3. — (1) In this Act—

“ accepted Safety Convention certificate ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 28 of this Act;

“ the Act of 1933 ” means the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1933 (No. 42 of 1933);

“ collision regulations ” means regulations made under Section 418 of the Principal Act;

“ construction rules ” means rules made under section 10 of this Act;

“ country to which the Safety Convention applies ” means—

(a) a country the government of which has been declared under section 4 of this Act to have accepted the Safety Convention, and has not been so declared to have denounced that Convention;

(b) a territory to which it has been so declared that the Safety Convention extends, not being a territory to which it has been so declared that that Convention has ceased to extend;

“ declaration of survey ” means a declaration made under section 272 of the Principal Act;

“ international voyage ” means a voyage from a port in one country to a port in another country, either of those countries being a country to which the Safety Convention applies, and “ short international voyage ” means an international voyage—

(a) in the course of which a ship is not more than two hundred nautical miles from a port or place in which the passengers and crew could be placed in safety and

(b) which does not exceed six hundred nautical miles in length between the last port of call in the country in which the voyage begins and the final port of destination, but, for the purpose of the definitions contained in this paragraph—

(i) no account shall be taken of any deviation by a ship from her intended voyage due solely to stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled; and

(ii) every colony, overseas territory, protectorate or other territory for whose international relations a government that has accepted the Safety Convention is responsible, or for which the United Nations are the administering authority, shall be deemed to be a separate country;

F1[…]

F2[“ Irish ship ” means a ship, other than a ship of war, known as such under section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955;

“ master ”, in relation to a ship, means the person having, for the time being, the command or charge of the ship;

“ Merchant Shipping Acts ” means Merchant Shipping Acts 1894 to 2010;

“ Minister ” means Minister for Transport;

“ navigation and tracking rules ” means rules made under section 18

“ owner ”, in relation to a ship, means the person registered in the State, as its owner or, if no person is so registered, the person who owns the ship, and includes any part owner, charterer, manager or operator of the ship]

“ the Principal Act ” means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;

“ radio navigational aid ” means radio apparatus on board a ship being apparatus designed for the purpose of determining the position or direction of ships or other objects;

“ radio rules ” means rules made under section 15 of this Act;

F3[…]

“ rules for live-saving appliances ” means rules made under section 427 of the Principal Act as amended by section 11 of this Act;

F4[" Safety Convention " means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on 1 November 1974 together with the Protocol to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on 17 February 1978 and the Protocol to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on behalf of the Government on 11 November 1988 and any amendments made to it up to and including those adopted by the 99th session of the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation held between 16 and 25 May 2018 and which have entered into force in respect of the State pursuant to Article VIII prior to the passing of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Casualties) (Amendment) Act 2022;]

“ Safety Convention ship ” means a ship registered in a country to which the Safety Convention applies and the expression “ Safety Convention passenger steamer ” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Except so far as the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to any other enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, extended or applied by or under any other enactment including this Act.

(3) Except so far as the context otherwise requires, this Act shall be construed as one with the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1947, and, without prejudice to the generality of this provision, references in those Acts to the Merchant Shipping Acts shall be construed as including references to this Act.

(4) If any amendment of the Safety Convention comes into force, references in this Act to the Safety Convention shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to the Safety Convention as amended.