Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Rules 1968
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1968/1053 |
| Year | 1968 |
1968 No. 1053
MERCHANT SHIPPING
SAFETY
The Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Rules 19684thJuly 1968
15thJuly 1968
21stJuly 1968
ARRANGEMENT OF RULES
Rule
Ships to which the Rules apply 1
PART I
SURVEYS AND CERTIFICATES
Application to Assigning Authority for the assignment of freeboards
and issue of load line certificates 2
Load Line Survey 3
Surveyor's Report 4
Assignment of Freeboards 5
Issue and form of Load Line Certificates 6
Duration 7
Extension 8
Cancellation 9
Periodical Inspection of Ships 10
Exemption and Exemption Certificates 11
PART II
LOAD LINES AND MARKS
"Appropriate Marks" 12
Marking 13
Deck-line 14
Load Line Mark 15
Load Lines 16
Timber Load Lines 17
Appropriate Load Line 18
Position of Load Lines 19
Method of marking 20
Authorisation of removal, etc., of appropriate marks 21
Mark of Assigning Authority 22
PART III
RULES AS TO CONDITIONS OF ASSIGNMENT
Requirements relevant to the assignment of freeboards 23
Compliance with conditions of assignment 24
Record of Particulars 25
PART IV
FREEBOARDS
Types of freeboard 26
Determination of freeboards 27
Greater than minimum freeboards 28
Special position of deck-line: correction of freeboards 29
PART V
GENERAL
Information as to stability of ships 30
Information as to loading and ballasting of ships 31
Recognition of certificates issued by other Governments 32
PART VI
INTERPRETATION, CITATION, AND COMMENCEMENT
Interpretation 33
Citation and Commencement 34
SCHEDULES
No. of
Schedule Page
1. Forms of Certificates 2792
2. Appropriate Load Lines—Zones, Areas and Seasonal Periods 2800
3. Record of Particulars 2807
4. Conditions of Assignment 2813
Part I: Ships in General 2814
Part II: Special Requirements Applicable to Type "A"
Ships 2822
Part III: Special Requirements Applicable to certain
Type "B" Ships 2825
Part IV: Special Requirements Applicable to Ships to be
Assigned Timber Freeboards 2826
Part V: General 2826
5. Freeboards 2827
Part I: Freeboards other than Timber Freeboards 2828
Part II: Timber Freeboards 2838
Part III: Sailing Ships and Other Ships 2839
6. Freeboard Tables 2840
7. Information as to Stability of Ships 2846
The Board of Trade in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 2, 5, 6, 8, 12, 20, 21, 22 and 30 of the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act 1967(a) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf hereby make the following Rules:—
Ships to which the Rules apply
1. These Rules apply to all ships except—
(a) ships of war;
(b) ships solely engaged in fishing; and
(c) pleasure yachts.
PART I
SURVEYS AND CERTIFICATES
Application to Assigning Authority for the assignment of freeboards and issue of load line certificates
2.—(1) The Assigning Authorities for the purposes of these Rules shall be the Board, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the British Committee of Bureau Veritas, the British Technical Committee of the American Bureau of Shipping, the British Committee of Det norske Veritas and the British Committee of Germanischer Lloyd.
(2) Application for the assignment of freeboards to a ship and for the issue of a load line certificate in respect of the ship shall be made to an Assigning Authority by or on behalf of the owner of the ship, who shall furnish to the Authority such plans, drawings, specifications and other documents and information relating to the design and construction of the ship as the Authority may require.
Load Line Survey
3.—(1) After receipt of the application and the documents and information required by the preceding Rule the Assigning Authority shall cause the ship to be surveyed by a Surveyor in order to ascertain—
(a) whether the ship complies with such of the requirements of Rule 23 and Schedule 4 to these Rules as are applicable to the ship ; and
(b) such other data as may be necessary—
(i) for the assignment of freeboards to the ship in accordance with Part IV and Schedule 5 to these Rules and
(ii) to enable information to be supplied to the master of the ship pursuant to Rules 30 and 31.
(2) In the course of the survey to be carried out pursuant to the preceding paragraph of this Rule the ship and any of her fittings or equipment shall be submitted to such tests as may in the opinion of the Assigning Authority be necessary to ascertain the matters referred to in that paragraph. Tests carried out as to stability shall be subject to the requirements of Rule 30 and of paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 4.
