to the description of ship set out in column (2) of that Table, and

( b ) carry a second engineer officer holding an appropriate (steam or motor) certificate of competency or certificate of service, of the class specified in column (3) of that Table in relation to the description of ship set out in column (2) of that Table.

(2) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1) of this Regulation, every engineer officer in charge of an engineering watch in ships of 750 kilowatt registered power or more to which these Regulations apply shall hold an appropriate (steam or motor) Class 4 certificate of competency or certificate of service.

(3) A sail training ship having a propulsion engine of less than 350 kilowatt registered power shall carry at least one engineer officer who is the holder of a certificate of competency Class 4 (motor) endorsed with the Chief Engineer Officer service endorsement as provided for in Regulation 8 of these Regulations but, in a particular case, the Minister may exempt a sail training ship from the requirements of this Regulation and permit a specified person or persons with appropriate qualifications and experience to act in the capacity of engineer officer.

(4) Paragraph (1) (b) of this Regulation shall not apply to ships of less than 3,000 kilowatt registered power operating in the Near Continental area.

(5) Column (3) of the Table in Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations shall have effect subject to the special provisions set out in Part II of that Schedule, and paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be construed accordingly.

12 Exceptional provisions allowing for carrying one qualified marine engineer less in a ship.

12. (1) Subject to paragraph (4) of this Regulation, if on an occasion on which a ship to which these Regulations apply goes to sea, one of the qualified marine engineer officers is not carried because of illness, incapacity, or other unforeseen circumstances, but all reasonable steps were taken to secure the carriage on that occasion of a duly qualified marine engineer officer, so much of these Regulations as require such a ship on such a voyage to carry that marine engineer officer shall not, subject to compliance with the conditions of paragraph (3) of this Regulation, apply to the ship during whichever is the shorter of the following periods, beginning with the day on which the ship goes to sea from that location on that occasion,—

( a ) a period ending with the day on which the ship carried a qualified marine engineer officer as that marine engineer officer, or

( b ) a period determined as follows:—

(2) One such period of 28, 14 or 7 days (as the case may be) shall not be followed immediately by any further period at sea during which the ship carried one less than the number of duly qualified marine engineer officers required by these Regulations.

(3) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation are that the master, when going to sea from that location, shall notify a proper officer of his intention not to carry that qualified marine engineer officer and shall make an entry of that notification in the ship's official logbook.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Regulation, a ship mentioned in subparagraph (b) (i), (b) (ii) or (b) (iii) of that paragraph may only go to sea on such a voyage if it is carrying at least one qulified marine engineer officer.

13 Additional conditions in respect of ships carrying dangerous cargoes.

13. (1) A ship to which these Regulations apply which has a bulk cargo consisting in whole or in part of:

( a ) crude liquid petroleum or petroleum products,

( b ) any liquid chemical listed in Chapter VI of the Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation publication entitled "Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk" and the Supplement thereto, both published in 1974 by that Organisation, or

( c ) any liquefied gas listed in Chapter XIX of the Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation publication entitled "Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk" published in 1976 by that Organisation

shall carry as chief engineer and second engineer respectively engineer officers qualified under these Regulations whose certificates of competency or of service have been endorsed to show that they have satisfied such conditions as to training and service as may be specified by the Minister.

(2) If an engineer officer other than the chief engineer and second engineer is to have immediate responsibility for loading, discharging and care in transit or handling of cargo that officer shall hold a similarly endorsed certificate.

PART IV Watchkeeping Requirements

14 Requirement to act in capacity for which certificated.

14. (1) No engineer officer shall act in the capacity of chief engineer or second engineer unless he holds a certificate of competency or certificate of service of the appropriate class required by Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

(2) In the event of the death or incapacity of the chief engineer or second engineer while the ship is at sea, an engineer officer may act in the capacity of chief engineer or second engineer until the ship reaches the next intended port of call.

(3) The master and chief engineer shall not permit any engineer to be in charge of an engineering watch unless that engineer is duly certificated to do so.

15 Offences and penalties.

15. (1) any engineer officer who contravenes Regulation 14 (1) of these Regulations and any master or chief engineer who contravenes Regulation 14 (3) of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of £250.

(2) Any person who appoints an officer in a capacity for which he does not hold an appropriate certificate shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of £250.

Regulations 11 and 14

SCHEDULE 1

PART I

Minimum Certification Requirements of Engineer Officers

TABLE

NOTE: (1) Column (3) shall be read subject to the special provisions set out in Part II of this Schedule and the meaning of (e) shall be found in paragraph 2 of Part II of that Schedule.

