The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997

Made: 24th September 1997

Laid before Parliament: 8th October 1997

Coming into force: 1st November 1997

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred by:article 3 of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Order 1990[^f00005];section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972;sections 85(1)(a) and (b), (3) and (5) to (7), and 86(1), of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; andsection 15(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974,and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

article 3 of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Order 1990[^f00005];

section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972;

sections 85(1)(a) and (b), (3) and (5) to (7), and 86(1), of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; and

section 15(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974,

PART I — GENERAL

Citation, commencement and revocation

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st November 1997.

• (2) The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1990[^f00006] are hearby revoked.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:

• ...

• “BCH Code” means the 1993 edition of the IMO Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk;

• “cargo transport unit” means a road freight vehicle, a railway freight wagon, a freight container, a road tank vehicle, a railway tank wagon and a portable tank;

• “classify” means to determine whether goods are dangerous goods or a marine pollutant for the purposes of sea transport. This is the determination (by appropriate method) of whether the goods possess the hazardous characteristics of classes from 1 to 9 of the IMDG Code in accordance with the most hazardous property of the goods. It extends to goods—listed in the IMDG Code;not specifically listed but falling within the defining criteria for the classes from 1 to 9 of the IMDG Code; andwhere there is any cause to suspect that the substance is a marine pollutant as defined by the IMDG Code;

• “correct technical name” means a description of the goods sufficient to identify their dangerous or polluting characteristics;

• “dangerous goods” means goods classified in the IMDG Code or in any other IMO publication referred to in these Regulations as dangerous for carriage by sea, and any other substance or article that the shipper has reasonable cause to believe might meet the criteria for such classification;

• This expression also includes—residues in empty receptacles, empty tanks or cargo holds which have been used previously for the carriage of dangerous goods unless such receptacles, empty tanks or cargo holds have been cleaned and dried, purged, gas freed or ventilated as appropriate or, in the case of radioactive materials, have been both cleaned and adequately closed; andgoods labelled, marked or declared as dangerous goods.

• The expression shall not include goods forming part of the equipment or stores of the ship in which they are carried;

• “dangerous goods declaration” means, subject to regulation 12, a certificate or declaration in writing, signed by the person making it, that the shipment offered for carriage is properly classified, packaged, marked, labelled and placarded, as appropriate, in accordance with the IMDG Code and is in proper condition for carriage by sea;

• “employee” means a person (including the master but excluding dock workers or shore-based repair or other workers temporarily employed on board the ship) employed:in the deck, engine, radio, medical or catering department of a ship, orin the provision of goods, services or entertainment on board;

• “forwarder” means the person by whom the dangerous goods declaration or marine pollutants declaration and packing certificate are received, and any person responsible for packing the goods into a cargo transport unit, for eventual delivery to the ship or its agent;

• “Gas Carrier Code” means the 1983 edition of the IMO Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk;

• “Gas Carrier Code for Existing Ships” means the 1976 edition of the IMO Code for Existing Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, including the first set of amendments (adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO in April 1978), the second set of amendments (adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of IMO in May 1979), the third set of amendments (adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of IMO in May 1980) and the fourth set of amendments (adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of IMO in November 1984);

• “handling” includes the operations of loading, unloading and transferring dangerous goods or marine pollutants and cleaning, purging, gasfreeing, ullaging, sounding, sampling and similar operations required for the carriage of such goods in a ship; and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “IBC Code” means the 2007 Edition of the IMO International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk;

• “IGC Code” means the 1993 edition of the IMO International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk;

• “IMDG Code means the 2010/11 Edition of the IMO International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code;

• “IMO” means the International Maritime Organisation;

• “IMO Recommendations” means the 1995 edition of Recommendations on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Cargoes and Related Activities in Port Areas (1995 edition);

• the IMSBC Code means the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code, 2009 edition & supplement (formerly the Code of Safe Practice for Solid Bulk Cargoes (BC Code));

• “in bulk” means directly and without intermediate form of containment in a hold, tank or cargo space, which is a structural part of or permanently attached to a ship;

• “the MCA” means the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport;

