(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 M1Merchant 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 M2Merchant 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).