Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 29th October, 2010.

I, NOEL DEMPSEY, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 12 (as amended by section 48 of the Maritime Safety Act 2005 (No. 11 of 2005)) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1947 (No. 46 of 1947) and section 3(2) (as amended by section 91(1)(a) of the Merchant Shipping Act 2010 (No. 14 of 2010)) of the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Seamen) Act 1979 (No. 37 of 1979) (as adapted by the Public Enterprise (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 (No. 305 of 2002)) and the Maritime Transport, Safety and Security (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2005 ( S.I. No. 842 of 2005 ), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Training and Certification) (Amendment) Regulations 2010.

2. These Regulations are for the purposes of Resolution MSC. 203(81) and Resolution MSC. 209(81) both adopted on 18 May 2006 by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization.

3. The Merchant Shipping (Training and Certification) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 703 of 2007 ) are amended-

(a) in Regulation 2-

(i) by inserting after the definition of "certificate of equivalent competency" the following:

" 'certificate of proficiency as ship security officer' means a certificate issued by or under the authority of the Minister, or recognised by the Minister for the purposes of section A-VI/5 of Part A of the STCW Code;",

and

(ii) by inserting after the definition of "Radio Regulations" the following:

" 'ship security officer' means the person on board the ship, accountable to the master, designated by the company as responsible for the security of the ship including implementation and maintenance of the ship security plan and liaison with the company security officer and port facility security officers;",

(b) in Regulation 6 by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:

"(5) Any person designated to perform the duties of ship security officer shall hold a certificate of proficiency as ship security officer.",

and

(c) in Schedule 1-

(i) by substituting for the title of Chapter 6 of the STCW Convention the following:

"EMERGENCY, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, SECURITY, MEDICAL CARE AND SURVIVAL FUNCTIONS",

and

(ii) by inserting after Regulation VI/4 of Chapter 6 of the STCW Convention the following:

"Regulation VI/5

Mandatory minimum requirements for the issue of certificates of proficiency for ship security officers

1. Every candidate for a certificate of proficiency as ship security officer shall:

1. 1have approved seagoing service of not less than 12 months or appropriate seagoing service and knowledge of ship operations; and

1. 2meet the standard of competence for certification of proficiency as ship security officer, set out in section A-VI/5, paragraphs 1 to 4 of the STCW Code.

2. The Minister shall ensure that every person found qualified under the provisions of this regulation is issued with a certificate of proficiency as ship security officer.

3. The Minister shall ensure that the standards of competence required of ship security officers who held or can document qualifications issued before 1 January 2008 are compared with those specified for the certificate of proficiency in section A-VI/5 of the STCW Code, and shall ensure that the need for requiring these personnel to update their qualifications is determined.".

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

21 October 2010.

NOEL DEMPSEY,

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The purpose of these Regulations is to give effect to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended by Resolution MSC. 203(81) and to the Seafarers' Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code, 1995, as amended by Resolution MSC. 209(81), both adopted on 18 May 2006 by the International Maritime Organization in respect of competency and certification provisions for ship security officers.