Section 244 Interpretation of this ChapterI1

In this Chapter—

• “British marine installation” means a marine installation owned by or leased to an individual residing in, or a body corporate incorporated under the law of, any part of the United Kingdom;

• “British warship” means a ship belonging to Her Majesty and forming part of Her Majesty's armed forces;

• “civilian marine enforcement officer” means a person appointed as a marine enforcement officer by the MMO or the Welsh Ministers;

• “the Commissioners” means the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs;

• “fishing boat” means any vessel that is being used for fishing or for any activity relating to fishing;

• “flag state”, in relation to a vessel, means the State whose flag the vessel is flying or is entitled to fly;

• “marine installation” means any artificial island, installation or structure (other than a vessel);

• “Northern Ireland fishing boat” means a fishing boat which is registered in the United Kingdom under Part 2 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (c. 21) and whose entry in the register specifies a port in Northern Ireland as the port to which the boat is to be treated as belonging;

• “petroleum” has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17) (see section 28(1) of that Act);

• “Scottish fishing boat” means a fishing boat which is registered in the United Kingdom under Part 2 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and whose entry in the register specifies a port in Scotland as the port to which the boat is to be treated as belonging;

• “third country vessel” means a vessel which—

  1. (a)

     is flying the flag of, or is registered in, any State or territory F1other than the United Kingdom, and

  2. (b)

     is not registered in F2the United Kingdom.

In this Chapter, except where otherwise provided, any reference to a vessel includes a reference to—

but does not include a reference to anything that permanently rests on, or is permanently attached to, the sea bed.