Regulation 6

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.