Merchant Shipping Act 1984
| Year | 1984 |
Merchant Shipping Act 1984
1984 CHAPTER 5
An Act to make provision for the service of improvement notices and prohibition notices in connection with statutory provisions relating to the safety of ships and other matters; to make further provision with respect to the ascertainment of ships' tonnages for the purposes of section 503 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 and section 4 of the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 1971; and for connected purposes.
[13th March 1984]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices
Service of notices by inspectors
1 Improvement notices.
(1) If an inspector is of the opinion that a person—
(a ) is contravening one or more of the relevant statutory provisions, or
(b ) has contravened one or more of those provisions in circumstances that make it likely that the contravention will continue or be repeated,
he may serve on that person a notice under this section, referred to in this Part of this Act as an improvement notice.
(2) An improvement notice shall—
(a ) state that the inspector is of the said opinion, specify the relevant statutory provision or provisions as to which he is of that opinion, and give particulars of the reasons why he is of that opinion, and
(b ) require the person on whom the notice is served to remedy the contravention in question or (as the case may be) the matters occasioning it within such period as may be specified in the notice.
(3) The period specified in pursuance of subsection (2)(b ) above shall not expire before the end of the period within which a notice can be given under section 4 below requiring questions relating to the improvement notice to be referred to arbitration.
2 Prohibition notices.
(1) If, as regards any relevant activities which are being or are about to be carried on on board any ship by or under the control of any person, an inspector is of the opinion that, as so carried on or as about to be so carried on, the activities involve or (as the case may be) will involve the risk of—
(a ) serious personal injury to any person (whether on board the ship or not), or
(b ) serious pollution of any navigable waters,
the inspector may serve on the first-mentioned person a notice under this section, referred to in this Part of this Act as a prohibition notice.
(2) In subsection (1) above ‘relevant activities’ means activities to or in relation to which any of the relevant statutory provisions apply or will, if the activities are carried on as mentioned in that subsection, apply.
(3) A prohibition notice shall—
(a ) state that the inspector is of the said opinion;
(b ) specify the matters which in his opinion give or (as the case may be) will give rise to the said risk;
(c ) where in his opinion any of those matters involve or (as the case may be) will involve a contravention of any of the relevant statutory provisions, state that he is of that opinion, specify the provision or provisions as to which he is of that opinion, and give particulars of the reasons why he is of that opinion; and
(d ) direct—
(i) that the activities to which the notice relates shall not be carried on by or under the control of the person on whom the notice is served, or
(ii) that the ship shall not go to sea,
(or both of those things) unless the matters specified in the notice in pursuance of paragraph (b ) above, and any associated contraventions of any provision so specified in pursuance of paragraph (c ) above, have been remedied.
(4) A direction given in pursuance of subsection (3)(d ) above shall take immediate effect if the notice contains a statement to the effect that the inspector is of the opinion that the risk in question is or (as the case may be) will be imminent, and in any other case shall have effect at the end of a period specified in the notice.
3 Supplementary provisions as to notices.
(1) An improvement notice or a prohibition notice may (but need not) include directions as to the measures to be taken to remedy any contravention or matter to which the notice relates; and any such directions may be framed so as to afford the person on whom the notice is served a choice between different ways of remedying the contravention or matter.
(2) An improvement notice or a prohibition notice shall not direct any measures to be taken to remedy the contravention of any of the relevant statutory provisions that are more onerous than those necessary to secure compliance with that provision.
(3) Where an improvement notice or a prohibition notice that is not to take immediate effect has been served—
(a ) the notice may be withdrawn by an inspector at any time before the end of the period specified in it in pursuance of section 1(2)(b ) or (as the case may be) section 2(4) above; and
(b ) the period so specified may be extended or further extended by an inspector at any time when a reference to arbitration in respect of the notice is not pending under section 4 below.
Arbitration and compensation
4 Reference of notices to arbitration.
(1) Any question—
(a ) as to whether any of the reasons or matters specified in an improvement notice or a prohibition notice in pursuance of section 1(2)(a ) or 2(3)(b ) or (c ) above in connection with any opinion formed by the inspector constituted a valid basis for that opinion, or
(b ) as to whether any directions included in the notice in pursuance of section 3(1) above were reasonable,
shall, if the person on whom the notice was served so requires by a notice given to the inspector within twenty-one days from the service of the notice, be referred to a single arbitrator appointed by agreement between the parties for that question to be decided by him.
(2) Where a notice is given by a person in accordance with subsection (1) above, then—
(a ) in the case of an improvement notice, the giving of the notice shall have the effect of suspending the operation of the improvement notice until the decision of the arbitrator is published to the parties or the reference is abandoned by that person;
(b ) in the case of a prohibition notice, the giving of the notice shall have the effect of so suspending the operation of the prohibition notice if, but only if, on the application of that person the arbitrator so directs (and then only from the giving of the direction).
(3) Where on a reference under this section the arbitrator decides as respects any reason, matter or directions to which the reference relates, that in all the circumstances—
(a ) the reason or matter did not constitute a valid basis for the inspector's opinion, or
(b ) the directions were unreasonable,
he shall either cancel the notice or affirm it with such modifications as he may in the circumstances think fit; and in any other case the arbitrator shall affirm the notice in its original form.
(4) Where any reference under this section involves the consideration by the arbitrator of the effects of any particular activities or state of affairs on the health or safety of any persons, he shall not on that reference make any decision such as is mentioned in subsection (3)(a ) or (b ) above except after—
(a ) in the case of an improvement notice, affording an opportunity of making oral representations to him with respect to those effects to a member of any such panel of representatives of maritime trade unions as may be appointed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection; or
(b ) in the case of a prohibition notice, affording an opportunity of making such representations to him to either—
(i) a representative of a trade union representing persons whose interests it appears to him that the notice was designed to safeguard, or
as he thinks appropriate; and
(c ) (in either case) considering any representations made to him in pursuance of paragraph (a ) or (b ) above.
(5) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an arbitrator under this section unless he is—
(a ) a person holding a certificate of competency as a master mariner or as a marine engineer officer class 1, or a person holding a certificate equivalent to any such certificate;
(b ) a naval architect;
(c ) a barrister, advocate or solicitor of at least ten years' standing; or
(d ) a person with special experience of shipping matters, of the fishing industry, or of activities carried on in ports.
(6) In connection with his functions under this section an arbitrator shall have the powers conferred on an inspector by section 27 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1979 .
(7) In the application of this section to Scotland any reference to an arbitrator shall be construed as a reference to an arbiter and the reference in subsection (1) above to a single arbitrator appointed by agreement between the parties shall be construed as a reference to a single arbiter so appointed or, in default of agreement, appointed by the sheriff.
(8) The Arbitration Act (Northern Ireland) 1937 shall apply in relation to an arbitration in pursuance of this section as if this section related to a matter in respect of which the Parliament of Northern Ireland had power to make laws.
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