The Merchant Shipping (Inland Waterway and Limited Coastal Operations) (Boatmasters’ Qualifications and Hours of Work) Regulations 2006

General

Interpretation of Part 2

5.—(1) In this Part—

“bareboat charter terms” has the meaning given in section 17(11) of the 1995 Act;

“boatmaster’s certificate” means a certificate issued—

(a)

in the United Kingdom, by the Secretary of State under Part 2 of these Regulations, or

(b)

in an EEA State other than the United Kingdom, by a competent authority of that state,

in accordance with Council Directive 96/50/EC of 23 July 1996 on the harmonisation of the conditions for obtaining national boatmasters’ certificates for the carriage of goods and passengers by inland waterway(1);

“boatmaster’s licence” means a licence issued by the Secretary of State under Part 2 of these Regulations;

“competent navigation authority” means a person in whom there is vested, under any enactment, a power or duty to manage navigation in any part of United Kingdom waters;

“EEA State” means a Member State, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein;

“immediate family”, in relation to a user of a pleasure vessel, means—

(a)

the husband, wife or civil partner of the individual,

(b)

the brother, sister, ancestor or lineal descendant of the individual, and

(c)

the brother, sister, ancestor or lineal descendant of the individual’s husband, wife or civil partner;

“limited coastal area” means an area of sea where the vessel is neither more than 15 miles (exclusive of waters of category A, B, C or D) from its point of departure nor more than 3 miles from land;

“load line length” means the greater of the following distances measured at the waterline—

(a)

96% of the total length of the vessel on a waterline at 85% of the least moulded depth measured from the top of the keel, or

(b)

the length from the foreside of the stem of the vessel to the axis of the rudder stock on that waterline,

(and, for the purpose of determining those lengths, where a vessel is designed with a rake of keel the waterline is to be treated as parallel to the designed waterline);

“normal duties”, in relation to the holder of a boatmaster’s licence or certificate or a Rhine navigation licence, means the duties normally performed by a person holding a boatmaster’s licence (with or without an endorsement) or boatmaster’s certificate of the relevant class or a Rhine navigation licence, as the case may be;

“pleasure vessel” means—

(a)

any vessel which is—

(i)

wholly owned or operated on bareboat charter terms by an individual and used only for the sport or pleasure of that individual, his immediate family and his friends, or

(ii)

wholly owned or operated on bareboat charter terms by a body corporate and used only for the sport or pleasure of employees or officers of the body corporate, or the immediate family or friends of those persons ,

and which is on a voyage for which the owner is not paid for or in connection with operating the vessel or carrying any person, other than as a contribution to the direct expenses of the operation of the vessel incurred during the voyage; or

(b)

any vessel which is wholly owned or operated on bareboat charter terms by or on behalf of a members’ club formed for the purpose of sport or pleasure which, at the time it is being used, is used only for the sport or pleasure of members of that club or their immediate family, and for the use of which any charges levied are paid into club funds and applied for the general use of the club;

and for the use of which no payments other than those mentioned above are made by or on behalf of the users of the vessel, other than by the owner;

“Port of London area” means the waters within the Port of London described in paragraph 6 of Part 3 of Schedule 3 (and includes, unless the context otherwise requires, a part of those waters);

“prescribed fee” means the fee prescribed by the Secretary of State under section 302 of the 1995 Act;

“relevant local knowledge endorsement” has the meaning given in Part 3 of Schedule 3;

“relevant medical condition” means a medical condition or disability which affects a person’s ability to perform normal duties;

“small commercial vessel” means a vessel which is neither a pleasure vessel nor a passenger ship and which is—

(a)

less than 24 metres in load line length, or

(b)

of less than 150 tons, where the keel was laid, or where the vessel was at a similar stage of construction, before 21st July 1968,

(and “similar stage of construction” means a stage at which construction identifiable with a specific vessel has begun and assembly of that vessel comprising at least 1% of the estimated mass of all structural material has commenced);

“small passenger vessel” means a vessel carrying not more than 12 passengers;

“UK certificate” has the meaning given in regulation 15(1); and

“vessel” means a vessel of a kind mentioned in regulation 7(2).

(2) A reference in this Part to—

(a) a boatmaster’s licence of any class (with or without a reference to an endorsement), or

(b) an endorsement of any class,

is a reference to a licence or endorsement of that class as specified in Part 1 of Schedule 3.

(3) A reference in this Part to a boatmaster’s certificate of any group is a reference to a certificate of that group as specified in Part 2 of Schedule 3.

Expressions relating to qualifications other than boatmaster’s licences and certificates

6.  In this Part, expressions relating to qualifications other than boatmasters’ licences and boatmasters’ certificates have the following meanings—

“appropriate”, in relation to any such qualification, means appropriate both to the vessel being navigated and to the waters in which it is being navigated;

“certificated”, in relation to a small commercial vessel, means complying with the requirements as to the possession and display of a certificate contained in the SCV Regulations;

“Inshore Tug Certificate” means—

(a)

a Certificate of Competency (Master) (Inshore Tugs) issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with Regulation II/3.6 of Chapter II of the Annex to the STCW Convention, or

(b)

a Certificate of Equivalent Competency issued in recognition of a certificate issued by another Party to the STCW Convention equivalent to that Certificate of Competency;

“IWSPB Code qualification” means a qualification recognised by the Secretary of State under the Inland Waters Small Passenger Boat (IWSPB) Code and specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2;

“Rhine navigation licence” means a licence issued in accordance with the revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine;

“SCV Code qualification” means a qualification specified in a code of practice for the safety of seagoing small commercial vessels which satisfies a requirement as to the manning of vessels imposed by the SCV Regulations;

“SCV Regulations” means the Merchant Shipping (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 1998(2) and the Merchant Shipping (Vessels in Commercial Use for Sport or Pleasure) Regulations 1998(3);

“STCW Class II/2 or 3 Certificate” means—

(c)

a Certificate of Competency for a person acting in the capacity of master of a vessel issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with Regulation II/2 or II/3 of Chapter II of the Annex to the STCW Convention, or

(d)

a Certificate of Equivalent Competency issued in recognition of a certificate issued by another Party to the STCW Convention equivalent to that Certificate of Competency;

“STCW Class II/3 Certificate (Master, Category D)” means—

(a)

a Certificate of Competency for a person acting in the capacity of master of a vessel of less than 500 tonnes gross tonnage in waters up to category D issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with Regulation II/3.6 of Chapter II of the Annex to the STCW Convention, or

(b)

a Certificate of Equivalent Competency issued in recognition of a certificate issued by another Party to the STCW Convention equivalent to that Certificate of Competency;

“STCW Convention” means the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers 1978(4) and its annexes and attachments, including all the amendments adopted by the 1995 Conference of Parties and by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization and in force on or before 1st January 2003(5).

Application of Part 2

7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (4), this Part applies to any person serving as master of a vessel of a kind mentioned in paragraph (2) engaged on a voyage of a kind mentioned in paragraph (3).

(2) The vessels are United Kingdom and non-United Kingdom ships of Classes IV, V, VI, VI(A), IX(A) and IX(A)(T), other than pleasure vessels.

(3) The voyages are—

(a) any voyage in waters of category A, B, C or D, and

(b) any voyage to sea within United Kingdom waters in the course of which the vessel is never more than 15 miles (exclusive of waters of category A, B, C or D) from its point of departure or more than 3 miles from land.

(4) This Part does not apply to a person serving as—

(a) the master of a certificated small commercial vessel if he holds an appropriate SCV Code qualification;

(b) the master of a seagoing vessel, other than a pleasure vessel, if he holds an appropriate STCW Class II/2 or 3 Certificate other than an STCW Class II/3 Certificate (Master, Category D) or an Inshore Tug Certificate.

Masters to be qualified

8.—(1) A person to whom this Part applies must be qualified in accordance with this regulation.

(2) A person is qualified to serve as master of a vessel if he holds—

(a) a boatmaster’s licence of a class appropriate both to the vessel which is being navigated and to the waters in which it is being navigated (subject to paragraph (6)),

(b) a boatmaster’s certificate of a class appropriate both to the vessel which is being navigated and to the waters in which it is being navigated (subject to paragraph (6)), or

(c) a Rhine navigation licence appropriate to the vessel which is being navigated (subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (6)).

(3) A person holding a Rhine navigation licence is not qualified to serve as master of a vessel at sea.

(4) A person holding a Rhine navigation licence is not qualified to serve as master of any vessel in waters where (if he were the holder of a boatmaster’s licence) a relevant local knowledge endorsement would be required, unless—

(a) he is authorised to do so by virtue of a supplementary licence,

(b) he either is an authorised pilot or holds a pilotage exemption certificate issued by the competent navigation authority in relation to those waters, or

(c) the vessel is carrying an authorised pilot.

(5) A person not holding a boatmaster’s licence, boatmaster’s certificate or Rhine navigation licence is qualified to serve as master of—

(a) a non-seagoing small commercial vessel or non-seagoing small passenger vessel in waters other than the sea, if he holds an appropriate IWSPB Code qualification and satisfies the condition (if any) applied to that qualification by Part 2 of Schedule 2,

(b) a vessel having a gross tonnage of less than 500 tonnes in waters of category C or D, if he holds an STCW Class II/3 Certificate (Master, Category D), or

(c) a tug on inshore towage operations, if he holds an Inshore Tug Certificate,

(subject in each case to paragraph (6)).

(6) A person to whom this Part applies is not qualified to serve as master of any vessel to which a pilotage direction applies unless—

(a) he is an authorised pilot,

(b) he holds a pilotage exemption certificate issued by the competent navigation authority, or

(c) the vessel is carrying an authorised pilot.

(7) In this regulation—

“authorised pilot” means a person authorised in accordance with section 3 of the Pilotage Act 1987(6);

“inshore towage operations” means operations in waters of category A, B, C or D or in a limited coastal area with a vessel constructed solely for the purpose of, and normally used for, providing external motive power for floating objects or vessels;

“pilotage direction” has the meaning given in section 7(1) of the Pilotage Act 1987;

“pilotage exemption certificate” has the meaning given in section 8(1) of that Act; and

“supplementary licence” means a licence issued under regulation 20.

(1)

OJ No. L235, 17.9.96, p.31. The directive was applied to the European Economic Area by a Decision of the EEA Joint Committee of 1st May 1997 (OJ No. L424, 4.9.97, p. 70) and amended by Regulation (EC) 1882/2003 of the EU Parliament and Council of 29 September 2003 (OJ No. L284, 31.10.2003, p.1).

(2)

S.I. 1998/1609.

(3)

S.I. 1998/2771, amended by S.I. 2005/2114.

(4)

Cmnd. 9266 (Treaty Series No. 50).

(5)

Amendments are made by Cm. 3116 (Treaty Series No. 110), Cm. 3136, Cm. 3772 and Cm. 4784.

(6)

1987 c.21.