Proposed Amendment to Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2002

Consultation from 19th August 2011 to 30th September 2011

(6 weeks)

The MCA has produced a draft Statutory Instrument (SI) to amend the Safety of Navigation Regulations

• to require compliance with new regulation 19-1 of Chapter V of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
• to make it an offence to proceed, or attempt to proceed, on a voyage without complying with regulation 19-1 and
• to require compliance with regulation 34-1 which was substituted for regulation 34(3) of Chapter V of SOLAS.

To view the draft SI please Click Here
To view the draft Impact Assessment please Click Here
To view the draft MGN please Click Here
To view the list of consultees please Click Here
To view the Code of Practice on Consultation please Click Here
To view the Customer Feedback Form please Click Here

What is the Consultation about?

Regulation 19-1 was inserted into SOLAS Chapter V by Resolution MSC.202(81) of the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation. The new Regulation introduces the mandatory carriage of LRIT, which aims to provide a secure system for flag states to track their vessels globally as a response to pirate/terrorist attacks on vessels.

Regulation 34-1 was substituted for regulation 34(3) of SOLAS Chapter V by Resolution MSC.153(78)

The draft SI would implement these changes in UK law and require compliance by amending the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/1473).. The draft would also amend those Regulations to require compliance with new regulations inserted into Chapter V, as it now requires compliance with amendments to existing regulation in Chapter V, if such amendments are also specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice.

Key Points

The new SOLAS Regulation 19-1 contains a requirement for ships to install, test and operate LRIT systems. This regulation shall apply to the following types of ships engaged on international voyages:

• passenger ships, including high-speed passenger craft
• cargo ships, including high-speed craft, of 300 gross tonnage and upwards
• mobile offshore drilling units.

The new regulation 34-1 reproduces the ‘master’s discretion’ provisions which were in 34(3) in a separate regulation... These require owners and others not to restrict the master’s decisions where the master considers them necessary for safety of life at sea or protection of the marine environment.

How to respond

The consultation period began on 19th August 2011 and will run until 30th September 2011 (6 weeks).

We would welcome an early response if possible. However all responses must be received by the deadline of 30th September 2011.

Please tell us your views on the issues which affect you or which you wish to comment on.

If you would like further copies of this consultation document it can be found at

www.mcga.gov.uk under ‘Current Consultations’.

Please send consultation responses to:

Coastal Safety Technical Support Team
Maritime & Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/01 Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
Tel:   023 8032 9443
Fax:   023 8032 9204
Email:  csst@mcga.gov.uk

Please tell us:

Are you responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation or business?

If the response is on behalf of others then:

• What type and size of organisation or business it is?
• Who do you represent?
• How were the views gathered?
• What type of operations are the organisation’s members or the company with?
• Are you a company or a sole operator and if employing others then how many?

We would also appreciate specific comments on the potential costs or benefits of the proposals.

A list of those consulted is available. If you know of others who may wish to be included in this consultation please forward copies of the document to them. You may be our only contact in your organisation so please ensure that the consultation is circulated to the relevant people.

Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

All responses, including those given in confidence, will be included in any overall statistical summary of responses.

The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

If your address details require any amendment or if you do not wish to be consulted in future please let us know.