UK: Counting and Registration of Persons on Passenger Ships

The UK's Secretary of State has amended the Merchant Shipping (Counting and Registration of Persons on Board Passenger Ships) Regulations.

These amendments were published on 17 July 2023 and will enter into force on 10 August 2023.

These Regulations make amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Counting and Registration of Persons on Board Passenger Ships) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/1869) (“the 1999 Regulations”), the Merchant Shipping (Counting and Registration of Persons on Board Passenger Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/81) (“the 2021 Regulations”), and the Merchant Shipping (Life-Saving Appliances and Arrangements) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/501) (“the 2020 Regulations”).

Regulation 2(2)(a)(ii) inserts a definition for the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (“the Convention”), and regulation 2(2)(a)(iii) substitutes the definition of “international voyage” for the purposes of clarification.

Regulations 2(2)(a)(i), 2(2)(b), 2(5)(a)(i), 2(5)(b), and 2(7) remove references that are no longer required.

Regulations 2(3)(a) and 2(5)(d) defer the date by which seagoing passenger ships are obliged to report data electronically through the National Single Window or report the number of persons on board a ship through the Automatic Identification System to 20th December 2025.

Regulation 2(3)(b) amends regulation 5(4B) of the 1999 Regulations to provide that the requirement to report data through the National Single Window applies in relation to all persons on board a ship and not just passengers.

Regulation 5(a)(ii) and (c) amend regulation 6 of the 1999 Regulations to apply the additional information requirements in that regulation to all passenger ships on all international voyages as well as those on voyages of more than 20 miles from the relevant landing point.

Regulation 2(8) specifies that the requirement to erase personal data applies in relation to both paragraphs (2)(a) and (2)(b) of regulation 8 of the 1999 Regulations.

Regulation 2(9) substitutes a new exemption provision for regulation 9 of the 1999 Regulations.

Regulation 3 amends the review provision in regulation 3(4) of the 2021 Regulations to take into account how other countries have implemented regulation 27 of Part B of Chapter III in the Annex to the Convention.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 2 of the 2020 Regulations to remove the duplication of provisions in those Regulations and in the 1999 Regulations, which implement the requirements of regulation 27 of Part B of Chapter III in the Annex to the Convention.

Regulation 5 amends the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1104) to enable the Secretary of State to charge fees for certain actions (such as charging for exemptions) carried out under the 1999 Regulations.

Regulation 6 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report before 22nd February 2026 and at intervals not exceeding five years after that. Following a review, it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be amended or revoked.

Merchant Shipping Notice 1794 (M) Amendment 2 provides information on how the 1999 Regulations (as amended by these Regulations) work in practice and is available on www.gov.uk/topic/ships-cargoes/m-notices and in hard copy from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG (telephone 020 3817 2000 and email infoline@mcga.gov.uk).

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary, or public sector is foreseen.

An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

For more information, please see the documents below (available only to subscribers):