Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (repealed)

Preliminary U.K.

1 Effect of Part I and interpretation. U.K.

(1) In this Part—

(a) sections 2 and 3 have effect in place of section 1 of the M1 Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (qualification for owning British ship); and

(b) sections 4 to 8 have effect in place of sections 2 and 3 of that Act (obligation to register British ships and exemptions from registry) and for otherwise regulating the registration of ships under Part I of that Act in the United Kingdom.

(2) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “length”, in relation to a ship, has the same meaning as in the tonnage regulations of the 1894 Act;

• “owner”, in relation to a registered ship, means registered owner;

• “registered” and “registration” mean respectively registered and registration under Part I of the 1894 Act in the United Kingdom;

• “representative person” means a person appointed (or treated as appointed) as such under section 5.

(3) References in this Part to a ship being entitled to be registered shall be construed in accordance with section 4.

Marginal Citations

M1 1894 c. 60.

2 British ships. U.K.

(1) A ship shall be a British ship for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Acts if—

(a) the ship is registered in the United Kingdom under any of the following enactments, namely—

(i) Part I of the 1894 Act or section 5 of the M2 Merchant Shipping Act 1983 (registration of small ships), or

(ii) Part II of this Act (registration of British fishing vessels); or

(b) the ship is registered in the United Kingdom in pursuance of an Order in Council under section 80 of the M3 Merchant Shipping Act 1906 (Government ships); or

(c) the ship is a fishing vessel within the meaning of Part II of this Act which is eligible to be registered under that Part of this Act by virtue of section 14 below, but—

(i) is excluded from registration under that Part of this Act by regulations made under section 13 below, and

(ii) is not registered under the law of any country outside the United Kingdom; or

(d) the ship is registered under the law of a relevant overseas territory; or

(e) the ship is less than 24 metres in length and—

(i) is not a fishing vessel within the meaning of Part II of this Act, and

(ii) is not registered in the United Kingdom under an enactment falling within paragraph (a)(i) above or under the law of any country outside the United Kingdom, but

(iii) is wholly owned by one or more persons qualified to be owners of British ships by virtue of section 3(1) below.

(2) This section shall have effect in relation to any time before the end of the period referred to in section 13(3)(b) below as if the enactments falling within subsection (1)(a)(i) included Part IV of the 1894 Act (registration of British fishing boats).

Marginal Citations

M2 1983 c. 13.

M3 1906 c. 48.

3 Persons qualified to be owners of British ships. U.K.

(1) For the purposes of Part I of the 1894 Act the following persons are persons qualified to be owners of British ships, namely—

(a) British citizens;

(b) British Dependent Territories citizens;

(c) British Overseas citizens;

(d) persons who under the M4 British Nationality Act 1981 are British subjects;

(e) persons who under the M5 Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 are British Nationals (Overseas);

(f) bodies corporate incorporated in the United Kingdom or in any relevant overseas territory and having their principal place of business in the United Kingdom or in any such territory; and

(g) citizens of the Republic of Ireland.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, references (however phrased) in any statutory provision to persons who are, for the purposes of Part I of the 1894 Act, qualified to be owners of British ships shall be construed in accordance with subsection (1) above.

(3) For the purposes of section 5 of the M6 Merchant Shipping Act 1983 the following persons are persons qualified to be owners of British ships, namely—

(a) persons falling within paragraphs (a) to (e) and (g) of subsection (1) above; and

(b) Commonwealth citizens not falling within those paragraphs.

(4) It is hereby declared that a person who is not qualified under subsection (1) above to be an owner of a British ship may nevertheless be one of the owners of such a ship if—

(a) a majority interest in the ship (within the meaning of section 4 below) is owned by persons who are qualified to be owners of British ships; and

(b) the ship is registered, in accordance with the provisions of that section, under Part I of the 1894 Act.

Marginal Citations

M4 1981 c. 61.

M5 S.I. 1986/948.

M6 1983 c. 13.