• “marine pollutant” means a substance classified as such in the IMDG Code, or as a noxious liquid substance in the IBC Code, oil as defined in Annex I to the MARPOL Convention, excluding bunkers and ship’s stores and any other substance, material or article that the shipper has reasonable cause to believe might meet the criteria for such classification;

• “marine pollutants declaration” means a certificate or declaration in writing, signed by the person making it, that the shipment offered for carriage is properly classified, packaged and marked in accordance with the IMDG Code and is in a proper condition for carriage to minimise the hazard to the marine environment;

• “the MARPOL Convention” means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 and its 1978 Protocol and the amendments in force on the date on which the Merchant Shipping (Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Reporting Requirements)(Amendment) Regulations 2011 come into force;

• ...

• “Merchant Shipping Notice” means a Notice described as such, issued by the MCA and any reference to a particular Merchant Shipping Notice includes a reference to any Merchant Shipping Notice amending or replacing it which the Secretary of State considers relevant from time to time;

• “operator” in relation to a ship includes any owner, charterer, manager and agent of the ship;

• “package” means an individual package or receptacle described in the IMDG Code an intermediate bulk container;

• “packaged goods” means packaged dangerous goods or packaged marine pollutants;

• “shipper” means a person who, whether as principal or agent for another, consigns for carriage by sea dangerous goods or marine pollutants;

• SOLAS means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea,1974 as amended in accordance with its Protocol of 1988 and the amendments in force on the date on which the Merchant Shipping (Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Reporting Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 come into force;

• “UN number” means the number allocated to the dangerous substance, article or material by the IMDG Code or in any other IMO publication referred to in these Regulations;

• “United Kingdom ship” means a ship or hovercraft which—......is a Government ship, within the meaning of section 308(4) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 used for commercial purposes; or...

• (2) Any reference in these Regulations to ..., the BCH Code, the Gas Carrier Code, the Gas Carrier Code for existing ships, the IBC Code, the IGC Code, the IMDG Code, IMO Recommendations or IMSBC Code shall include a reference to any document amending that publication which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant from time to time and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice.

• (3) Where these Regulations require the carriage of dangerous goods or marine pollutants to be in accordance with a Code or Recommendation referred to in paragraph (2), and the Secretary of State has specified in Merchant Shipping Notices MSN 1705 or MSN 1706 conditions in relation to such carriage then (whether or not the Code or Recommendation contains conditions on such matters) the Code or Recommendation shall have effect for the purposes of these Regulations as if it contains the conditions so specified by the Secretary of State. “Carriage” in this paragraph includes packing, documentation, packaging, marking, labelling, stowage, segregation and handling.

• (4) Any reference in these Regulations, unless otherwise stated,

• (a) to a numbered regulation is to the regulation of that number in these Regulations;

• (b) to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph of that number in that regulation.

Amendment of Dangerous Substances in Harbours Areas Regulations 1987

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The Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987[^f00010] are hereby amended as follows:

• (a) in regulation 2(1) in sub-paragraph (a)(i) of the definition of “classification”, and in regulation 25(2)(e), for “the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1990” there shall be substituted “the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997”;

• (b) in regulation 2(1), in the definition of “the IMDG Code”, for “regulation 1(3) of the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1990” there shall be substituted “the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997”; and

• (c) in regulation 3(1), for “regulation 1(2) of the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1990” there shall be substituted “the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997, except that nothing in those Regulations shall be construed as defining a marine pollutant in Class 9 of the IMDG Code under UN number 3077 or 3082 or any substance otherwise included in Class 9 of the IMDG Code solely by reason of its being a marine pollutant, as a dangerous substance for the purposes of these Regulations.”.

Exemptions

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The Secretary of State may grant exemptions from all or any of the provisions of these regulations (as may be specified in the exemption) for classes of cases or individual cases on such terms (if any) as he may so specify and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

Application

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (2) these Regulations apply to ships carrying dangerous goods in bulk or packaged form or marine pollutants in packaged form.

• (2) These Regulations apply to United Kingdom ships wherever they may be ....

General duties of operators and employers

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• (1) It shall be the duty of every operator, every employer of persons aboard a ship and every master of a ship to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, when dangerous goods are being handled, stowed or carried on the ship nothing in the manner in which those goods are handled, stowed or carried as the case may be is such as might create a significant risk to the health and safety of any person.

• (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the operator's, employer’s or master’s duty under paragraph (1) the matters to which the duty of the operator and of the employer extends shall include in particular:

• (a) the provision and maintenance of ship’s structure, fittings and equipment for the handling, stowage and carriage of dangerous goods.

• (b) the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision to all employees in connection with the handling, stowage and carriage of dangerous goods in the ship.

• (3) If an employer, operator or master fails to comply with paragraphs (1) and (2) he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level five on the standard scale.

• (4) It shall be a defence to a charge under this regulation in relation to the handling of dangerous goods that such handling was carried out in accordance with appropriate provisions of the IMO Recommendations.

General duties of employees aboard ship

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• (1) It shall be the duty of every employee aboard ship:

• (a) to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions in connection with the handling, stowage and carriage of dangerous goods in the ship; and

• (b) as regards any duty or requirement imposed on the operator, or the employee’s employer by the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 or any regulation or rule made thereunder with regard to the health and safety of persons aboard a ship to which these Regulations apply, to cooperate with the operator or employer so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with in connection with the handling, stowage and carriage of dangerous goods in the ship.

• (2) If any employee aboard a ship carrying dangerous goods fails to comply with paragraph (1) he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level three on the standard scale.

Misconduct endangering a United Kingdom ship or persons aboard

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• (1) In connection with the handling, stowage and carriage of dangerous goods in a United Kingdom ship, no person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided on, or disobey instructions displayed on, the ship in the interests of health or safety in pursuance of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 or any regulation or rule made thereunder.

• (2) If any person aboard a ship carrying dangerous goods fails to comply with paragraph (1) he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level four on the standard scale.

Onus of proving what is reasonably practicable

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In any proceedings for an offence under regulation ... 6 consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is reasonably practicable, it shall be for the accused to prove that it was not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement.

PART II — CARRIAGE OF PACKAGED GOODS

Declaration

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• (1) No packaged goods shall be offered for carriage or taken on board any ship unless before the goods are taken on board a dangerous goods declaration or a marine pollutants declaration, or a combined dangerous goods and marine pollutants declaration, as appropriate has been provided to the master or operator.

• (2) A declaration referred to in paragraph (1) shall contain details of—

• (a) the date on which the declaration was prepared;

• (b) the name of the signatory;

• (c) the company or organisation on whose behalf the signatory acts;

• (d) the status of the signatory within the company or organisation; and

• (e) the postal address, email address, telephone number and facsimile number of the person from whom detailed information about the packaged goods in question may be obtained.

• (3) No packaged goods shall be offered for carriage or taken on board any ship unless before the goods are taken on board the master or operator has been provided with a document including, without prejudice to regulation 11(2), the following details—

• (a) the proper shipping name,

• (b) the class and division where applicable,

• (c) the United Nations (UN) numbers where allocated by the IMDG Code,

• (d) where relevant the packaging or packing group,

• (e) the number and kind of packages,

• (f) the total quantity of dangerous goods or net explosive mass of the contents,

• (g) the words MARINE POLLUTANT where appropriate;

• (h) any other information required by the IMDG Code;

• (i) if appropriate, the class of ship needed for any packaged irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high level radioactive wastes carried as cargo in accordance with class 7 of schedules 10 to 13 to the IMDG Code and the quantities of such goods,

• (j) the emergency numbers of the person in possession of information on the physico-chemical characteristics of the products and on the action to be taken in an emergency, and

• (k) the other data contained in the data safety sheet as specified in Annex B of Merchant Shipping Notice 1831 (M+F).

• (4) The declaration referred to in paragraph (1) shall be combined with the document referred to in paragraph (3).

• (5) It shall be the duty of the shipper to deliver to the operator or master the declaration required by this regulation, unless he does not deliver the goods to the ship or its agent.

• (6) In consigning the goods for carriage by sea, the shipper shall make proper provision to ensure the onward delivery of the declaration and document required by this regulation to the ship or its agent.