Merchant Shipping (Port State Control)

Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta, Nru. 19,248, 9 ta’ Mejju, 2014

L.N. 156 of 2014

MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT

(CAP. 234)

Merchant Shipping (Port State Control)

(Amendment No. 2) Regulations, 2014

IN exercise of the powers conferred by articles 154 and 374 of

the Merchant Shipping Act, the Minister for Transport and

Infrastructure has made the following regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Merchant Citation and

Shipping (Port State Control) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations, 2014, scope.

and these regulations shall be read and construed as one with the

Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations, hereinafter S.L. 234.38

referred to as the "principal regulations".

(2) These regulations adopt the measures contained in

Directive 2013/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 12 August 2013.

In regulation 2 of the principal regulations, the definition Amends

regulation 2 of

"the Directive" shall be substituted by the following definition

the principal

regulations.

" "the Directive" means Directive 2009/16/EC of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009, on

Port State control, in its up-to-date version;".

Regulation 3 of the principal regulations shall be amended Amends

regulation 3 of

as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

sub-regulation (4) thereof shall be substituted by the

following

"(4) When inspecting a ship flying the flag of a

State which is not a party to a Convention, the treatment

given to such ship and her crew shall be no more

favourable than that given to a ship flying the flag of a

State which is a party to that Convention or to the crew of

such a ship. Such ship shall be subject to a more detailed

inspection in accordance with procedures established by

the Paris Memorandum of Understanding."; and

(b) immediately after sub-regulation (4) thereof, as

substituted, there shall be added the following new sub-

regulation

"(5) If the competent authority becomes aware of

a clear violation of Community law on board ships flying

the flag of a Member State, it shall in accordance with

national law and practice, forthwith inform any other

relevant competent authority in order for further action to

be taken as appropriate.".

In regulation 12 of the principal regulations, for the words

"shall be provided to the ship’s master." there shall be substituted the

words "shall be provided to the ship’s master:", and immediately

thereafter there shall be added the following

"Provided that where, following a more

detailed inspection, the living and working

conditions on the ship are found not to

conform to the requirements of the Merchant

Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention)

Rules, the inspector shall forthwith bring the

deficiencies to the attention of the master of

the ship, with required deadlines for their

rectification.

In the event that the inspector considers

such deficiencies to be significant, or if they

relate to a possible complaint under point 19

of Part A of Annex V of the Directive, the

inspector shall also bring the deficiencies to

the attention of the appropriate seafarers’ and

shipowners’ organisations in Malta, and may

(a)

notify a representative of the

flag State;

(b) provide

the

competent

authorities of the next port of call with

the relevant information.".

Regulation 13 of the principal regulations shall be

amended as follows

(a)

immediately after paragraph (d) of sub-regulation

(2) thereof, there shall be added the following paragraph

"(e) In the case of living and working

conditions on board which are clearly

hazardous to the safety, health or security of

seafarers or deficiencies which constitute a

serious or repeated breach of the Merchant

Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention)

Rules, requirements, the competent authority

shall detain the ship or shall stop the

operation in the course of which the

deficiencies are revealed.

The detention order or stoppage of an

operation shall not be lifted until those

deficiencies have been rectified or if the

competent authority has accepted a plan of

action to rectify those deficiencies and it is

satisfied that the plan will be implemented in

an expeditious manner. Prior to accepting a

plan of action, the competent authority may

consult the flag State."; and

(b) sub-regulation (6) thereof shall be substituted by the

following

"(6) Without prejudice to any other

requirement in the Convention enactments, in

the event of detention, the competent

authority shall immediately inform, in writing

and including the report of inspection, the flag

State administration or, when this is not

possible, the Consul or, in his absence, the

nearest diplomatic representative of that State,

of all the circumstances in which intervention

was deemed necessary. In addition, nominated

surveyors or recognised organizations

responsible for the issue of classification

certificates or statutory certificates in

accordance with Conventions shall also be

notified where relevant.

Moreover, if a ship is prevented from

sailing due to serious or repeated breach of

the requirements of the Merchant Shipping

(Maritime Labour Convention) Rules or due

to the living and working conditions on board

being clearly hazardous to the safety, health

or security of seafarers, the competent

authority shall forthwith notify the flag State

accordingly and invite a representative of the

flag State to be present, if possible, requesting

the flag State to reply within a prescribed

deadline. The competent authority shall also

inform forthwith the appropriate seafarers’

and shipowners’ organisations in Malta.".

Regulation 14 of the principal regulations shall be

amended as follows

(a)

sub-regulation (3) thereof shall be substituted by the

following

"(3) The identity of the complainant shall not be

revealed to the master or the shipowner of the ship

concerned. The inspector shall take appropriate steps to

safeguard the confidentiality of complaints made by

seafarers, including ensuring confidentiality during any

interviews of seafarers."; and

(b) immediately after sub-regulation (3) thereof, as

substituted, there shall be added the following

"(4) A complaint by a seafarer alleging

a breach of the requirements of the Merchant

Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention)

Rules may be reported to the competent

authority in Malta. In such cases, the

competent authority shall undertake an initial

investigation.

(5) Where appropriate, given the

nature of the complaint, the initial

investigation shall include consideration of

whether the on-board complaint procedures

provided for in the Merchant Shipping

(Maritime Labour Convention) Rules have

been pursued. The competent authority may

also conduct a more detailed inspection in

accordance with regulation 8.

(6) The competent authority shall,

where appropriate, seek to promote a

resolution of the complaint at the ship-board

level.

(7) In the event that the investigation

or the inspection reveals non-conformities

that fall within the scope of regulation 13, that

regulation shall apply.

(8) Where sub-regulation (7) does not

apply and a complaint by a seafarer related to

matters covered by the Merchant Shipping

(Maritime Labour Convention) Rules has not

been resolved at the ship-board level, the

competent authority shall forthwith notify the

flag State, seeking, within a prescribed

deadline, advice and a corrective plan of

action to be submitted by the flag State.

(9) Where the complaint has not been

resolved following action taken in accordance

with sub-regulation 8, the competent authority

shall transmit a copy of the report to the

Director-General of the International Labour

Office. The report shall be accompanied by

any reply received within the prescribed

deadline from the competent authority of the

flag State. The appropriate seafarers’ and

shipowners’ organisations in Malta shall be

similarly informed. In addition, statistics and

information regarding complaints that have

been resolved shall be regularly submitted by

Malta to the Director-General of the

International Labour Office.

Such submissions are provided in order

that, on the basis of such action as may be

considered appropriate and expedient, a

record is kept of such information and

brought to the attention of parties, including

seafarers’ and shipowners’ organisations,

which might be interested in availing

themselves of relevant recourse procedures.".

€0.27