Navigation (Signals of Distress, Urgency Signals and Danger Messages) Regulations (Amendment) (Cth)

Statutory Rules

1974 No. 240

REGULATIONS UNDER THE NAVIGATION ACT 1912-1973.*

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Navigation Act 1912-1973.

Dated this fourth day of December, 1974.

JOHN R. KERR

Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

C. K. JONES

Minister of State for Transport.

______

Amendments of the Navigation (Signals of Distress, Urgency Signals and Danger Messages) Regulations

Interpretation.

1. Regulation 3 of the Navigation (Signals of Distress, Urgency Signals and Danger Messages) Regulations is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-regulation (1), after the definition of “aircraft radio station”, the following definitions:—

“‘at sea’, in relation to the maintenance of radio watch on a ship, means the period occupied in a voyage between the berth at one port of call and the berth at the next port of call;

“‘auto-alarm’ means an apparatus for automatically receiving and registering an alarm signal, being an apparatus that—

(a) complies with the requirements specified in the Fifth Schedule to the Navigation (Radio) Regulations; and

(b) is of a type approved in accordance with those Regulations;”;

(b) by inserting in sub-regulation (1), after the definition of “radio station”, the following definition:—

“‘radio watch’ means listening on the frequency of five hundred kilocycles per second;”;

* Notified in the Australian Government Gazette on 6 December 1974.

Statutory Rules 1968, No. 40.

(c) by inserting in sub-regulation (1), after the definition of “radiotelegraph alarm signal”, the following definition:—

“‘radiotelegraph ship’ means a ship that is equipped with a radio-telegraphy installation in pursuance of the Navigation (Radio) Regulations;”;

(d) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) the definition of “Regional Controller”;

(e) by omitting the definition of “silence periods” and inserting in its stead the following definition:—

“‘silence periods’ means—

(a) in the case of a radiotelegraph ship—periods of three minutes beginning at the expiration of fifteen minutes and forty-five minutes, respectively, after each hour of each day reckoned according to Greenwich Mean Time; and

(b) in the case of a radiotelephone ship—periods of three minutes beginning at each hour, and at the expiration of thirty minutes after each hour, of each day reckoned according to Greenwich Mean Time;”; and

(f) by inserting in sub-regulation (1), after the definition of “the Act”, the following definition:—

“‘the radiotelegraph room’, in relation to a radiotelegraph ship, means a room or adjoining rooms on the ship that is, or are, exclusively appropriated for the operation of the radio installation;”.

Radio officer’s duties on actuation of auto-alarm in radiotelegraph ship.

2.After regulation 18 of the Navigation (Signals of Distress, Urgency Signals and Danger Messages) Regulations the following regulation is inserted:—

“18a. (1) Where the auto-alarm with which a radiotelegraph ship is equipped is actuated when the ship is at sea—

(a) the radio officer of the ship; or

(b) if the complement of officers for the ship includes more than one radio officer—

(i) the first radio officer of the ship; or

(ii) if he is unavailable, the next senior radio officer who is available,

shall maintain, by means of headphone reception in the radiotelegraph room of the ship, continuous radio watch until he is authorized by this regulation to discontinue the radio watch.

Penalty: One hundred dollars.

“(2) Where an urgency message is received on a ship, or a radio officer on a ship becomes aware that an urgency message has been transmitted, while a radio watch is being maintained on the ship, the radio watch may be discontinued after any action that the ship or any officers of the ship are required by the Act or these Regulations to take in connexion with the message has been taken, but not otherwise.

“(3) Where a radio watch is being maintained on a ship in pursuance of sub-regulation (1) and an urgency message is not received, the radio officer who is maintaining the watch shall, after a period of fifteen minutes from the time when the auto-alarm was actuated, communicate by radio (but not during a

silence period) with a coast radio station in the vicinity of the ship and inquire if an urgency message has been transmitted while the radio watch has been maintained.

“(4) Subject to sub-regulation (5), where, in a case to which sub-regulation (3) applies, the radio officer who is maintaining the watch—

(a) has made reasonable efforts to communicate by radio (but not during a silence period) with a coast radio station in the vicinity of the ship but has been unable to so communicate; or

(b) has communicated by radio (but not during a silence period) with a coast radio station in the vicinity of the ship and is satisfied, as a result of that communication and any other inquiries made by him that an urgency message has not been transmitted while the radio watch has been maintained on the ship,

and the radio officer maintaining the watch has not received an urgency message, the radio watch may be discontinued—

(c) after the minimum period of radio watch; or

(d) after the radio officer who is maintaining the watch has furnished a report to the officer in charge of the navigation of the ship of the action that he has taken in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b) and the result of that action,

whichever last occurs.

“(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-regulation (4), radio watch being maintained on a ship in a case to which sub-regulation (3) applies shall not, unless the radio officer has been unable to communicate with a coast radio station, be discontinued until a period of three minutes has elapsed since the radio officer has communicated with a coast radio station under the provisions of paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (4).

“(6) Notwithstanding sub-regulations (4) and (5), where, before a radio watch consequent upon the actuation of the auto-alarm with which the ship is equipped may be discontinued in accordance with this regulation, the officer keeping the radio watch is satisfied that the auto-alarm was actuated by—

(a) a cause specified in paragraph (b) or (c) of item 26 in the Fifth Schedule to the Navigation (Radio) Regulations;

(b) an electrical storm; or

(c) malfunctioning of the equipment,

and the officer has informed the officer in charge of the navigation of the ship that he is so satisfied, the radio watch may be discontinued after the officer-in-charge of the navigation of the ship has been so informed.

“(7) In this regulation—

‘the minimum period of radio watch’, in relation to the actuation of the auto-alarm with which a ship is equipped, means—

(a) a period of fifteen minutes; or

(b) a period equal to the period from the commencement of the radio watch to the expiration of the silence period that commences next after the actuation of the auto-alarm,

whichever is the longer period;

‘urgency message’ means—

(a) a distress call or distress message;

(b) an urgent warning concerning a tropical storm; or

(c) a message that a person has been lost overboard.”.

Authority to use prescribed urgency signal.

3. Regulation 20 of the Navigation (Signals of Distress, Urgency Signals and Danger Messages) Regulations is amended by omitting from paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (1) and from sub-regulation (2) the words “a Regional Controller” and substituting the words “the Minister”.

Danger messages.

4. Regulation 23 of the Navigation (Signals of Distress, Urgency Signals and Danger Messages) Regulations