S.I. No. 138/2006 - Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order 2006

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 Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 2002 (

S.I. No. 92 of 2002

) is hereby revoked

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

29 day of March, 2006.

Martin Cullen,

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order revokes and replaces the Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order, 2002. It reduces the level of light dues levied on merchant shipping collected from vessels calling to ports within the State with effect from 1 st April, 2006 from 56 cents to 52 cents per ton.

It has also been decided that it is no longer necessary to record departure dates of vessels for collection purposes and to remove the current ballast exemptions so that vessels arriving or departing will now attract a single payment.

In addition, the Order lowers the tonnage ceiling from 40,000 net registered tonnage (NRT) to 35,000 NRT, which will result in a maximum charge of €18,200 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,

(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) 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;

(7) 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;

(8) 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;

(9) 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;

(10) 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;

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

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

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

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No. 138 of 2006

Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Order 2006

MERCHANT SHIPPING (LIGHT DUES) ORDER 2006

I, MARTIN CULLEN, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

section 2

of the

Merchant Shipping (Light Dues) Act 1983

(No. 18 of 1983), as adapted by the Maritime Transport, Safety and Security (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2005 (

S.I. No. 842 of 2005

) hereby order as follows