# The Merchant Shipping (Fire Protection) Regulations 2023, Schedule 2: Classification of ships


Passenger ships
Description of class of ship
Class I
ships engaged on voyages any of which are long international voyages;
Class II
ships engaged only on short international voyages;
Class II(A)
ships engaged on voyages of any kind other than international voyages, which are not—
(i) ships of Classes III to VI(A) as defined in the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ship Construction: Ships of Classes III to VI(A)) Regulations 1998;
(ii) ships of Classes A, B, C or D as defined in the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships on Domestic Voyages) Regulations 2000 and engaged on domestic voyages for the purposes of those Regulations;
Class III
ships engaged only on voyages in the course of which they are at no time more than 70 miles by sea from their point of departure and not more than 18 miles from the coast of the United Kingdom, and which are at sea only in favourable weather and during restricted periods;
Class IV
ships engaged only on voyages in Category A, B, C or D waters;
Class V
ships engaged only on voyages in Category A, B or C waters;
Class VI
ships engaged only on voyages with not more than 250 passengers on board, to sea, or in Category A, B, C or D waters, in all cases in favourable weather and during restricted periods, in the course of which the ships are at no time more than 15 miles, exclusive of any Category A, B, C or D waters, from their point of departure nor more than 3 miles from land;
Class VI(A)
ships carrying not more than 50 passengers for a distance of not more than 6 miles on voyages to or from isolated communities on the islands or coast of the United Kingdom, and which do not proceed for a distance of more than 3 miles from land;
Non-passenger ships
Description of class of ship
Class VII
ships, other than ships of Classes I, VII(A), VII(T), XI and XII, engaged on voyages any of which are long international voyages;
Class VII(A)
ships employed as fish processing or canning factory ships, and ships engaged in the carriage of persons employed in the fish processing or canning industries;
Class VII(T)
tankers engaged on voyages any of which are long international voyages;
Class VIII
ships, other than ships of Classes II, VIII(T), IX, XI and XII, engaged only on short international voyages;
Class VIII(A)
ships, other than ships of Classes II(A) to VI(A) inclusive, VIII(A)(T), IX, IX(A), IX(A)(T), XI and XII, engaged only on voyages which are not international voyages;
Class VIII(T)
tankers engaged on voyages any of which are short international voyages;
Class VIII(A)(T)
tankers engaged only on voyages which are not international voyages;
Class IX
tugs and tenders, other than ships of Classes II, II(A), III, VI and VI(A), which proceed to sea but are not engaged on long international voyages;
Class IX(A)
ships, other than ships of Classes IV to VI inclusive, which do not proceed to sea;
Class IX(A)(T)
tankers which do not proceed to sea;
Class XI
sailing ships, other than fishing vessels and ships of Class XII, which proceed to sea;
Class XII
pleasure vessels of 13.7 metres in length or over.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2023/9780348245554/schedule/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-merchant-shipping-fire-protection-regulations-2023/schedule-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.