Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Repatriation) Regulations 1979 and shall come into operation on 1st March 1979.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Merchant Shipping Act 1970;

“employer”, in relation to a seaman, means the person who last employed him as a seaman before he was left behind or shipwrecked;

“master” means (except in regulations 8, 9 and 10) the master of the ship in which a seaman was last employed immediately before he was left behind or shipwrecked;

“seaman” (except in regulations 11 to 14) includes the master of a ship;

“ship” means a ship (including a fishing vessel) registered in the United Kingdom.

(3) The Merchant Shipping (Repatriation) Regulations 1972 are hereby revoked.