S.I. No. 92/2002 - Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order 2002

1. Dues payable under paragraph 1 of Part I of this Schedule and the payments referred to in Rule 4 below shall be tendered at the port where the liability arises except as the general lighthouse authority otherwise allows.

2. (

a

) The payments under paragraph 2 of Part I of this Schedule (other than those referred to in paragraph 2 (1) (

b

) of Part I of this Schedule and in Rule 4 below) shall be payable within 28 days after service of an invoice for the amount of the payment by the general lighthouse authority or its authorised collector.

(

b

) The general lighthouse authority or its authorised collector may serve the invoice by post, and the said invoice shall be treated as duly served if served on any one of the registered owners appearing in the register at the commencement of the period to which the invoice relates or on a consignee or agent within the meaning of section 649 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. An invoice shall be deemed to be properly addressed to a registered owner if it is addressed to him at the address for the time being recorded in relation to him in the register.

3. The following are hereby revoked

(a) the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1997 (

S.I. No. 138 of 1997

), and

(b) the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1998 (

S.I. No. 90 of 1998

).

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

this 14

th

day of March, 2002.

FRANK FAHEY,

Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order revokes and replaces the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 1997 as amended. It prescribes the scale of payments, the rules and the exemptions in relation to light dues collected from vessels calling to ports within the State with effect from 1st April, 2002.

The Order makes the following changes to the amount of light dues which may be levied and lists the new charges in €

Previous

New

Description

Amount

Amount

£

€

Minimum amount per voyage for ships not subject to periodical payments.

60

75

Rate per ton for ships subject to payments per voyage.

41p

56 cent

Annual payment per ship for tugs.

202

270

Payment for each metre of length in excess of 10 metres for tugs.

21

30

Two equal payments per ship for tugs.

114

150

Payment for each metre of length in excess of 10 metres for tugs making two equal payments.

12

20

Minimum annual payment for a new or newly registered tug.

60

75

Minimum annual payment for a tug which is not registered for a continuous period of more than three months.

60

75

Annual payment for pleasure craft.

77

100

Payment for each period of 30 days in respect of a visit within an area for which the general lighthouse authority has responsibility for a pleasure craft not ordinarily kept or used in such an area.

26

40

Amount for each month or part of month for a new or newly registered pleasure craft.

26

40

In addition, the Order introduces of a tonnage ceiling of 40,000 NRT, which results in a maximum charge of €22,400 per voyage.

4. (

a

) Any payment in respect of a visit as is referred to in paragraph 2 (4) of Part I of this Schedule shall be payable at the commencement of the period in respect of which it is due.

(

b

) Any payment under paragraph 2 (1) (

a

) or (

b

) of Part I of this Schedule in respect of a tug which the general lighthouse authority is satisfied is ordinarily registered and kept outside the State, Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man shall be payable at the commencement of the first visit in the period to which it relates by the ship to a port in the State.

5. For the purposes of this Schedule—

(

a

) a ship's tonnage shall be its net tonnage assessed in accordance with the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, done at London on the 23rd day of June, 1969, and entered on its International Tonnage Certificate (1969) or, if this certificate is not available for any reason, the ship's gross registered tonnage or, in the case of an unregistered ship or a ship measured only by length, the tonnage reckoned in accordance with the Thames Measurement adopted by Lloyds Register;

(

b

) a year shall be reckoned from 1st April; a month means a calendar month except in paragraph I of Part I of this Schedule where it means a month commencing with the relevant date;

(

c

) in calculating any payment of light dues where the ship's tonnage is not a multiple of one ton any excess not exceeding half a ton shall be rounded down and any excess over half a ton shall be rounded up to the nearest ton

(

d

) “length” in relation to a tug means the registered length shown in the ship's certificate of registry and in relation to such a ship having no registered length, means the length which would be the registered length if the ship were registered under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, provided that in calculating any payment of light dues where a tug's length is not a multiple of one metre, any excess not exceeding half a metre shall be rounded down and any excess over half a metre shall be rounded up to the nearest such metre except in the case of a ship with a length of less than 10 metres;

