S.I. No. 190/1984:

MERCHANT SHIPPING (TANKERS--OFFICERS AND RATINGS) REGULATIONS, 1984.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (TANKERS--OFFICERS AND RATINGS) REGULATIONS, 1984.

I, JAMES MITCHELL, Minister for Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 12 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1947 (No. 46 of 1947), section 8 of the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Seamen) Act, 1979 (No. 37 of 1979), and the Minister and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1983 (No. 40 of 1983), hereby make the following Regulations:--

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Tankers-Officers and Ratings) Regulations, 1984 and shall come into operation on the 19th day of October, 1984.

2. In these Regulations:

"employer" means the person for the time being employing the master of a ship;

"Irish tanker" means a tanker which is an Irish ship;

"Irish ship" has the same meaning as in the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894-1983.

"liquefied gas" means any liquefied gas listed in Chapter XIX of the 1976 International Maritime Organisation publication entitled "Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk" as amended by Supplements containing amendments 1-3 and by any other Supplement thereto which is specified by the Minister;

"liquid chemical" means any liquid chemical listed in Chapter VI of the 1980 International Maritime Organisation publication entitled ""Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk" and any Supplement thereto which is specified by the Minister;

"petroleum" means crude liquid petroleum and the following substances produced directly or indirectly from crude liquid petroleum, that is to say, fuels, lubricants, bitumen, wax, industrial spirits and any wide range substance (meaning a substance whose final boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure is more than 50°C higher than its initial boiling point) but excluding any product included in the definition of "liquefiedgas";

"tanker" means a ship which is construed or adapted and used for the carriage of bulk cargoes consisting in whole or in part of petroleum, liquid chemicals or liquefied gases; and a reference to a type of tanker is a reference to one of the categories of petroleum, tanker, chemical tanker or liquefied gas tanker, being tankers constructed or adapted and used to carry cargoes of the class indicated.

3. These Regulations apply to all sea-going Irish tankers.

4. (1) It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure that any tanker carried sufficient officers and ratings qualified in accordance with Regulations 4 and 5 of these Regulations to perform all duties in respect of the cargo and cargo equipment.

(2) The master of any tanker shall not permit an officer or rating to have specific duties, and responsibilities related to those duties, in connection with the cargo or cargo equipment on the tanker, unless that officer or rating--

(a) is qualified in accordance with Regulation 5 of these Regulations; or

(b) is an officer whose certificate of competency or service is endorsed with dangerous cargo endorsement for the type of tankers concerned in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Merchant Shipping (Certificate of Deck Officers) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 13 of 1981 ), or Regulation 13 of the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Marine Engineer Officers) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 12 of 1981 ):

Provided that nothing in this Regulation shall prohibit the participation of an officer or rating in duties connected with cargo or cargo equipment (in addition to those required for such duties) under the supervision of an officer or rating qualified in accordance with Regulation 4 and 5 of these Regulations as part of their training to acquire adequate knowledge of safe operational practices.

5. (1) In order to be qualified for the duties referred to in Regulation 4 of these Regulations on a tanker an officer or rating shall--

(a) have served in the type of tanker concerned in the deck or engine department as appropriate as part of the regular crew complement for at least six months during the five years before the date of coming into operation of these Regulations;

(b) have satisfactorily completed both a fire-fighting course specified by the Minister and either:

(i) a period of two months supervised shipboard service in the type of tanker concerned in order to acquire adequate knowledge of safe operational practices; or

(ii) a tanker familiarisation course specified by the Minister relating to the type of tanker concerned, together with a period of 14 days supervised shipboard service in a tanker of that type; or

(iii) periods of familiarisation and instruction during not less than four loading or discharging operations (including at least one loading and one discharging operation) on board tankers of the type concerned, together with a period of 14 days supervised shipboard service in a tanker of that type:

Provided that:

(a) the period of supervised shipboard service required under paragraph (1) (b) (i) of this Regulation shall be reduced to one month in respect of any officer or rating who has completed the shipboard service described in either paragraph (1) (a) or (1) (b) (i) in a tanker of another type; and

(b) during any period of supervised shipboard service required under paragraphs 1 (b) (i), (ii) or (iii) of this Regulation, there shall not be more than one deck and one engineer officer forming part of the regular crew complement engaged in such supervised service on board the tanker.

(2) An officer or rating who satisfactorily completes the service and training required by paragraph 1 (a) or (b) above in respect of the type of tanker concerned, shall be given a written statement signed by the employer or master of the tanker in which the officer or rating has served. A Marine Surveyor of the Department of Communications may, having regard to such statement, make an entry in the discharge book of the officer or rating concerned to that effect.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 19th day of July, 1984.

JAMES MITCHELL,

Minister for Communications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations give effect in part to Regulations V/1, V/2 and V/3 of Chapter V of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, (1978).

The Regulations provide that only officers and ratings who are qualified in accordance with the Regulations and those officers whose certificates of competency or of service are endorsed with an appropriate dangerous cargo endorsement may perform duties in connection with the cargo and cargo equipment of sea-going Irish tankers. The necessary qualifications are to have served for at least six months in the period of five years before the date of coming into operation of this Instrument in a tanker of the type concerned as part of the regular crew complement or to have completed specified training and periods of supervised service. Other officers and ratings under training may participate in these duties only under supervision of qualified personnel (Regulations 4 (2) and 5 (1)). The training courses are specified by the Minister in Marine Notice No. 18 of 1984 which may be amended or replaced from time to time. Marine Notices can be obtained from the Department of Communications, Marine Division I, Apollo House, Tara Street, Dublin 2.

The publications of the International Maritime Organisation referred to in Regulation 2 are obtainable from that Organisation at 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1.