Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 2005
MERCHANT SHIPPING (MEDICAL STORES) REGULATIONS
2005


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BR 46 / 2005

MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT 2002

2002 : 35

THE MERCHANT SHIPPING (MEDICAL STORES)
REGULATIONS 2005


ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

1 Citation
2 Interpretation
3 Application
4 Carriage of medical stores
5 Medical stores on board

when these regulations
came into force

6 Standards of medical
stores

7 Packaging and labelling of
containers

8 Storage of medicines
9 Replenishment of dated

medicines
10 Carriage of guides
11 Inspection of medicines

and medical stores
12 Offences
13 Inspection, improvement

notices and detention of
vessels

14 Revocation


The Minister of Tourism and Transport in exercise of the powers
conferred upon him by section 93(1)(a) of the Merchant Shipping Act
2002, makes the following regulations:

Citation
1 (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping
(Medical Stores) Regulations 2005.



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2005


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Interpretation
2 (1) In these Regulations —

"crew" means all persons including the master employed in any
capacity on board a ship;

"dangerous substances" means substances listed as such in
Annex 4 of MSN 1768;

"harbour area" means any harbour in Bermuda in respect of
which a harbour authority has statutory powers or duties of
improvement, maintenance or management;

"Maritime and Coastguard Agency" means the Maritime and
Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the United
Kingdom, Department for Transport.

"Merchant Shipping Notice" or "MSN" means a Notice described
as such, issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of
the United Kingdom, and includes a reference to any
document amending or replacing that Notice;

"medical stores" includes medicines, medical equipment and
antidotes;

"owner" in relation to a ship, means the registered owner of the
ship unless the ship has been chartered by demise or is
managed, either wholly or in part, by a person other than the
registered owner under the terms of a management
agreement; in that case "owner" includes the demise
charterer or the person managing the ship, as the case may
be;

"Ship Captain's Medical Guide" means the publication of that
name published on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard
Agency;

"tug" means a vessel constructed solely for the purpose of, and
normally used for, providing external motive power for
floating objects or vessels;

"voyage" means a journey from a port to the next port of call of a
ship (which may be the same port).

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to the British
Pharmacopoeia, the European Pharmacopoeia, or the British National
Formulary shall in its application to a particular case be construed as a
reference to the edition that is current at, or not more than three months
before, the time in question.

(3) Any reference in these Regulations to a publication (other
than those mentioned in paragraph (2) of this regulation) includes a
reference to any amendment which is published before the date on which

MERCHANT SHIPPING (MEDICAL STORES) REGULATIONS
2005


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these Regulations are made (and, in the case of the United States
Pharmacopoeia, means the edition current at such date, as it is
amended); and shall include any document amending the same, or shall
mean any new edition of the document together with any document
amending the same and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice.

Application
3 (1) These Regulations apply to Bermuda ships other than —

(a) pleasure vessels, used for non-commercial purposes and
not manned by professional crews;

(b) tugs operating in a harbour area.

(2) The Minister 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.

Carriage of medical stores
4 (1) Every ship to which these Regulations apply shall carry on
board medical stores in accordance with the Table below.



COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2

Description of ship Category of medicines
and medical stores

1. A sea-going ship with no limitation on
length of voyage.

Medical stores as
specified in Category A of
MSN 1768.

2. A sea-going ship making a voyage
during which it is not more than 150
nautical miles from the nearest port with
adequate medical equipment (or no more
than 175 nautical miles from the nearest
port with adequate medical equipment if
in this case it remains continuously
within range of helicopter rescue
services).

Medical stores as
specified in Category B of
MSN 1768.

3. A sea-going ship carrying a dangerous
substance in its cargo, or any residue of a
dangerous substance from an earlier
cargo.

Medical stores as
specified in MSN 1768 in
relation to such ships



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4. A sea-going ship carrying more than
12 passengers but not a doctor as a
member of the crew.

Medical stores as
specified in Annex 2 in
MSN 1768.



(2) The requirements in entries 3 and 4 are in addition to those
in entry 1, 2 or 3 (as the case may be).

Medical stores on board when these Regulations come into force
5 (1) It shall be sufficient compliance with regulation 4 for there
to be kept, in place of any instrument or appliance which is required to
be kept on board the ship, an instrument or appliance designed to fulfil
the same function, for so long as it remains in good serviceable
condition, if it was kept on board the vessel on such date as these
Regulations come into operation.

(2) In the case of a ship which, on such date as these
Regulations come into force, is on a voyage, there may be kept on board
the ship, in place of the medical stores required to be kept on board by
regulation 4, the medical stores that would have been required on board
if the Regulations referred to in regulation 14 had not been revoked; but
this paragraph shall cease to apply to a ship at the time it arrives at a
port in Bermuda or at the expiration of six months from such date as
these Regulations come into force, whichever comes first.

Standards of medical stores
6 All medical stores required by these Regulations to be kept on
board a vessel shall conform to the standards and requirements of the
British National Formulary, the British Pharmacopoeia, the European
Pharmacopoeia, or the United States Pharmacopoeia, and with the
requirements and specifications of MSN 1768.