(

e

) ‘harbour authority’ means—

(i) in the case of a harbour to which the

Harbours Act, 1946

(No. 9 of 1946) applies, a harbour authority within the meaning of that Act,

(ii) in the case of a harbour under the management or control of a company established pursuant to

section 7

of the

Harbours Act, 1996

(No. 11 of 1996) such a company,

(iii) in the case of a fishery harbour centre to which the

Fishery Harbour Centres Act, 1968

, applies, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources,

(iv) in the case of a harbour under the control of a local authority, the local authority concerned,

(v) in the case of a harbour under the management of Iarnród Éireann — Irish Rail, Iarnród Éireann — Irish Rail, or

(vi) in the case of a harbour under the management or control of any other person carrying on a trade consisting in whole or in part in the provision in the harbour concerned of such facilities and accommodation for vessels, goods and passengers as are ordinarily provided by a harbour authority (to which subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) or (v) apply) in a harbour in whole or in part under its management or control, that person;

(

f

) ‘statutory authority’ means a body established by statute or pursuant to a requirement in or in exercise of a power conferred by statute.

(

g

) “pleasure craft” includes a pleasure yacht and means a vessel primarily used for sport or private recreation, and not engaged in any revenue earning or commercial activity or service.

6. Any ship (including a pleasure craft) subject to a periodical charge which is declared a total loss during a period for which it has paid or is liable to pay light dues, shall be deemed not to be liable to such dues from the last day of the month in which the said loss occurs; and such liability shall be reassessed on the proportion of the period prior to that date in accordance with paragraph 2 (3) of Part I of this Schedule.

PART III

EXEMPTIONS

The following ships or vessels shall be exempted from dues under this Schedule—

(1) Ships belonging to the Government or to a Minister of the Government or to a Sovereign foreign Government unless carrying cargo or passengers for freight or fares;

(2) Ships of less than 20 tons, other than ships liable to pay dues by reference to their length;

(3) Sailing ships used exclusively for sail training purposes, operating as travelling museums or vessels of historical interest;

(4) Tugs of less than 10 metres in length;

(5) Vessels for the time being employed in sea-fishing exclusive of vessels used for catching fish otherwise than for profit;

(6) Vessels (other than those subject to periodical payments) when navigating wholly and bona fide in ballast and not engaged in any other revenue earning commercial or passenger carrying activity or service;

(7) Ships putting in solely for bunkers, stores, crew changes, embarkation or disembarkation of pilots, a medical emergency, or for provisions for their own use on board, unless they are otherwise engaged in any revenue earning or commercial activity or service;

(8) Ships putting in from stress of weather or because of damage or on voyages solely for the purpose of damage or running repairs, where they are not otherwise engaged in a revenue earning or commercial activity or service, provided they do not discharge or load cargo other than cargo discharged with a view to such repairs, and afterwards reshipped;

(9) Ships navigating solely and entirely within the limits of a harbour authority unless such limits include a lighthouse, buoy or visible beacon maintained by the general lighthouse authority at the expense of the General Lighthouse Fund;

(10)Any ship (including a pleasure craft) in respect of any year ending 31st March during the whole of which it is laid up: and in the case of any such ship which has opted to pay in two payments as provided for in paragraph 2 (1) (

b

) of Part I of this Schedule, this exemption shall apply in respect of any period covered by such option, during the whole of which it is laid up;

(11)Vessels engaged solely in harbour maintenance, dredging, building or maintenance of sea defences or land reclamation on behalf of a statutory authority or harbour authority;

(12)Vessels solely engaged in pollution control prevention or recovery on behalf of a statutory authority;

(13)Vessels engaged solely in the transportation of sewerage water to spoil grounds by or on behalf of a statutory authority;

(14)Vessels putting in or departing in ballast for the purpose of modification alteration, scrapping or departing as new buildings from a shipyard, not otherwise engaged in any other revenue earning or commercial activity or service;

(15)Dumb barges, lighters, hulks or other vessels being towed which are specifically designed and built without a means of propulsion”.

I, FRANK-FAHEY, Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

section 2

of the

Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Act 1983

(No. 18 of 1983), and the Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1987 (

S.I. No. 91 of 1987

), as adapted by the Marine (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997 (

S.I. No. 301 of 1997

), hereby order as follows