The Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction: Ships of Classes III to VI(A)) Regulations 1998

Exemptions for certain Classes of ships and individual ships

4.  The Secretary of State may exempt certain Classes of ships or individual ships from the provisions of any of the regulations contained in these Regulations, subject to such conditions as he may specify, and may alter or cancel any exemption so granted. In particular he may exempt from any of the requirements of these Regulations—

(a) any ship, the keel of which was laid, or which was at a similar stage of construction before 25th May 1980, not being a ship converted on or after 25th May 1980 to the extent that compliance therewith is unreasonable or impractical in the circumstances;

(b) any ship which embodies features of a novel kind, if the application might, in his opinion, seriously impede research into the development of such features and their incorporation in ships. Any such ship shall, however, comply with safety requirements which are adequate for the service for which it is intended and are such as to ensure the overall safety of the ship; and

(c) either absolutely, or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, any ship constructed before the requirement first came in force, if he is satisfied that compliance with that requirement is either impractical or unreasonable in the case of that ship.