The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1996

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations and in Merchant Shipping Notice No NLS 1—

“Annex II” means Annex II of the MARPOL Convention (which sets out regulations for the control of pollution by noxious liquid substances)(1);

“appropriate Certificate” means the Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk, the International Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk or the International Pollution Prevention Certificate for the Carriage of Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk as the case may be;

“appropriate Regulation” means the BCH Code, the IBC Code or Merchant Shipping Notice No NLS 1;

“BCH Code” means the 1993 Edition of the Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk published by the International Maritime Organization;

“BCH Code Certificate” means a certificate of compliance with the BCH Code;

“Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate”, “Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate”, “Cargo Ship Safety Radiotelegraphy Certificate” and “Cargo Ship Safety Radiotelephony Certificate” means respectively the certificates so entitled issued in accordance with the SOLAS Convention;

“Category A substance”, “Category B substance”, “Category C substance” and “Category D substance” mean respectively any substance listed and identified as falling into Category A, B, C, or D in column “c” in Chapter 17 and Chapter 18 of the IBC Code; and any substance which is provisionally assessed as a Category A, B, C or D substance; and a reference to any such substance shall include a reference to any mixture containing such substance;

“controlled waters” means the waters designated as controlled waters by the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) (Limits) Regulations 1996(2);

“Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk” means, in relation to a United Kingdom ship, a certificate issued pursuant to regulation 9 and, in relation to any other ship, a certificate issued in accordance with Chapter 1 of the BCH Code by or on behalf of the government of the State in which the ship is registered;

“chemical tanker” means a self-propelled cargo ship constructed or adapted and used for the carriage in bulk of any liquid substance listed in Chapter 17 of the IBC Code but does not include an offshore support vessel or a dry cargo ship with deep tanks;

“constructed” means the date when the keel of a ship is laid or the building is at a similar stage of construction; and “similar stage of construction” means the stage at which—

(a)

construction identifiable with a specific ship begins; and

(b)

assembly of that ship has commenced, comprising at least 50 tonnes of 1 per cent. of the estimated mass of all structural material, whichever is the less;

“dangerous substance” means a substance listed in Chapter 17 of the IBC Code having against it in column “d” an entry “S”;

“IBC Code” means the 1994 Edition of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk published by the International Maritime Organization;

“IBC Code Certificate” means a certificate of compliance with the IBC Code;

“IGC Code” means the 1993 Edition of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, published by the International Maritime Organization;

“in bulk” means directly and without intermediate form of containment in a tank forming an integral part of, or permanently located in or on, a ship;

“International Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk” means, in relation to a United Kingdom ship, a certificate issued pursuant to regulation 9 and, in relation to any other ship, a certificate issued in accordance with Chapter 1 of the IBC Code by or on behalf of the government of the State in which the ship is registered;

“INLS Certificate” means an International Pollution Prevention Certificate for the Carriage of Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk issued under Annex II and, in the case of a United Kingdom ship, in accordance with regulation 9 in the form set out in Annex II;

“IMO” means the International Maritime Organization;

“IMO Standards” means the Standards for Procedures and Arrangements for the Discharge of Noxious Liquid Substances adopted by the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation by Resolution MEPC 18(22) on 5th December 1985;

“IOPP Certificate” means an International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate issued in accordance with Annex I of the MARPOL Convention and, in the case of a United Kingdom Ship pursuant to the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1996(3);

“Merchant Shipping Notice” means a Notice described as such and issued by the Marine Safety Agency, an executive agency of the Department of Transport;

“MEPC Circular” means a circular of that description issued by the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation;

“non-polluting substance” means a substance listed in Chapter 17 or 18 of the IBC Code having against it in column “c” the entry III;

“noxious liquid substance” means a substance listed as such in either MEPC Circular 2/CIRC.1 or a Category A, B, C or D substance;

“oil-like substance” means a substance listed as such in MEPC Circular 2/CIRC.1 or provisionally assessed as an oil-like substance;

“oil tanker” means a ship constructed or adapted primarily to carry oil in bulk in its cargo spaces and includes a combination carrier when it is carrying a cargo or part cargo of oil in bulk;

“pollution hazard substance” means a substance listed in Chapter 17 of the IBC Code having against it in column “d” an entry “P”;

“provisionally assessed” means, in relation to a substance of a particular category or a non-polluting substance or an oil-like substance, listed as such in MEPC Circular 2/CIRC.1 and there-in identified as a substance falling into that category or as a non-polluting substance or as an oil-like substance as the case may be;

“residual mixture” means, in relation to any category of noxious liquid substances, ballast water, tank washings or other mixtures containing residues of a noxious liquid substance of such category, but excludes clean ballast;

“ship” means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats, hovercraft, submersibles and floating craft and also fixed or floating platforms except when they are actually engaged in exploration or exploitation of the sea-bed or associated offshore processing of sea-bed mineral resources;

“the MARPOL Convention” means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as amended(4);

“the SOLAS Convention” means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended(5);

“tripartite agreement” means an agreement between Administrations for the carriage of unassessed liquid substances in accordance with MEPC Circular 265;

“UKOPP Certificate” means a United Kingdom Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate issued pursuant to the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) Regulations 1996;

“unassessed liquid substance” means a liquid substance which is neither a noxious liquid substance nor a non-polluting substance and is not oil as defined in the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1996;

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to any of the following—

(a) the BCH Code;

(b) the IBC Code;

(c) the IGC Code;

(d) an MEPC Circular;

(e) the MARPOL Convention;

(f) the SOLAS Convention; and

(g) a Merchant Shipping Notice;

shall include a reference to any document amending it which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant from time to time and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice.

(3) In interpreting the IBC Code and the BCH Code—

(a) the provisions of the BCH Code and IBC Code having been made mandatory under regulation 4(2) and (3) respectively the language thereof shall be construed accordingly;

(b) references to the Administration shall, in relation to United Kingdom ships, be references to the Secretary of State; and references to the Port Administration shall in relation to all ships in United Kingdom national waters be references to the Secretary of State;

(c) any reference to the 1974 SOLAS Convention shall be a reference to the SOLAS Convention as defined in these Regulations.

(4) (a) In these Regulations—

(i) a reference to a numbered regulation is, unless otherwise stated, a reference to the regulation of that number in these Regulations; and

(ii) a reference to a numbered paragraph is, unless otherwise stated, a reference to the paragraph of that number in that regulation.

(b) Any approval given in pursuant to these Regulations shall be given in writing and shall specify the date when it is to come into force and the conditions (if any) on which it is given.

(1)

Annex II was amended by amendments adopted by the IMO in 1985, 1989, 1992 and 1994.

(2)

S.I. 1996/2128.

(3)

S.I. 1996/2154.

(4)

Cmnd. 5748; amended by the Protocol of 1978 (Cmnd. 7347) and by amendments adopted by IMO in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1992 and 1994.

(5)

Cmnd. 7874; amended by the Protocol of 1978 (Cmnd. 7346) and by amendments adopted by IMO in 1981, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1994.