Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act 1932

CHAPTER III CERTIFICATES.

ARTICLE 11. Issue of Certificates.

A certificate, called " International Load Line Certificate, " shall be issued to every ship which has been surveyed and marked in accordance with this Convention, but not otherwise.

An International Load Line Certificate shall be issued either by the Government of the country to which the ship belongs or by any person or organisation duly authorised by that Government, and in every case the Government assumes full responsibility for the certificate.

ARTICLE 12 Issue of Certificates by another Government.

The Government of a country to which this Convention applies may, at the request of the Government of any other country to which this Convention applies, cause any ship which belongs to the last-mentioned country, or (in the case of an unregistered ship) which is to be registered by the Government of that country, to be surveyed and marked, and, if satisfied that the requirements of this Convention are complied with, issue an international Load Line Certificate to such ship, under its own responsibility. Any certificate so issued must contain a statement to the effect that it has been issued at the request of the Government of the country to which the ship belongs, or of the Government by whom the ship is to be registered, as the case may be, and it shall have the same force and receive the same recognition as a certificate issued under Article 11 of this Convention.

ARTICLE 13 Form of Certificate.

The International Load Line Certificates shall be drawn up in the official language or languages of the country by which they are issued.

The form of the certificate shall be that of the model given in Annex III, subject to such modifications as may, in accordance with Rule L)()(VIII, be made in the case of ships carrying timber deck cargoes.

ARTICLE 14 Duration of Certificates.

1 An International Load Line Certificate shall, unless it is renewed in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, expire at the end of such period as may be specified therein by the Administration which issues it: but the period so specified shall not exceed five years from the date of issue.

2 An International Load Line Certificate may be renewed from time to time by the Administration which issued it for such period (not exceeding five years on any occasion) as the Administration thinks fit, after a survey not less effective than the survey required by this Convention before the issue of the certificate, and any such renewal shall be endorsed on the certificate.

3 An Administration shall cancel any International Load Line Certificate issued to a ship belonging to its country :

A.

If material alterations have taken place in the hull and superstructures of the ship which affect the calculations of freeboard.

B.

If the fittings and appliances for the (i) protection of openings, (ii) guard rails, (iii) freeing ports and (iv) means of access to crews' quarters are not maintained in as effective a condition as they were in when the certificate was issued.

C.

If the ship is not inspected periodically at such times and under such conditions as the Administration may think necessary for the purpose of securing that the hull and superstructures referred to in Condition A are not altered and that the fittings and appliances referred to in Condition B are maintained as therein provided throughout the duration of the certificate.

ARTICLE 15 Acceptance of Certificates.

International Load Line Certificates issued under the authority of a Contracting Government shall be accepted by the other Contracting Governments as having the same force as the certificates issued by them to ships belonging to their respective countries.

ARTICLE 16 Control.

1 A ship to which this Convention applies, when in a port of a country to which it does not belong, is in any case subject to control with respect to load fine as follows: An officer duly authorised by the Government of that country may take such steps as may be necessary for the purpose of seeing that there is on board a valid International Load Line Certificate. H there is such a certificate on board the ship, such control shall be limited to the purpose of securing—

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

(b) that the position of the load line on the ship corresponds with the certificate; and

(c) that the ship has not been so materially altered in respect to the matters dealt with in conditions A and B (set out in paragraph 3 of Article 14) that the ship is manifestly unfit to proceed to sea without danger to human life.

2 Only officers possessing the necessary technical qualifications shall be authorised to exercise control as aforesaid, and if such control is exercised under (c) above, it shall only be exercised in so far as may be necessary to secure that the ship shall be made fit to proceed to sea without danger to human life.

3 If control under this Article appears likely to result in legal proceedings being taken against the ship, or in the ship being detained, the consul of the country to which the ship belongs shall be informed as soon as possible of the circumstances of the case.

ARTICLE 17 Privileges.

The privileges of this Convention may not be claimed in favour of any ship unless it holds a valid International Load Line Certificate.