Packaging and labeling of containers
7 (1) Without prejudice to any other enactment, any container of
medical stores required by regulation 4 to be kept on board a ship —

(a) shall have in English on a label the particulars specified
in paragraph (3) of this regulation;

(b) in the case of a container of tablets or capsules, shall be
capable of reclosure to prevent ingress of moisture;

(c) in the case of a container of disinfectant, shall not show
deleterious reaction with the disinfectant after storage in
normal conditions for six months;

(d) in the case of a container of insecticide, shall be air-
tight, water-tight, packed in a suitable and sturdy case
and, if the container is a pressure canister, have a cap

MERCHANT SHIPPING (MEDICAL STORES) REGULATIONS
2005


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or other means of protecting the valve against accidental
opening when the canister is not in use;

(e) in the case of medicine or disinfectant not in the
container supplied by its manufacturer, shall be packed
in a sturdy, brown-coloured or non-translucent
container.

(2) Any label referred to in paragraph (1)(a) of this regulation
shall either be firmly affixed to the container and rendered resistant to
moisture by varnish or other effective means or be an integral part of the
container.

(3) The particulars required by paragraph (1)(a) of this
regulation to be shown on labels are —

(a) the ordering name by which the medical store is referred
to in MSN 1768.

(b) any storage requirements laid down in any of the
publications referred to in regulation 6, elsewhere in
these Regulations or in MSN 1768;

(c) if the medical stores are perishable, the expiry date as
defined in regulation 9;

(d) the name and address of the supplier of the medical
stores, the product licence number and batch number;

(e) in the case of any container of a disinfectant or of an
antiseptic prescribed in any of the categories set out in
MSN 1768, the dilution recommended for any purpose
stated thereon;

(f) in the case of any container of an insecticide prescribed
in any of the categories set out in MSN 1768,
instructions for use and precautions to be taken as
detailed in that MSN;

(g) in the case of a container of hypochlorite, a notice
indicating that the chemical may combust
spontaneously and that the hypochlorite should be
stored in a cool dark place; and

(h) any further information required by MSN 1768.

Storage of medicines
8 (1) Any medical store required to be carried by regulation 4
shall be stored in accordance with any instructions on its container.

(2) Any medicine which is a controlled drug shall, be stored in
accordance with the requirements for controlled drugs contained in the
Ship Captain's Medical Guide.



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2005


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(3) Subject to paragraph (2), any medicine mentioned in
paragraph (1), unless it is required to be kept in a refrigerator or in a first
aid satchel or box, shall be stored —

(a) if a ship is one to which the Merchant Shipping (Crew
Accommodation) Regulations 1978, as amended apply in
the medical cabinet; or

(b) otherwise in a cool, dry, locked cabinet or locked
container.

(4) Any medical stores kept in a hyperbaric decompression
chamber or otherwise in such a way as not to be readily accessible at all
times to the master or any person authorised by him shall not be taken
into account in respect of the requirements of regulation 4.

Replenishment of dated medicines
9 Where —

(a) a vessel is required in pursuance of regulation 4 to have
on board any medical stores in accordance with any of
the categories set out in MSN 1768; and

(b) any label required by regulation 7(1)(a) to be borne by
any container of any such medical stores, indicates a
date after which the medical store contained in it is not
to be used (hereafter called "the expiry date"),

that medical store shall be replaced at the earliest possible date after the
expiry date, and in any event within three months of the expiry date.
Medical stores which have passed the expiry date shall, once
replacements have been obtained, or after 3 months (whichever is the
earlier), be disposed of in accordance with the Ship Captain's Medical
Guide.

Carriage of guides
10 A ship to which these Regulations apply shall carry guides as to
the use of medical stores required by regulation 4 to be carried on board
it appropriate as to their categories, including in particular instructions
for the use of antidotes, as specified in MSN 1768.

Inspection of medicines and medical stores
11 The owner of a ship to which these Regulations apply shall
ensure that the medical stores are inspected by a competent person or
authority at least once a year to ensure that —

(a) the ship is carrying the medical stores which it is
required to carry by regulation 4;

(b) such medical stores are correctly stored;

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(c) any perishable medicines have been replaced in
accordance with the requirements of regulation 9.

Offences
12 (1) If any requirement of regulations 4 to 11 is contravened, the
owner of the ship shall in respect of each contravention be guilty of an
offence, punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding
$10,000.

(2) It shall be a defence for any person charged in connection
with a contravention of regulation 4 to show that the deficiency was
caused by medicines and medical stores being used for their proper
purpose and that it has not been practicable to replace them.

(3) It shall be a defence for a person charged under this
regulation, including a person charged by virtue of regulation 13, to
show that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due
diligence to avoid commission of the offence.

(4) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed, or
would have been committed except for the operation of paragraph (3), by
any person due to the act or default of some other person, that other
person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with
and convicted of the offence by virtue of this regulation whether or not
proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.

Inspection, improvement notices and detention of vessels
13 (1) Any person duly authorised by the Minister may inspect

any ship to which these Regulations apply and, if he is satisfied that
there is a failure to comply in relation to that ship with the requirements
of regulation 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of these Regulations, he may issue an
improvement notice or detain the vessel until such requirements are
met.

(2) Where a ship is liable to be issued an improvement notice
or detained under these Regulations, sections 222 and 242 of the
Merchant Shipping Act 2002 (which relate to improvement notices and
the detention of ships) shall have effect in relation to the ship as if for the
words "this Act" wherever they appear, there were substituted the words
"the Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 2005".

Revocation
14 The Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 1989 (BR
19/1989) are hereby revoked.







Made this 3rd day of October, 2005.



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Minister of Tourism and Transport