The Merchant Shipping (Counting and Registration of Persons on Board Passenger Ships) Regulations 1999

Interpretation U.K.

3.—(1) In these Regulations–

• “appropriate search and rescue services” means, in relation to a ship involved in an emergency, the search and rescue services for the area in which the ship is located;

• “Community ship” means a ship which is registered in, or which is entitled to fly the flag of, a member State;

• “the Directive” means Council Directive 98/41/EC on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports of the member States of the Community;

• “international voyage” means a voyage from a country to which the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea applies(1) to a port outside that country, or conversely;

• “landing point” means any berth, excursion point, floating pier or stage, link span, pier, port, stop or anchorage point from or to where passengers are embarked or disembarked;

• “Maritime and Coastguard Agency” means the executive agency of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions so named;

• “Merchant Shipping Notice” means a Notice described as such, issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; and a reference to any particular Merchant Shipping Notice includes a reference to any document amending or replacing that Notice;

• “mile” means a nautical mile of 1852 metres;

• “passenger registrar” means the person appointed by the owner of a ship pursuant to regulation 8(1)(b) below;

• “passenger ship” means any ship carrying more than 12 passengers;

• “person” means any person on board a ship irrespective of their age;

• “protected sea area” means a sea area sheltered from open sea effects where a ship is at no time more than six miles from a place of refuge where shipwrecked persons can land and in which the proximity of search and rescue facilities is ensured;

• “regular community service” means a regular service in a sea area where the annual probability of the significant wave height exceeding two metres is less than 10% and–

  (a)

  the voyage does not exceed thirty miles or thereabouts from the point of departure; or

  (b)

  the primary purpose of the service is to provide regular links to outlying communities for customary purposes;

• “regular service” means a series of ship crossings operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more ports either–

  (a)

  according to a published timetable; or

  (b)

  with crossings so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognisable systematic series;

• “search and rescue services” means the search and rescue services responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue activity required to provide assistance in the event of an emergency involving a ship or its aftermath;

• “ship” includes hovercraft;

• “United Kingdom passenger ship” means a passenger ship which is a United Kingdom ship;

• “voyage” includes an excursion.

(2) Where a ship is managed or operated by a person other than the owner (whether on behalf of the owner or some other person, or on his own behalf), a reference in these Regulations to the owner shall be construed as including a reference to that other person.

(3) Any approval or exemption given pursuant to these Regulations shall be given in writing and shall specify the date on which it takes effect and the conditions (if any) on which it is given.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 3 in force at 22.7.1999, see reg. 1

(1)

Cmnd. 7874.