Chapter 1: Registration

Unless stated otherwise, every provision reproduced in this chapter is from the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 was passed on 17 July 1995 and on 1 January 1996, the Act entered into force.

The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 is the first Act to consolidate United Kingdom shipping legislation since the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894. It consolidates and re-enacts provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts enacted between 1894 and 1994. It also modernises and replaces a number of obsolete and anachronistic provisions found in the earlier Merchant Shipping Acts.

The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 covers almost all aspects of merchant shipping with the exception of two topics. These are, first, the protection of shipping interests in the United Kingdom, formerly dealt with in Part III to the Merchant Shipping Act 1974, now dealt with by the Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Act 1995, and, secondly, shipping conferences, which are still governed by the Merchant Shipping (Liner Conferences) Act 1982.

1.3 Effect of Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Act 1995: pure consolidation. The effect of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and the Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Act 1995 is to consolidate existing law. The respective bills were amended very slightly from the form in which they were first proposed. The report of the Joint Committee and consolidation bills Merchant Shipping Bill (HL) and Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Bill (HL Paper 57–II and HC Paper 414–II) after reviewing the contents of the proposed Merchant Shipping Bill concludes by noting as follows:

The Committee has considered the Merchant Shipping Bill which was referred to them. The Committee has heard evidence on the Bill and is of the opinion that the Bill is pure consolidation and represents the existing law. There is no point to which the special attention of Parliament should be drawn. The Committee has also considered the Shipping and Trading Interests (Protection) Bill which was referred to them. The Committee has heard evidence on the Bill. The Committee is of the opinion that the Bill is pure consolidation and represents the existing law.

1.4 Main changes introduced by Merchant Shipping Act 1995, the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997, the Marine Safety Act 2003, the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 2006 and the Marine Navigation Act 2013. The main legislative changes introduced by the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 concern the making of safety regulations, the detention of unsafe ships, and the liability of shipowners and others to make compensation for oil pollution damage.

The 1995 Act incorporates recent amendments in the law on the registration of ships introduced by the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 and the Merchant Shipping (Registration, etc) Act 1993. The 1995 Act also incorporates recent changes in salvage law contained in the International Convention on Salvage, 1989, first implemented in the United Kingdom by the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Pollution) Act 1994.

The principal amending legislation to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 was the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997, the Marine Safety Act 2003, the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 2006 and the Marine Navigation Act 2013. The following is a summary of main changes introduced by these pieces of legislation.

The most important amending legislation is the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997. The 1997 Act made provision for the extension of powers to deal with emergencies at sea (sections 1–4), pollution control and marine safety (sections 5–12), funding of maritime services (section 13), liability and compensation for marine pollution (sections 14–16), miscellaneous amendments of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (sections 17–23), the protection of wrecks (section 24), maritime security (sections 25 and 26), international bodies concerned with maritime matters (sections 27 and 28) and supplementary matters (sections 29–31).

Section 9 of, and Schedule 1 to, the 1997 Act amend provisions of the 1995 Act relating to the inspection and detention of ships. Section 13 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1997 Act introduce provisions relating to funding of maritime services. Section 14(2) of, and Schedule 3 to, the 1997 Act implement the HNS Convention on liability and compensation for pollution from noxious and hazardous substances other than oil. Section 25 of, and Schedule 4 to, the 1997 Act make amendments to Part III of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 (which are not reproduced in this work). Section 26(1) of, and Schedule 5 to, the 1997 Act implement in the United Kingdom the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982. Section 29(1) of, and Schedule 6 to, the 1997 Act effect minor consequential amendments to various pieces of legislation affecting merchant shipping and section 29(3) of, and Schedule 7 to, the 1997 Act contain the repeals of revocations of provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and other legislation affecting merchant shipping.

The Marine Safety Act 2003 was a relatively short piece of legislation that made amendments to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 relating to safety directions (section 1 and Schedule 1), fire authorities: power to charge (section 2), and various minor consequential and other amendments and repeals of marine safety provisions contained in the 1995 Act (section 3 and Schedules 2 and 3 to the 2003 Act).

The Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 2006, another relatively short piece of legislation, contains provisions implementing the 2003 Supplementary Fund Protocols to the 1992 Protocol to CLC (the Liability Convention) and 1992 Fund Prot (the 1992 Protocol to the Fund Convention), which increased limits of compensation available beyond those set out in the 1992 Protocols for damage arising from oil pollution from ships. In spite of its title, the 2006 Act also gave power to implement Annex V of Marpol 73/78 (relating to prevention of air pollution from ships).

The Marine Navigation Act 2013 introduced changes to the pilotage regime amending to the Pilot-age Act 1987, changes to powers of harbour authorities and introduced port constables as well as making changes to rules relating to lighthouses (dealt with under Part VIII of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995) and made changes to the rules relating to the manning requirements for ships (section 47 of the 1995 Act) and the marking of wrecks (section 252 of the 1995 Act).

1.5 Contents of Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 consists of 316 sections. It is divided into 13 Parts with 14 Schedules. The following is a brief summary of the main provisions contained in the 1995 Act according to subject headings dealt with in this work.

1.6 Registration of ships. Parts I and II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 concern the registration of British ships in the United Kingdom. These parts contain provisions virtually identical to those contained in the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 and the Merchant Shipping (Registration, etc) Act 1993, including the inclusion in Schedule 1 of special private law provisions for registered ships with separate provision for the registration of bareboat charter ships in the United Kingdom.

1.7 Masters and seamen. Part III of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 deals with the law relating to masters and seamen. Its provisions are taken directly from those formerly contained in the Merchant Shipping Act 1970, as amended by the Merchant Shipping Acts of 1979 and 1988.

Note that many of the matters affecting masters and seamen previously dealt with under Part III of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 are now covered by regulations implementing the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention pursuant to the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Conventions) (Minimum Standards for Seafarers, etc) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1613 with amendments made to Part III of the 1995 Act by the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Conventions) (Minor and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1614. Note also the many changes introduced by the Merchant Shipping (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/782.

1.8 Ship safety. Part IV of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 relates to the safety of ships. Sections 85 and 86 of the 1995 Act give the Secretary of State general powers to make safety regulations over ships. These sections re-enact former provisions contained in sections 21 and 22 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1979, as amended. Section 87 deals with dangerous goods. It replaces provisions formerly contained in sections 445–450 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 and section 23 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act 1949.

Many provisions relating to the safety of ships formerly contained in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act 1932, the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act 1949, the Merchant Shipping Act 1954 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1977 have been re-enacted in the 1995 Act. The 1995 Act also repeals many anachronistic provisions contained in the earlier Acts.

The safety of submersible and supporting apparatus is covered by section 88 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1995 Act. These provisions re-enact sections 14 and 15 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Merchant Shipping Act 1974. Load lines are dealt with under section 89 of, and Schedule 3 to, the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, which provisions re-enact the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act 1967.

Sections 90–93 contain miscellaneous provisions covering navigational charts, reports of dangers to navigation and the duty of a vessel to assist another vessel in distress.

Sections 94–100 of the Act deal with unsafe ships. These sections contain provisions relating to issue of detention...