(2) In addition to the officers specified in column (3), ships of 750 kilowatt registered power or more may be required to carry other certificated engineer officers in order to comply with Regulation 11 (2) of these Regulations.

(3) In the case of certificates of service, regard shall be paid to any limitations of equivalence imposed in accordance with Regulation 6 (2) (d) of these Regulations.

Regulation 11 (5)

PART II

Special Provisions Applicable to Part I of this Schedule.

1. The provisions of Column (3) of the Table in Part I of this Schedule, in so far as they impose a requirement with respect to the carrying in a ship of a qualified marine engineer officer who is the holder of a certificate of competency issued under these Regulations of a particular class, shall be treated as complied with if the officer who is carried in pursuance of that requirement is the holder of a certificate of competency issued under these Regulations of a higher class and in respect of the same type of machinery as that installed in the ship.

2. Where a number set out in column (3) of the Table in Part I of this Schedule in relation to a certificate of competency issued under these Regulations of a particular class is followed by the indication (e), the provisions of that column to which the number relates shall be construed as requiring the certificate in question to be endorsed with a Chief Engineer Officer (Service) endorsement.

Regulation 2 (1)

SCHEDULE 2

Definition of "trading area"

Near Continental Trading Area

Any location within the area bounded by a direct line from a point on the Norwegian coast in latitude 61° North to a point in 61° North 02° West; thence to a point in 58° North 10° West; thence to a point in 54° North 14° West; thence to a point in 51° North 14° West; thence to La Pallice (France), but excluding all waters which lie to the eastward of a direct line drawn between Kristiansand, Norway and Hanstholm lighthouse on the north coast of Denmark.

Middle Trade Trading Area

Any location not within the Near Continental Area but within an area (which includes places in the Baltic Sea) bounded by a direct line from a point in 51° North 14° West to Safi on the coast of Morocco (32° 18' N; 9° 15' W), but excluding all waters which lie to the eastward of a direct line drawn between Gibraltar and Ceuta (Morocco).

Unlimited Trading Area

Any location not within the Middle Trade or Near Continental Trading Areas.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 9th day of January, 1981.

ALBERT REYNOLDS,

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

Application

1. These Regulations apply to:—

( a ) ships registered in the State having registered power of 350 kilowatts or more, including sail training ships with a propulsion engine.

( b ) ships registered outside the State which carry passengers between places in the State or on voyages which begin and end at the same place in the State and call at no place outside the State.

The Regulations come into operation on 1st September, 1981 1981.

General Provisions

2. The Regulations specify the number of qualified engineer officers to be carried, determined according to the registered power of the ship and the voyage to, from, or between locations in specified trading areas on which it will be engaged. The Regulations also prescribe the minimum class of certificate each officer must hold.

3. An engineer officer is qualified under the Regulations if he is the holder of:—

(i) A certificate of competency issued under the Regulations; or

(ii) a certificate treated as equivalent to such a certificate.

A certificate of competency of a particular class issued under Section 93 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 will be treated as equivalent to the appropriate class of certificate issued under these Regulations. Provision is made for certificates of service (engineer officer) to be issued to engineer officers, serving in ships, which do not at present have to carry certificated officers but which must do so from 1st September, 1981. Certificates of service (engineer officer) will be treated as equivalent to certificates of competency and will enable the holders to be carried in their present capacities.

4. Certificates of competency may be further endorsed with service endorsements enabling the holder to be carried as Chief Engineer Officer of a specified type of ship. Provision is also made for recognition by the Minister for Transport of certificates issued by another State, as equivalent to certificates of competency under these Regulations.

5. The standards of competency which must be attained before an engineer officer will be issued with a certificate of competency under these Regulations are set out in the Department of Transport publication entitled "Directions as to the examination of Engineers under the Merchant Shipping Acts".

6. The Regulations provide that ships carrying bulk cargoes of petroleum or its products, specified dangerous chemicals or gases, must carry as Chief Engineer and Second Engineer officers whose certificates of competency or service have been endorsed to show that they have satisfied conditions as to training and service to be specified by the Minister.

7. Certificates of competency and certificates of Service will remain valid for sea-going service only if the holder continues to comply with specified standards and conditions as to medical fitness and competency to act in the appropriate capacity.

8. The Regulations lay down provisions for the manning of sail training ships.

9. All ships to which the Regulations apply must carry the certificated officers set out in Table in Part (1) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations and ships of 750 kilowatts registered power or more may only carry as additional engineer officers in charge of watches, men holding the appropriate (i.e. steam or motor) Class 4 certificate of competency or service.