(3) The owner of the ship shall afford all necessary facilities for such survey and shall at the request of the Assigning Authority furnish for the Authority's use and retention if required such further documents or information relating to the ship as the Authority may require.
(a) 1967 c. 27.
Surveyor's Report
4.—(1) On completion of the survey the Surveyor shall furnish to the Assigning Authority a report giving the results of the survey and his findings in relation to the matters specified in Rule 3.
(2) There shall be appended to the report the record of particulars required for the purposes of section 2(3)(b) of the Act and the requirements of Rule 25 shall apply in respect of that record.
(3) In the case of a ship which is required to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 to these Rules relating to stability the Surveyor shall furnish to the Board information necessary to enable the Board to determine whether the ship complies with those requirements.
Assignment of Freeboards
5.—(1) The Assigning Authority shall—
(a) if satisfied on receipt of the Surveyor's report that the ship complies with the requirements of Rule 23 and Schedule 4 (other than those relating to stability) applicable to her, and
(b) on receipt from the Board of notification that the Board are satisfied that the ship complies with those requirements insofar as they relate to stability—
assign freeboards to the ship in accordance with Part IV and Schedule 5.
(2) On assigning freeboards the Assigning Authority shall furnish to the owner of the ship—
(a) particulars of the freeboards so assigned ;
(b) directions specifying—
(i) which of the load lines described in Part II of these Rules are to be marked on the sides of the ship in accordance with the requirements of that Part, and
(ii) the position in which those load lines, the deck-line and the load line mark are to be so marked ; and
(c) two copies of the Surveyor's report.
Issue and form of Load Line Certificates
6. Subject to the provisions of Rule 11 (Exemption and Exemption Certificates) the Assigning Authority shall, on being satisfied that the ship has been duly marked in accordance with the directions referred to in the preceding Rule, issue to the owner of the ship either an International Load Line Certificate (1966) or a United Kingdom load line certificate, as may be required by the Act, in the form set out for such certificates respectively in Schedule 1 to these Rules ; and for that purpose each of the Assigning Authorities other than the Board is hereby authorised by the Board to issue load line certificates in pursuance of section 6(3)(a) of the Act.
Duration
7. Subject to the provisions of section 15(3) of the Act (Cancellation of United Kingdom load line certificates of ships plying on international voyages) and except as otherwise provided in the following Rules of this Part, a load line certificate shall be valid until a date to be determined by the Assigning Authority, not being a date more than five years after the date of completion of the survey referred to in Rule 3.
Extension
8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Rule, where—
(a) application has been made to an Assigning Authority by the owner of a ship in respect of which a load line certificate is in force for the issue of a load line certificate in respect of the ship to take effect on the expiry of the current certificate, and
(b) following such application the ship has been duly surveyed in accordance with Rule 3.
the Assigning Authority may, if it is satisfied on receipt of the Surveyor's report that the ship complies with the requirements of Rule 23 and Schedule 4 (other than those relating to stability) applicable to her and has received notification from the Board that the ship complies with those requirements insofar as they relate to stability, but considers that it will not be reasonably practicable under the circumstances to issue the load line certificate applied for before the date of expiry of the current certificate, extend the period of validity specified in the current certificate for a period not exceeding 5 months.
(2) No such extension shall have effect unless particulars of the date to which the period of validity is extended, together with particulars of the place at and date on which such extension was given, are endorsed by the Assigning Authority on the current certificate.
(3) The period of validity of any load line certificate coming into effect immediately on the expiry of a certificate extended pursuant to this Rule shall not exceed a period of 5 years commencing on the date of completion of the survey referred to in paragraph (1) of this Rule.
Cancellation
9.—(1) The Board may cancel a load line certificate—
(a) if satisfied (whether by a report from an Assigning Authority or otherwise) that—
(i) the ship to which the certificate relates does not comply with the conditions of assignment; or
(ii) the structural strength of the ship is lowered to such an extent that the ship is unsafe; or
(iii) information on the basis of which freeboards were assigned to the ship was incorrect in a material particular ;
(b) if the certificate is not endorsed in accordance with the requirements of Rule 10 to show that the ship has been inspected in accordance with the requirements of that Rule;
(c) if a new certificate is issued in respect of the ship ;
(d) if the ship was registered in the United Kingdom when the certificate was issued and has ceased to be so registered.
(2) In every such case the Board shall notify the owner of...
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