Licensing of Boatmen and vessels
12.—(1) The Commissioners may grant upon such terms and conditions as they may think fit licences for vessels to be let for hire or to be used for carrying no more than 12 passengers for hire, and to the persons in charge of or navigating such vessels, and may charge for each type of licence such annual fee as appears to them to be appropriate.
(2) Any such licence may be granted for such period as the Commissioners may think fit, and may be suspended or revoked by the Commissioners whenever they shall deem such suspension or revocation to be necessary or desirable in the interests of the public provided that the existence of the power to suspend or revoke the licence shall be made clear in the licence itself.
(3) No person shall let for hire any such vessel not so licensed or at any time during the suspension of the licence for the vessel, nor shall any person carry or permit to be carried passengers for hire in any such vessel unless—
(a)the vessel is so licensed and the licence is not suspended; and
(b)the person in charge of the boat or vessel and any other person navigating it is so licensed and the licence is not suspended and the conditions of the licence are complied with.
(4) A licence under this section shall not be required for any vessel duly licensed by or under any regulations of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency or for a person in charge of or navigating such a vessel.
(5) No person shall carry or permit to be carried in any such vessel a greater number of passengers for hire than shall be specified in the licence applying to such vessel, and every owner of any such vessel shall, before permitting the same to be used for carrying passengers for hire, display, on a conspicuous part of the said boat or vessel, the owner’s name and also the number of persons which it is licensed to carry, in the form “Licensed to carry X persons.”
(6) Every person who acts in contravention of the provisions of this article shall for each offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale but a person shall not be guilty of an offence under this sub-paragraph by reason of their failure to comply with such conditions as are mentioned in sub-paragraph 3(b) of this article if it is shown that there is a reasonable excuse for the failure.
(7) Any person deeming themselves to be aggrieved by the withholding, suspension, or revocation of any licence under the provisions of this article may appeal to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency(1) within six weeks after such withholding, suspension, or revocation, provided that the person so aggrieved shall give twenty-four hours written notice of such appeal, and the relevant grounds, to the Commissioners, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency shall have the power to make such order as it sees fit and to award costs, such costs to be recoverable summarily as a civil debt.
(8) In sub-paragraphs (1) and (3) of this article “let for hire” means let for hire to the public.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s head office is located at Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG.