Citation and commencementI11
1
These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.
2
They come into force on 31st March 2012.
Expiry and review of the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010I22
1
After regulation 1(4) of the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 20102, insert—
5
These Regulations cease to have effect at the end of the period of seven years beginning with the day on which these Regulations come into force.
Review1A
1
Before the end of the review period, the Secretary of State must—
a
carry out a review these Regulations;
b
set out the conclusions of the review in a report; and
c
publish the report.
2
The report must in particular—
a
set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory system established by these Regulations;
b
assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved; and
c
assess whether those objectives remain appropriate and, if so, the extent to which they could be achieved with a system that imposes less regulation.
3
“Review period” means the period of five years beginning with the day on which these Regulations come into force.
Other amendments of the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010I33
1
The Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010 are amended as follows.
2
After regulation 1(3), insert—
3A
Regulation 5A(2) comes into force on 1st April 2012
3
In regulation 2—
a
in paragraph (b) of the definition of “lightening operation”, for “at the direction” substitute “with the prior consent”;
b
for paragraph (c) of that definition substitute—
c
in order to reduce the draught of the ship transferring the cargo, to enable it to move to shallower waters in a harbour authority area;
c
after the definition of “lightening operation” insert—
“Merchant Shipping Notice” means a notice described as such and issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport, and any reference to a particular Merchant Shipping Notice includes a reference to that Merchant Shipping Notice as revised or reissued from time to time;
4
In regulation 3—
a
for paragraph (1) substitute—
1
Subject to paragraph (3) and regulation 6, a cargo transfer must not be carried out in United Kingdom waters unless—
a
the ships carrying out the transfer are within harbour authority waters; or
b
the ships carrying out the cargo transfer are within the permit area, and a permit has been obtained from the Secretary of State in accordance with the procedure set out in Merchant Shipping Notice 1829 .
b
after paragraph (2) insert—
2A
Subject to paragraphs (3) and (5) and regulation 6, a bunkering operation must not be carried out in United Kingdom waters unless the ships carrying out the operation are within harbour authority waters.
c
in paragraph (3), for “Paragraphs (1) and (2)” substitute “Paragraphs (1), (2) and (2A)”;
d
after paragraph (4) insert—
5
Paragraph (2A) does not apply to a bunkering operation between a ship and its rescue boat or tender.
6
In this regulation—
“permit area” means the area of sea off Southwold in Suffolk defined by a circle of radius 1.5 nautical miles centred on position 52° 16’N. 01° 57.3’E;
“rescue boat” means a ship designed or used to rescue persons in distress and to marshal life rafts.
5
After regulation 5, insert—
Ship-to-ship transfer operations plans and notification of cargo transfers in the Pollution Control Zone5A
1
A cargo transfer to or from a ship with a gross tonnage of 150 tons or more must not be carried out in United Kingdom waters or in the Pollution Control Zone unless a ship-to-ship transfer operations plan has been approved by the ship’s flag State.
2
A cargo transfer to or from such a ship must not be carried out in the Pollution Control Zone unless the Secretary of State has been notified in accordance with the procedure specified in Merchant Shipping Notice 1829.
3
A cargo transfer to or from such a ship in United Kingdom waters or in the Pollution Control Zone must be carried out in compliance with its ship-to-ship transfer operations plan.
4
In this regulation—
“flag State”, in relation to a ship, means the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly;
“Pollution Control Zone” means the areas of sea defined in the Schedule to the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) (Limits) Regulations 19963; and
“ship-to-ship transfer operations plan” means a document which—
- a
is in the working language of the ship to which it relates; and
- b
sets out how cargo transfer operations should be conducted, based on best practice guidelines identified by the International Maritime Organization.
5
For the purposes of this regulation, gross tonnage is to be determined in accordance with Schedule 3.
6
In regulation 8, for “1st October 2010” (twice occurring) substitute “1st April 2012”.
7
After Schedule 2, insert the Schedule set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport