Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Regulations

No ship to which these Regulations apply shall proceed to sea on an international voyage after the date on which these Regulations come into force unless it has been surveyed, marked and provided with an International Load Line Certificate or, where appropriate, International Load Line Exemption Certificate, or Singapore Load Line Certificate or Singapore Load Line Exemption Certificate in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations.

The Director or any Recognised Organisation may assign a greater freeboard than the minimum freeboard determined in accordance with Annex I to these Regulations.

These Regulations shall apply to ships engaged on international voyages.

The regulations contained in Annex I, unless otherwise expressly provided, shall be applicable to new ships.

Existing ships which do not fully comply with the requirements of the regulations contained in Annex I or any part thereof shall meet at least such lesser related requirements as the Director applied to ships on international voyages prior to the coming into force of these Regulations; in no case shall such ships be required to increase their freeboards.

In order to take advantage of any reduction in freeboard from that previously assigned, existing ships shall comply with all requirements of these Regulations.

The regulations contained in Annex II shall be applicable to new and existing ships to which these Regulations apply.

These Regulations shall not apply to —

Nothing in these Regulations shall apply to ships solely navigating —

Ships when engaged on international voyages between the near neighbouring ports of 2 or more States may be exempted by the Director from the provisions of these Regulations, so long as they shall remain engaged on such voyages, if the Director and the Governments of the States in which such ports are situated are satisfied that the sheltered nature or conditions of such voyages between such ports make it unreasonable or impracticable to apply the provisions of these Regulations to ships engaged on such voyages.

The Director may exempt any ship which embodies features of a novel kind from any of the provisions of these Regulations the application of which might seriously impede research into the development of such features and their incorporation in ships engaged on international voyages.

Any ship exempted under paragraph (2) shall, however, comply with safety requirements, which, in the opinion of the Director, are adequate for the service for which it is intended and are such as to ensure the overall safety of the ship and which are acceptable to the Governments of the States to be visited by the ship.

A ship which is not normally engaged on international voyages but which, in exceptional circumstances, is required to undertake a single international voyage may be exempted by the Director from any of the requirements of these Regulations, provided that it complies with safety requirements which, in the opinion of the Director are adequate for the voyage which is to be undertaken by the ship.

A ship which undergoes repairs, alterations, modifications and outfitting related thereto shall continue to comply with at least the requirements previously applicable to the ship.

An existing ship in a case referred to in paragraph (1) shall not, as a rule, comply to a lesser extent with the requirements for a new ship than it did before.

Repairs, alterations and modifications of a major character and outfitting related thereto should meet the requirements for a new ship in so far as the Director deems reasonable and practicable.

A ship to which these Regulations apply shall comply with the requirements applicable to that ship in the zones and areas described in Annex II.

A port standing on the boundary line between 2 zones or areas shall be regarded as within the zone or area from or into which the ship arrives or departs.

Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the appropriate load lines on the sides of the ship corresponding to the season of the year and the zone or area in which the ship may be shall not be submerged at any time when the ship puts to sea, during the voyage or on arrival.

When a ship is in fresh water of unit density the appropriate load line may be submerged by the amount of the fresh water allowance shown on the International Load Line Certificate or the Singapore Load Line Certificate.

Where the density is other than unity, an allowance shall be made proportional to the difference between 1.025 and the actual density.

When a ship departs from a port situated on a river or inland waters, deeper loading shall be permitted corresponding to the weight of fuel and all other materials required for consumption between the point of departure and the sea.

The surveys and marking of ships shall be carried out by the Director or officers of any Recognised Organisation.

The enforcement of these Regulations and the granting of exemptions therefrom shall be carried out only by the Director.

A ship shall be subjected to the following surveys:

The annual surveys referred to in paragraph (1)(c) shall be endorsed on the International Load Line Certificate, the International Load Line Exemption Certificate, the Singapore Load Line Certificate, or the Singapore Load Line Exemption Certificate issued to a ship exempted under regulation 6(2).

An International Load Line Certificate shall be issued by the Director or any Recognised Organisation to every ship of 24 metres in length and above which has been surveyed and marked in accordance with these Regulations.

A Singapore Load Line Certificate shall be issued by the Director or any Recognised Organisation to every new ship of less than 24 metres in length or every existing ship of less than 150 tons which has been surveyed and marked in accordance with these Regulations.

An International Load Line Exemption Certificate or a Singapore Load Line Exemption Certificate, where appropriate, shall be issued by the Director or any Recognised Organisation to any ship to which an exemption has been granted under and in accordance with regulation 6(2) or (4).

The Director may at the request of another Contracting Government of the Convention cause a ship to be surveyed and, if satisfied that the provisions of these Regulations are complied with, may —

A certificate so issued must contain a statement to the effect that it has been issued at the request of the Government of the State whose flag the ship is or will be flying and it shall have the same force and receive the same recognition as a certificate issued under regulation 16.

No International Load Line Certificate shall be issued to a ship which is flying the flag of a State the Government of which is not a Contracting Government of the Convention.

An International Load Line Certificate or a Singapore Load Line Certificate shall be issued for a period specified by the Director, which shall not exceed 5 years.

Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph (1), when the renewal survey is completed within 3 months before the expiry date of the existing certificate, the new certificate shall be valid from the date of completion of the renewal survey to a date not exceeding 5 years from the date of expiry of the existing certificate.

When the renewal survey is completed after the expiry date of the existing certificate, the new certificate shall be valid from the date of completion of the renewal survey to a date not exceeding 5 years from the date of expiry of the existing certificate.

When the renewal survey is completed more than 3 months before the expiry date of the existing certificate, the new certificate shall be valid from the date of completion of the renewal survey to a date not exceeding 5 years from the date of completion of the renewal survey.

If a certificate is issued for a period of less than 5 years, the Director may extend the validity of a certificate beyond the expiry date to the maximum period specified in paragraph (1), provided that the annual surveys referred to in regulation 14 applicable when a certificate is issued for a period of 5 years are carried out as appropriate.

If, after the renewal survey referred to in regulation 14(1)(b), a new certificate cannot be issued to the ship before the expiry date of the existing certificate, the Director or any Recognised Organisation may extend the validity of the existing certificate for a period which shall not exceed 5 months.

The extension under paragraph (6) shall be endorsed on the certificate and shall be granted only where there have been no alterations to the structure, equipment, arrangements, materials or scantlings which affect the ship’s freeboard.

If a ship at the time when a certificate expires is not in a port in which it is to be surveyed, the Director may extend the period of validity of the certificate.

The extension under paragraph (8) shall be granted only for the purpose of allowing the ship to complete its voyage to the port in which it is to be surveyed, and then only in cases where it appears proper and reasonable to do so.

No certificate shall be extended under paragraph (8) for a period longer than 3 months, and a ship to which an extension is granted shall not, on its arrival in the port in which it is to be surveyed, be entitled by virtue of such extension to leave that port without having a new certificate.

When the renewal survey is completed, the new certificate issued under paragraph (10) shall be valid to a date not exceeding 5 years from the date of expiry of the existing certificate before the extension was granted.

A certificate issued to a ship engaged on short voyages which has not been extended under the foregoing provisions of this regulation may be extended by the Director for a period of grace of up to one month from the date of expiry stated on it.

When the renewal survey is completed for a ship the certificate of which has been extended under paragraph (12), the new certificate shall be valid to a date not exceeding 5 years from the date of expiry of the existing certificate before the extension was granted.

In special circumstances, as determined by the Director, a new certificate need not be dated from the expiry of the existing certificate as required by paragraphs (2), (3), (11) and (13).

In these special circumstances, the new certificate shall be valid to a date not exceeding 5 years from the date of completion of the renewal survey.

If an annual survey is completed before the period specified in regulation 14 then —

An International Load Line Certificate or a Singapore Load Line Certificate shall cease to be valid if any of the following circumstances exist:

The duration of an International Load Line Exemption Certificate or a Singapore Load Line Exemption Certificate issued by the Director or any Recognised Organisation to a ship exempted under regulation 6(2) shall not exceed 5 years.

A certificate referred to in paragraph (18) shall be subject to a renewal, endorsement, extension and cancellation procedure similar to that provided for an International Load Line Certificate or a Singapore Load Line Certificate under this regulation.

The duration of an International Load Line Exemption Certificate or a Singapore Load Line Exemption Certificate issued to a ship exempted under regulation 6(4) shall be limited to the single voyage for which it is issued.

A certificate issued to a ship by the Director or any Recognised Organisation shall cease to be valid upon the transfer of such a ship to the flag of another State.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the present Convention, any certificate which is issued under the Merchant Shipping (Load Line) Regulations immediately in force prior to these Regulations and which is valid on 2nd February 2000 shall remain valid until it expires.

Ships holding a certificate issued under regulation 16 or 17 are subject, when in the ports of other Contracting Governments, to control by officers duly authorised by such Governments.

Contracting Governments shall ensure that such control is exercised as far as is reasonable and practicable with a view to verifying that there is on board a valid certificate under the Convention.

If there is a valid International Load Line Certificate on board the ship, such control shall be limited to the purpose of determining that —

If there is a valid International Load Line Exemption Certificate on board, such control shall be limited to the purpose of determining that any conditions stipulated in that certificate are complied with.

If such control is exercised under paragraph (3)(c), it shall only be exercised in so far as may be necessary to ensure that the ship shall not sail until it can proceed to sea without danger to the passengers or the crew.

In the event of the control provided for in this regulation giving rise to intervention of any kind, the officer carrying out the control shall immediately inform in writing the Consul or the diplomatic representative of the State whose flag the ship is flying of this decision and of all the circumstances in which intervention was deemed to be necessary.

The owner and the master of a ship to which these Regulations apply shall —

Any owner or master of a ship who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 and the ship may be detained.