Merchant Shipping Act 1995

Provisions as to inspection U.K.

17 (1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, a ship surveyor or engineer surveyor may inspect any non-United Kingdom ship to which this Schedule applies while the ship is within any port in the United Kingdom.

(2) Any such surveyor may go on board any ship to which paragraph 12 of this Schedule applies, while the ship is within any port in the United Kingdom, for the purpose of demanding production of any International Load Line Certificate (1966) or United Kingdom load line certificate for the time being in force in respect of the ship.

(3) If on any such demand a valid Convention certificate is produced to the surveyor in respect of the ship, the powers of the surveyor under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be limited to seeing—

(a) that the ship is not loaded beyond the limits allowed by the certificate;

(b) that lines are marked on the ship in the positions of the load lines specified in the certificate;

(c) that no material alterations have taken place in the hull or superstructures of the ship which affect the position in which any of those lines ought to be marked; and

(d) that the fittings and appliances for the protection of openings, the guard rails, the freeing ports and the means of access to the crew’s quarters have been maintained on the ship in as effective a condition as they were in when the certificate was issued.

(4) If on an inspection of a ship under this paragraph the ship is found to have been so materially altered in respect of the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (3)(c) or (d) above that the ship is manifestly unfit to proceed to sea without danger to human life, it shall be deemed to be dangerously unsafe for the purposes of sections 95, 96 and 97.

(5) Where a ship is detained under the provisions of this Act as applied by sub-paragraph (4) above, the Secretary of State shall order the ship to be released as soon as he is satisfied that the ship is fit to proceed to sea without danger to human life.