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Merchant Shipping (EPIRB Registration) Regulations 2008

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Merchant Shipping (EPIRB Registration) Regulations 2008
MERCHANT SHIPPING (EPIRB REGISTRATION)
REGULATIONS 2008


1





BR 80/2008

MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT 2002

2002 : 35

MERCHANT SHIPPING (EPIRB REGISTRATION)
REGULATIONS 2008


ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

1 Short title
2 Interpretation
3 Application
4 Competent authority
5 Requirements for EPIRBs

to be registered

6 Change in registered
particulars

7 Offences
8 Defence



The Minister responsible for Shipping, after consulting the
persons referred to in section 94(3) of the Merchant Shipping Act 2002,
and in exercise of the powers conferred by section 93(1) of that Act,
makes the following regulations:

Short title
1 These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping
(EPIRB Registration) Regulations 2008.

Interpretation
2 In these Regulations —

MERCHANT SHIPPING (EPIRB REGISTRATION)
REGULATIONS 2008


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"Bermuda ship" means a ship which is a Bermuda ship within
the meaning of section 16(3) of the Merchant Shipping Act
2002;

"Cospas-Sarsat satellite service" means a satellite aided search
and rescue system designed to locate distress beacons
transmitting in the 406 MHz band and on other frequencies;

"EPIRB" means an emergency position indicating radio beacon
capable of transmitting a distress alert either through the
Cospas-Sarsat satellite service operating in the 406 MHz
band or through the INMARSAT geostationary satellites
operating in the 1.6 GHz band;

"INMARSAT" means the Organisation established by the
Convention on the International Maritime Satellite
Organisation adopted on 3rd September 1976;

"MID" means Maritime Identification Digits, being the three
digits within the MMSI that identify the country where the
ship is registered;

"MMSI" means Maritime Mobile Service Identity, being a nine-
digit identification number made up of the three-digit MID
followed by a six-digit identification number;

"operator" includes the master and any charterer, manager or
agent of the ship;

"surveyor of ships" means any person appointed by the Minister
either generally or in a particular case, to exercise the
functions of a surveyor, under these Regulations;

"survival craft" means a craft capable of sustaining the lives of
persons in distress from the time of abandoning the ship.

Application
3 These Regulations apply to Bermuda ships wherever they may
be.

Competent authority
4 (1) For the purposes of these Regulations, Bermuda Maritime
Operations Centre is designated as the competent authority for
Bermuda.

(2) In these Regulations, in relation to any other member State
of the International Telecommunications Union, "competent authority"
means the authority designated as such by the State as the authority in
that State for registering the details of EPIRBs.

Requirements for EPIRBs to be registered

MERCHANT SHIPPING (EPIRB REGISTRATION)
REGULATIONS 2008


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5 (1) The owner and the operator of every Bermuda ship shall
ensure that every EPIRB carried on the ship (whether or not carried in
compliance with statutory requirements) is registered with a competent
authority and that the registered particulars are correct.

(2) The registered particulars referred to in subsection (1) are
the following —

(a) ship name;

(b) radio call sign;

(c) MMSI;

(d) EPIRB information;

(e) brief description of ship, including its length, type, gross
tonnage, hull colour, deck colours and identifying
marks;

(f) capacity of ship for carrying persons on board
(passengers and crew);

(g) number of survival craft (lifeboats and liferafts);

(h) satellite telephone numbers;

(i) name, address, telephone and (if applicable) telefax
number or e-mail address of emergency contact person
ashore; and

(j) alternative 24-hour emergency telephone number
(alternative contact ashore).

(3) Every owner or operator of a ship shall make evidence that
every EPIRB carried on the ship is registered in accordance with
subsection (1) readily available on board for inspection at all times by a
surveyor of ships.

Change in registered particulars
6 Where in respect of an EPIRB registered with a competent
authority there is any change in the particulars registered with that
competent authority, the owner or the operator of the ship to which
those particulars relate shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable after
the change, give written notice of it to the competent authority.

Offences
7 (1) Any owner or operator of a ship who contravenes section
5(1) or 6 commits an offence and is punishable on summary conviction
by a fine not exceeding $5,000.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (EPIRB REGISTRATION)
REGULATIONS 2008


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(2) Any owner or operator of a ship who contravenes section
5(3) commits an offence and is punishable on summary conviction by a
fine not exceeding $2,000.

Defence
8 It shall be a defence for a person charged under section 7 to
show that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to
avoid the commission of the offence.







Made this 5th day of December, 2008.







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