Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships) Rules 2020.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Rules may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships) Rules 2020.
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paragraphs: (1) In these Rules—
“accommodation spaces” means those spaces used for public spaces, corridors, lavatories, cabins, offices, hospitals, cinemas, games and hobbies rooms, barber shops, pantries containing no cooking appliances, and similar spaces;
“Act of 1992” means Merchant Shipping Act 1992 (No. 2 of 1992);
“auxiliary steering gear” means the equipment other than any part of the main steering gear, necessary to steer the ship in the event of failure of the main steering gear but not including the tiller, quadrant or components serving the same purpose;
“breadth of the ship” means the extreme width from outside of frame to outside of frame at or below the deepest subdivision load line;
“bulkhead deck” means the uppermost deck up to which the transverse watertight bulkheads are carried;
“cargo spaces” means all spaces used for cargo, including cargo oil tanks, and trunks to such spaces;
“complete deck” means a watertight deck or equivalent structure consisting of a non-watertight deck completely covered by a weathertight structure of adequate strength to maintain the weathertight integrity and fitted with weathertight closing appliances;
“control stations” means those spaces in which the ship’s radio or main navigating equipment or the emergency source of power is located or where the fire recording or fire control equipment is centralised;
“dead ship condition” means the condition under which the main propulsion plant, boilers and auxiliaries are not in operation due to the absence of power;
“deadweight” means the difference in tonnes between the displacement of a ship in water of a specific gravity of 1.025 at the load waterline corresponding to the assigned summer freeboard and the lightweight of the ship;
“deepest subdivision load line” means the waterline that corresponds to the greatest draught permitted by the subdivision requirements that are applicable;
“domestic voyage” means a voyage in sea areas from a place in the State to the same or another place within the State;
“draught” means the vertical distance from the moulded base line amidships to the subdivision load line in question;
“emergency condition” means a condition under which any services needed for normal operational and habitable conditions are not in working order due to failure of the main source of electrical power;
“emergency source of electrical power” means a source of electrical power intended to supply the emergency switchboard in the event of failure of the supply from the main source of electrical power;
“emergency switchboard” means a switchboard which in the event of failure of the main electrical power supply system is directly supplied by the emergency source of electrical power or the transitional source of emergency power and is intended to distribute electrical energy to the emergency services;
“flashpoint” means the temperature in degrees Celsius (closed cup test) at which a product will give off enough flammable vapour to be ignited, as determined by an approved flashpoint apparatus;
“floodable length” at a given point means the maximum portion of the length of the ship, having its centre at the point in question, which can be flooded, under the assumption for permeability given in Rule 18(1), without the ship being submerged beyond the margin line;
“IMO” means International Maritime Organization;
“length”, unless expressly provided otherwise, means 96 per cent of the total length on a waterline at 85 per cent of the least moulded depth measured from the top of the keel, or the length from the fore-side of the stem to the axis of the rudder stock on that waterline, if that be greater. In ships designed with a rake of keel, the waterline on which this length is measured shall be parallel to the designed waterline;
“length of the ship” for the purpose of Rules 11 to 36, means the length measured between perpendiculars taken at the extremities of the deepest subdivision load line;
“line of coast” means land being the mainland of the State or any island which is normally inhabited and which has piers or berthing facilities which are in regular use;
“lightweight” means the displacement of a ship in tonnes without cargo, fuel, lubricating oil, ballast water, fresh water and feedwater in tanks, consumable stores, and passengers and crew and their effects;
“Load Line Rules” means the Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Rules 2001 ( S.I. No. 424 of 2001 );
“machinery space” for the purpose of Rules 11 to 36, means any space extending from the moulded base line to the margin line and between the extreme main transverse watertight bulkheads, bounding the spaces containing the main and auxiliary propulsion machinery, and boilers serving the needs of propulsion;
“machinery spaces” for the purpose of Rules 37 to 121, means all machinery spaces of category A and all other spaces containing propelling machinery, boilers, oil fuel units, steam and internal combustion engines, generators and major electrical machinery, oil filling stations, refrigerating, stabilising, ventilation and air conditioning machinery, and similar spaces, and trunks to such spaces;
“machinery spaces of category A” means those spaces and trunks to such spaces which contain–
(a) internal combustion machinery used for main propulsion,
