12.— (1) Section 1(1) of the Act of 1966 is amended by substituting for the definition of “the Minister” the following:

“ ‘ 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;

‘ Minister ’ means Minister for Transport;

‘ 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;”.

(2) Section 3 of the Act of 1966 is amended by substituting for subsections (1), (2) and (3) the following:

“3.— (1) The Minister may make rules (‘ cargo ship construc tion and survey rules’ ) prescribing—

(a) requirements for the hull, superstructure, subdivision and stability, electrical installations, equipment and machinery, fuel used in and fire protection of ships to which this section applies, and

(b) requiring any such ships which are Irish ships to be surveyed to such extent, in such manner and at intervals as may be prescribed by the rules.

(1A) In making cargo ship construction and survey rules the Minister may categorise ships into different classes, where appropriate, having regard to one or more of the following:

(a) the size, shape, speed or configuration of such ships;

(b) the service for which such ships are to be employed;

(c) the nature and duration of voyages to be undertaken;

(d) the number of passengers or other persons, or both, that such ships are designed to carry on board;

(e) such other matter or matters that the Minister considers appropriate to take into account in the circumstances;

(f) the type of cargo carried, including dangerous goods;

(g) the age and date of construction of such ships.

(1B) Different rules may be made in respect of different classes of ships and in relation to different classes of ships for different circumstances and different areas of operation.

(2) Cargo ship construction and survey rules shall include such requirements as appear to the Minister to be necessary to implement the provisions of the Convention relating to the hull, superstructure, subdivision and stability, electrical installations, equipment and machinery of and fuel used in such ships, except so far as those provisions are implemented by any other rules or regulations made under the Merchant Shipping Acts.

(3) This section applies to all ships other than passenger steamers, warships, troopships and fishing vessels. It applies to ships not registered in the State only while they are within a port in the State and are not exempted from the cargo ship construction and survey rules under the following provisions of this Act.”.

(3) Section 4(1) of the Act of 1966 is amended by inserting “and bulk carrier rules and fire protection rules” after “and survey rules”.

(4) The following section is substituted for section 6 of the Act of 1966:

“Prohibition on proceeding to sea without appropriate certificates.

6.— (1) No ship to which section 3 applies and which is an Irish ship shall proceed to sea unless there is in force in respect of the ship—

(a) a cargo ship safety construction certificate,

(b) a qualified cargo ship safety construction certificate and, if the ship is about to proceed on an international voyage, a corresponding exemption certificate, or

(c) such certificate or certificates as would be required if it were a passenger steamer,

applicable to the ship and to the voyage on which it is about to proceed.

(2) If any ship proceeds, or attempts to proceed, to sea in contravention of this section, the owner or master of the ship commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000.”.

(5) The following section is substituted for section 8 of the Act of 1966:

“Penalty for non-compliance with rules and compliance notice.

8.— (1) If cargo ship construction and survey rules are contravened in any respect in relation to a ship, the owner or master of the ship commits an offence and is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €100,000.

(2) A surveyor of ships may board and inspect any ship for the purpose of seeing that it complies with the provisions of cargo ship construction and survey rules (other than those relating to survey). If he or she finds that the ship fails to comply with those provisions, he or she shall give to the owner or master notice in writing stating in what respect the ship fails to comply with them.

(3) A surveyor of ships may board and inspect any ship for the purposes of seeing that a notice under this section has been complied with.

(4) A surveyor of ships may for the purposes of an inspection make such tests (either on the ship or ashore or at dock) ask such questions, inspect such documents or records and have access to such part of the ship as he or she considers appropriate for that purpose.

(5) If a ship, in respect of which a notice has been given to its owner or master under subsection (2) which requires compliance with the rules in accordance with the notice before the ship proceeds to sea, proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea without such compliance as required in the notice, then the master or owner (as the case may be) commits an offence and is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €100,000.”.