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Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Regulations

Merchant Shipping (Safe Manning, Training and Certification) Regulations, 2013

Part 5 : Manning Requirements

91. Responsibilities of owners and masters

 

(1) The owner of every ship shall ensure that:
(a) no ship's officer takes charge of a navigational or engineering watch on the ship unless he or she holds appropriate valid certification entitling him or her to do so;
(b) no rating forms part of a navigational or engineering watch on the ship unless he or she holds appropriate valid certification entitling him or her to do so;
(c) the master and every ship's officer have appropriate experience of the type of ship on which he or she is employed;
(d) the master and every seafarer employed on the ship, before being allowed to assume his or her assigned duties, are familiarized with their specific duties and with all the ship's arrangements, installations, equipment, procedures and characteristics relevant to their routine and emergency duties;
(e) every rating employed on the ship and designated to have safety or pollution prevention duties holds documentary evidence of having successfully completed approved basic training in accordance with Part 3 Division 5;

[Regulation 91(1)(e)(i) substituted by regulation 45(a) and (b) of Notice No. R. 544, GG 38912, dated 25 June 2015]

(f) the ship's crew can effectively co-ordinate activities in an emergency situation and in performing functions vital to safety or to the prevention or mitigation of pollution;
(g) all seafarers employed on fishing vessels shall have completed approved pre-sea training;
(h) all seafarers on vessels other than fishing vessels, shall have completed approved basic training;
(i) documentation and data relevant to the master and seafarers employed on the ship are maintained and readily available for inspection, including documentation and data relevant to their experience, training, medical fitness and competency in assigned duties.

 

(2) Without limiting the owner's obligations under subregulation (1), it is the duty of the master to ensure that the requirements of that subregulation are complied with in relation to the seafarers employed on the ship.

 

(3) Nothing in subregulation (1)(a) to (f) prohibits the allocation of tasks for training under supervision or in case of force majeure.

 

(4)

(a) The owner and the master of every ship shall ensure that, in addition to the ship's officers and other persons prescribed by these regulations or elsewhere in terms of the Act, there are employed as crew of the ship an adequate number and description of persons to ensure that the ship is sufficiently and efficiently manned.
(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) and regulation 90(4)(c), a ship shall be deemed to be sufficiently and efficiently manned if, in the opinion of the proper officer, it has as crew suitably qualified persons to enable it to go to sea with due regard to the requirements of the life-saving equipment regulations, the collision regulations, the radio regulations, and any other safety provisions that may be applicable to the ship.
(c) The proper officer shall, when determining the adequacy of the crew in accordance with this subregulation, take the following into account:
(i) the complement normally carried by similar ships employed on similar voyages or operations;
(ii) the complement that the ship in question has recently carried on previous voyages or operations;
(iii) the complement adequate to ensure compliance with regulations 92 and 93; and
(iv) the nature of the service for which the ship is intended.

 

(5) The Authority shall, as and when necessary, issue a marine notice specifying the number of persons to constitute the crew of a ship and the capacities in which those persons are to serve other than persons prescribed in these regulations or elsewhere in terms of the Act.