Marine Orders - Part 31: Ship surveys and certification, Issue 6 - Amendment (Order No. 1 of 2009)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Marine Orders Part 31

Ship surveys and certification

Issue 6 (Amendment)

Order No. 1 of 2009

Purpose

1. Marine Orders Part 31 — Ship Surveys and Certification gives effect to Chapter I of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (‘SOLAS’).
2. The purpose of the Marine Orders Part 31, Issue 6 – Amendment is to amend Issue 6 of Marine Orders Part 31, to give effect to the amendment of a number of certificates found in the Appendix to SOLAS that were made by Resolutions MSC.239 (83), MSC.256 (84) and MSC.258 (84) of the International Maritime Organization (‘IMO’).

3.        IMO resolution MSC.239 (83) is to come into force on 1 July 2009.

4.        IMO resolution MSC.256 (84) and MSC.258 (84) are to come into force on 1 January 2010.

5.     The amendments in Order No. 1 of 2009 implement the amendments made by IMO resolution MSC.239 (83), MSC.256 (84) and MSC.258 (84).

6.     Schedule 1 of the Marine Orders Part commences on 1 July 2009 and Schedule 2 of the Marine Orders Part commences on 1 January 2010.

Power

7.     Part IV of the Navigation Act 1912 (‘the Act’) provides for ships and shipping.  Sections 190B and 191 of the Act are found in Part IV of the Act.  Subsection 190B (1) of the Act empowers regulations to be made regarding construction, hull, equipment and machinery requirements of ships and for the survey, inspection and issuing of certificates.

8.     Subsection 191 (1) of the Act provides that the regulations may make provision for or in relation to giving effect to SOLAS.

9.     In addition, sections 206D to 206GA, which are also found in Part IV of the Act, empower the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (‘AMSA’) to prescribe cargo ship safety certificates relevant to a number of purposes including equipment, radio equipment and construction.

10. Subsection 425 (1AA) of the Act provides that AMSA may make orders with respect to any matter mentioned in, amongst other Parts, Part IV of the Act for or in relation to which regulations may be made. 

11. The amendment of Marine Orders Part 31, Issue 6 is empowered by, and made pursuant to, subsection 425 (1AA) of the Act.

Consultation

12. In addition to providing a copy of the draft Marine Orders Part 31 Amendment on AMSA’s website, a copy of the draft Amendment Marine Orders Part was provided to the following organisations for comment:

• American Bureau of Shipping (ABS);
• Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE);
• Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU)
• Australian Shipowners Association (ASA);
• Bureau Veritas (BV);
• China Classification Society (CCS);
• Class NK (NKK);
• Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (DITRDLG);
• Det Norske Veritas (DNV);
• Germanischer Lloyd (GL);
• Lloyd’s Register (LR);
• National Marine Safety Committee (NMSC)
• Shipping Australia Limited (SAL).

Overview

13. The Maritime Safety Committee (‘MSC’) of the IMO adopted amendments to the form of various statutory certificates contained in the Appendix to SOLAS by IMO Resolution MSC.239 (83). These amendments relate to the following form:

• Form MO-31/3 Passenger ship safety certificate.

14. The amendments replace the existing subdivision notation, C.1, C.2 and C.3 with P.1, P.2 and P.3. This change reflects the move away from compartmental subdivision ‘C’ to the new probabilistic subdivision rules ‘P’.

15. The Maritime Safety Committee (‘MSC’) of the IMO also adopted amendments to the form of various statutory certificates contained in the Appendix to SOLAS by IMO Resolutions MSC.256 (84) and MSC.258 (84). These amendments relate to the following forms:

• Form P;
• Form E;
• Form R;
• Form C;
• Form PP;
• Form CC/EE/RR;
• Form FF.

1.  The amendments relate to references to the ships search and rescue locating devices.
2. The opportunity has also been taken to provide for a new definition which provides that USL Code (or NSCV), class 1A, class 2A and class 3A vessels are permitted to undertake international operations.
3. The opportunity has also been taken to extend the application of provision 4 to ships that are not propelled by mechanical means. Furthermore, a new provision 18.2A has been inserted in order to make the meaning of ‘equivalent certificate’ clear.

Amendments — Schedule 1: Amendments commencing on 1 July 2009

Provision 1, General Manager

19. Whenever occurring throughout the Part, Item [1] omits the term General   Manager, replacing it with Deputy Chief Executive Officer Maritime Operations Division.

Provision 2, definition of General Manager

20. Item [2] as above.

Provision 2, after the definition of cargo ship

21. Item [3] inserts a new definition, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Maritime Operations Division. Deputy Chief Executive Officer Maritime Operations Division means the person occupying the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer Maritime Operations Division, in AMSA.  

Provision 2, after the definition of surveyor

22. Item [4] inserts two additional definitions, USL Class 1A and 2A, and USL Class 3A.

Provision 4

23. Item [5] inserts an addition to provision 4.1 providing for the application of the part where a ship is also liable to be surveyed.

Provision 4, after provision 4.2

24. Item [6] inserts new provision 4.3. This provision allows a ship not propelled by mechanical means to be surveyed and to obtain a certificate equivalent to that otherwise obtained by a steamship.

Provision 13 after provision 13.2.1

25. Item [7] provides an addition to the end of the note at provision 13.1.2 to clarify the powers of the Manager, Ship Inspections.

Provision 13 after provision 13.2.1

26. Item [8] substitutes provisions 13.2.1A and 13.2.1B to clarify the form and substance of incident report forms. 

Provision 13 after provision 13.2.2

27. Item [9] substitutes a note which clarifies the use of AMSA Form 18 and 19 in relation to incident reporting.

Provision 13 after provision 18.2

28. Item [10] inserts new provision 18.2A to clarify the meaning of an equivalent certificate.

Appendix

29. Items [11 and 12] amend the following forms:

• Form MO-31/3 Passenger safety certificate (replaces compartmental subdivisions C.1, C.2 and C.3 with probabilistic subdivision P.1, P.2 and P.3; and
• Form MO-31/9 Certificate of survey as a passenger ship (USL Class 1 B/C/D/E) (omits USL Class 1 B/C/D/E and replaces it with USL Class 1 A/B/C/D/E).

Amendments — Schedule 2: Amendment commencing on 1 January 2010

Appendix

30. Items [13,14,15,16 17, 18 and 19 ] amend the following forms:

• Form MO - 31/3
• Form MO – 31/5
• Form MO – 31/6
• Form MO – 31/7
• Form MO – 31/9
• Form MO – 31/10
• Form MO – 31/11

1. The amendments above involve reference to the existing item ‘ships transponder’ which is replaced by:

“Number of search and rescue locating devices

.1 Radar search and rescue transponders (SART)

.2 AIS search and rescue transmitters (AIS-SART).”

32.  Schedule 2 commences 1 January 2010.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority

 June 2009