Explanatory note

These Regulations prescribe new requirements for the registration of emergency position-indicating radio beacons (“EPIRBs”) and personal locator beacons (“PLBs”) which are carried on, or carried by persons on board, United Kingdom ships and hovercraft.

These Regulations revoke (in regulation 2(2)) and replace the Merchant Shipping (EPIRB Registration) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1850) which prescribed registration requirements for EPIRBs alone, and (in Part 2 of the Schedule) make consequential amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Watercraft) Order 2023 (S.I. 2023/35) so as to apply the new registration requirements to watercraft as they apply to ships and hovercraft.

Part 1 (regulations 1 to 4) makes general provision including interpretation and application.

Regulation 2(1) gives effect to a number of amendments contained in Part 1 of the Schedule. Part 1 of the Schedule includes provision which amends the Merchant Shipping (Radiocommunications) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1316) to give effect to amendments to Chapter IV (radiocommunications) of the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (“the Convention”), as well as provision which amends the Merchant Shipping (Radio Installations) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/2070) and the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1104).

Part 2 (regulations 5 and 6) makes provision for the registration requirements in respect of EPIRBs and PLBs. The information required to be registered is set out in Merchant Shipping Notice 1924 (M+F), and this is given effect by regulations 5(2) and 6(2) for EPIRBs and PLBs respectively.

Part 3 (regulations 7 and 8) makes provision for enforcement. Regulation 7 makes it an offence by the owner and master of a ship if that ship is used in contravention of the registration requirements in regulation 5(1) or (3), as well as making it an offence by a person (the owner of a PLB) to fail to register particulars of the PLB in accordance with regulation 6(1) or (3). Regulation 8 contains power to detain a ship in cases of non-compliance with these Regulations.

Merchant Shipping Notice 1924 (M+F) is available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 020 3817 2000 and email [email protected]) and on https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/merchant-shipping-notices-msns.

The Convention and its Protocol of 1988 may be obtained in copy from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR and both are available on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) treaties database (https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). The text of the IMO Resolutions amending the Convention and Protocol may be obtained from the IMO in hard copy or at https://www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/Pages/Default.aspx.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.

An Explanatory Memorandum and a de minimis assessment have been prepared and are published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.