The Merchant Shipping (High Speed Craft) Regulations 2022
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Detail of outcome
Summary of consultee comments and government responses to them
Original consultation
Consultation description
This consultation seeks your views on changes to UK secondary legislation to give effect to the latest amendments to Chapter X of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), including the IMO’s High Speed Craft (HSC) Codes 1994 and 2000. Chapter X and the Codes apply directly to UK HSC anywhere, and non-UK HSC while they are in UK waters.
The proposed Regulations (“the new Regulations”) will revoke and replace the Merchant Shipping (High Speed Craft) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/0302) (“the 2004 Regulations”). The 2004 Regulations give effect to the HSC Codes in UK law (as amended up to the time the 2004 Regulations were most recently revised in November 2012).
The UK now intends to give effect in its domestic law to the amendments that have been adopted in the IMO and come into force in international law since updates to Chapter X of SOLAS and the HSC Codes were last implemented domestically (November 2012), although in practice it is expected that UK HSC already comply with the updated versions of the Codes.
The new Regulations also introduce an ambulatory reference provision so future technical amendments which are adopted by the IMO (and which are accepted by the UK) will come into force in UK law at the same time as they come into force internationally. An “ambulatory reference” provision has the effect that a reference to another document includes reference to that document as amended or replaced from time to time – in this case, Chapter X and the HSC Codes. This new approach was requested by industry for merchant shipping legislation generally during the Red Tape Challenge (RTC), and the government has responded by introducing this system in several statutory instruments to date (these include the Merchant Shipping (International Load Line Convention) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 2019 and the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020) and proposes to do so in the new Regulations. This provides additional certainty for industry and will realise savings to the public purse through not having to make secondary legislation each time technical amendments are in future made to SOLAS Chapter X and the HSC Codes. However, if the UK has objected to an amendment in the IMO but that amendment is nevertheless accepted and comes into force internationally, the Secretary of State may make secondary legislation to prevent it coming into force domestically. An amendment that is accepted and to which the UK did not object in the IMO will be publicised before it comes into force in a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) and by way of a Marine Guidance Note.
The main changes introduced by the new Regulations relate to:
a. an increase in safety drills to be carried out by crew on HSC;
b. the recording of those safety drills;
c. opening-up of the GMDSS satellite service provider market.
Documents
Last updated 28 February 2022 + show all updates
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Consultation outcome report uploaded
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First published.