(b) internal combustion machinery used for purposes other than main propulsion where such machinery has in the aggregate a total power output of not less than 375 kW, or
(c) any oil-fired boiler or oil fuel unit;
“main generating station” means the space in which the main source of electrical power is situated;
“main steering gear” means the machinery, rudder actuators, steering gear power units, if any, and ancillary equipment and the means of applying torque to the rudder stock, such as the tiller or quadrant, necessary for effecting movement of the rudder for the purpose of steering the ship under normal service conditions;
“main source of electrical power” means a source intended to supply electrical power to the main switchboard for distribution to all services necessary for maintaining the ship in normal operational and habitable condition;
“main switchboard” means a switchboard which is directly supplied by the main source of electrical power and is intended to distribute electrical energy to the ship’s services;
“margin line” means a line drawn at least 76 mm below the upper surface of the bulkhead deck at side;
“maximum ahead service speed” means the greatest speed which the ship is designed to maintain in service at sea at the deepest seagoing draught;
“maximum speed astern” means the speed which it is estimated the ship can attain at the designed maximum astern power at the deepest seagoing draught;
“Minister” means Minister for Transport;
“moulded depth” –
(a) means the vertical distance measured from the top of the keel to the top of the freeboard deck beam at side. In wood and composite ships, the distance is measured from the lower edge of the keel rabbet. Where the form at the lower part of the midship section is of a hollow character, or where thick garboards are fitted, the distance is measured from the point where the line of the flat of the bottom continued inwards cuts the side of the keel;
(b) in ships having rounded gunwales, shall be measured to the point of intersection of the moulded lines of the deck and side shell plating, the lines extending as though the gunwale were of angular design;
(c) where the freeboard deck is stepped and the raised part of the deck extends over the point at which the moulded depth is to be determined, shall be measured to a line of reference extending from the lower part of the deck along a line parallel with the raised part;
“new passenger ship” means –
(a) a passenger ship the keel of which was laid or which was at a similar stage of construction on or after 1 July 1998, or
(b) a ship that is converted on or after 1 July 1998 to a passenger ship to operate in sea areas A, B, C or D. In the case of such a passenger ship, the date of construction shall be the date on which the conversion commences;
“normal operational and habitable condition” means a condition under which the ship as a whole, the machinery, services, means and aids ensuring propulsion, ability to steer, safe navigation, fire and flooding safety, internal and external communications and signals, means of escape, and emergency boat winches, as well as the designed comfortable conditions of habitability are in working order and functioning normally;
“oil fuel unit” means the equipment used for the preparation of oil fuel for delivery to an oil-fired boiler, or equipment used for the preparation for delivery of heated oil to an internal combustion engine, and includes any oil pressure pumps, filters and heaters dealing with oil at a pressure greater than 0.18 N/mm2;
“passenger” means any person carried on a ship other than –
(a) the owner or a person to whom the ship is on hire or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship on the business of the ship, or
(b) a person on board the ship either in pursuance of the obligation laid upon the master of the ship to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstances that could not have been prevented or forestalled by the master or the owner of the ship;
“passenger ship” means a ship that carries more than 12 passengers;
“passenger spaces” means those spaces that are provided for the accommodation and use of passengers, excluding baggage, store, provision and mail rooms;
“permeability” in relation to a space means the percentage of that space which can be occupied by water. The volume of a space which extends above the margin line shall be measured only to the height of that line;
“positive stability” means the ability of a craft to return to its original position after the removal of a heeling moment;
“power actuating system” means the hydraulic equipment provided for supplying power to turn the rudderstock, comprising a steering gear power unit or units, together with the associated pipes and fittings, and a rudder actuator. The power actuating systems may share common mechanical components, that is, tiller, quadrant and rudder stock, or components serving the same purpose;
“public spaces” means those portions of the accommodation that are used for halls, dining rooms, lounges and similar permanently enclosed spaces;
“Radio Rules of 1992” means the Merchant Shipping (Radio) Rules 1992 ( S.I. No. 224 of 1992 );
“Radio Rules of 2018” means the Merchant Shipping (Radio) Rules 2018 ( S.I. No. 452 of 2018 );
“recognised organisation” means an organisation recognised in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 391/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 20091 ;
“Regulations of 2011” means the European Communities (Ship Inspection and Survey Organisations) Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 275 of 2011 );
