Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Act 2025
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Interpretation and application | ||
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2. (1) In this Act— | ||
“Act of 2000” means the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) Act 2000 ; | ||
“appointed day” means the day appointed under section 6 ; | ||
“Chief Investigator” means the person appointed under section 9 (3)(a); | ||
“conflicts of interest policy” has the meaning given to it in section 11 (1); | ||
“designated person” means a person designated pursuant to section 11 (4); | ||
“Directive” means Directive 2009/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 20091 establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector and amending Council Directive 1999/35/EC and Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; | ||
“EMCIP” means European Marine Casualty Information Platform; | ||
“EMSA” means European Maritime Safety Agency; | ||
“IMO” means International Maritime Organization; | ||
“investigator” means a person appointed under section 9 (3)(b) and, unless the context otherwise requires, includes the Chief Investigator; | ||
“investigator-in-charge” means an investigator who is responsible for the organisation, conduct and control of a marine safety investigation; | ||
“Irish Coast Guard” means that part of the Department of Transport that is commonly known by that name; | ||
“Irish ship” means a ship, other than a ship of war, known as such under section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955 ; | ||
“Irish waters” includes the territorial sea, the waters on the landward side of the territorial sea, and the estuaries, rivers, lakes and other inland waters (whether or not artificially created or modified), of the State; | ||
“MAIU” means the Marine Accident Investigation Unit; | ||
“marine accident” means a marine casualty or a marine incident; | ||
“Marine Accident Investigation Unit” has the meaning it is given in section 7 ; | ||
“marine casualty” means an event, or a sequence of events, that has resulted in any of the following, which has occurred directly in connection with the operations of a ship: | ||
(a) the death of, or serious injury to, a person; | ||
(b) the loss of a person from a ship; | ||
(c) the loss, presumed loss or abandonment of a ship; | ||
(d) material damage to a ship; | ||
(e) the stranding or disabling of a ship, or the involvement of a ship in a collision; | ||
(f) material damage to marine infrastructure external to a ship that could seriously endanger the safety of the ship, another ship or an individual; | ||
(g) severe damage to the environment, or the potential for severe damage to the environment, brought about by the damage of a ship or ships, | ||
but does not include a deliberate act or omission done with the intention to cause harm to the safety of a ship, an individual or the environment; | ||
“marine incident” means an event, or a sequence of events, other than a marine casualty, which has occurred directly in connection with the operations of a ship that endangered, or, if not corrected, would endanger the safety of the ship, its occupants or any other person or the environment, but does not include a deliberate act or omission done with the intention to cause harm to the safety of a ship, an individual or the environment; | ||
“marine safety investigation” means an investigation into a marine accident, conducted with the objective of preventing marine casualties and marine incidents in the future and includes the collection of and analysis of evidence, the identification of causal factors and the making of safety recommendations as necessary; | ||
“Marine Survey Office” means that part of the Department of Transport that is commonly known by that name; | ||
“MCIB” means the Marine Casualty Investigation Board established by section 7 of the Act of 2000; | ||
“Member State” means a state, other than the State, that is a Member State of the European Union; | ||
“Minister” means Minister for Transport; | ||
“personal watercraft” means a ship (other than a recreational craft) of less than 7 metres in length overall which uses an internal combustion engine having a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion, and which is designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing or kneeling on, rather than within the confines of, a hull; | ||
“preliminary assessment”, in relation to a marine accident, means the carrying out of an initial assessment of the marine accident in order to determine whether a marine safety investigation is warranted; | ||
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act; | ||
“recreational craft” means a ship not engaged for the purposes of trade and intended for sports and leisure purposes, but does not include a personal watercraft or a small fast powered craft; | ||
“Regulations of 2011” means the European Communities (Merchant Shipping) (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 276 of 2011 ); | ||
“safety recommendation” means any proposal made, including for the purposes of registration and control, by the MAIU after having carried out a marine safety investigation on the basis of information derived from that investigation; | ||
“ship” means a vessel or craft, other than a seaplane, which is capable of being used, or intended to be used, for navigation or transportation on water; | ||
“small fast powered craft” means a ship (other than a recreational craft) of less than 7 metres in length overall with a total propulsion engine power of equal to or greater than 150 kW; | ||
“vehicle” means any conveyance in or by which any person or thing, or both, is or are, as the case may be, transported, which is designed for use on land, in water or in the air, or in more than one of those ways, and includes— | ||
(a) a part of a vehicle, | ||
(b) an article designed as a vehicle but not capable of functioning as a vehicle, and | ||
(c) any container, trailer, tank or any other thing which is or may be used for the storage of goods in the course of carriage and is designed or constructed to be placed on, in, or attached to, any vehicle; | ||
“very serious marine casualty” means a marine casualty involving the total loss of a ship, the death of a person, or severe damage to the environment. | ||
(2) Parts 1 to 3 apply to marine accidents involving— | ||
(a) a ship in Irish waters, | ||
(b) an Irish ship, in waters anywhere, or | ||
(c) a substantial interest of the State, irrespective of the location of the marine accident and of the flag of the ship or ships involved. | ||
(3) Parts 1 to 3 shall not apply to marine accidents involving only ships of the Naval Service of the Defence Forces. | ||
(4) A word or expression used in Parts 1 to 3 that is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Act as it has in the Directive. | ||