“Regulations of 2017” means the European Union (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2017 ( S.I. No. 177 of 2017 );
“repairs, alterations or modifications of a major character” includes any change that substantially –
(a) alters the dimensions of a ship, such as the lengthening of the ship by adding new midbody,
(b) alters the passenger-carrying capacity of a ship, such as the conversion of a vehicle deck to passenger accommodation, or
(c) increases a ship’s service life, such as the renewal of passenger accommodation on one entire deck;
“ro-ro cargo spaces” means spaces not normally subdivided in any way and extending to either a substantial length or the entire length of the ship in which motor vehicles with fuel in their tanks for their own propulsion or goods (packaged or in bulk, in or on rail or road cars, vehicles (including road and rail tankers), trailers, containers, pallets, dismountable tanks or in or on similar stowage units or other receptacles) can be loaded and unloaded normally in a horizontal direction;
“ro-ro passenger ship” means a passenger ship with ro-ro cargo spaces or special category spaces;
“Rules of 2018” means the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances) Rules 2018 ( S.I. No. 438 of 2018 );
“Safety Convention” means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on 1 November 1974 together with the Protocol to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on 17 February 1978 and the Protocol to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on 11 November 1988 and any amendments made to it up to and including those adopted by the 90th session of the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization held between 16 and 25 May 2012 and which have entered into force in respect of the State pursuant to Article VIII prior to the passing of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014 (No. 43 of 2014) on 25 December 2014;
“service spaces” means those spaces used for galleys, pantries containing cooking appliances, lockers, mail and specie rooms, storerooms, workshops other than those forming part of the machinery spaces, and similar spaces and trunks to such spaces;
“ship with a full deck” means a ship that is provided with a complete deck, exposed to weather and sea, which has permanent means of closing all openings in the weatherpart thereof and below which all openings in the sides of the ship are fitted with permanent means of at least weathertight closing;
“similar stage of construction” means the stage at which –
(a) construction identifiable with a specific ship begins, and
(b) assembly of that ship has commenced comprising at least 50 tonnes or 1 per cent of the estimated mass of all structural material, whichever is less;
“special category spaces” means those enclosed vehicle spaces above or below the bulkhead deck, into and from which vehicles can be driven and to which passengers have access. Special category spaces may be accommodated on more than one deck provided that the total overall clear height for vehicles does not exceed 10 metres;
“steering gear control system” means the equipment by which orders are transmitted from the navigating bridge to the steering gear power units. Steering gear control systems comprise transmitters, receivers, hydraulic control pumps and their associated motors, motor controllers, piping and cables;
“steering gear power unit” means –
(a) in the case of electric steering gear, an electric motor and its associated electrical equipment,
(b) in the case of electrohydraulic steering gear, an electric motor and its associated electrical equipment and connected pump, or
(c) in the case of other hydraulic steering gear, a driving engine and connected pump;
“subdivision load line” means the waterline used in determining the subdivision of the ship;
“surveyor of ships” means a person appointed under section 724 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 to be a surveyor of ships for the purposes of that Act;
“watertight”, in relation to structure, means capable of preventing the passage of water through the structure in any direction under the head of water likely to occur in the intact or damage condition;
“weather deck” means a deck that is completely exposed to the weather from above and from at least two sides;
“weathertight” means that water will not penetrate into the ship in any sea conditions.
(2) For the purposes of these Rules, sea areas are divided into the following categories:
(a) ‘Area A’ meaning a sea area outside of areas B, C and D;
(b) ‘Area B’ meaning a sea area whose geographical coordinates are at no point more than 20 miles from the line of coast, corresponding to the medium tide height, but which is outside of areas C and D;
(c) ‘Area C’ meaning a sea area whose geographical coordinates are at any point no more than 5 miles from the line of coast, corresponding to the medium tide height, but outside of sea area D if any. Additionally, the probability of the significant wave height exceeding 2.5 metres shall be smaller than 10 per cent for a period of one year for all-year-round operation, or for a specific period for seasonal operation, such as summer period operation;
(d) ‘Area D’ meaning a sea area whose geographical coordinates are at any point no more than 3 miles from the line of coast, corresponding to the medium tide height. Additionally, the probability of the significant wave height exceeding 1.5 metres shall be smaller than 10 per cent for a period of one year for all-year-round operation, or for a specific period for seasonal operation, such as summer period operation.