Introductory text

RETAINED EU LAW REFORM

MERCHANT SHIPPING

POLLUTION

Sift requirements satisfied 10th February 2026

Made 4th March 2026

Laid before Parliament 9th March 2026

Coming into force 31st March 2026

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 85(1), (3) and (5) to (7), 86(1)(a) to (d), 128(5), 302(1) and 306A of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995^f1 (the “1995 Act”), article 2(1), (2)(a) to (e) and (3) of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) (Law of the Sea Convention) Order 1996^f2, article 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Control of Pollution) (SOLAS) Order 1998^f3 and section 14(1) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023^f4 (the “2023 Act”).

The Secretary of State has consulted the persons referred to in section 86(4) of the 1995 Act in relation to these Regulations.

These Regulations are made with the consent of the Treasury in so far as is required under section 302(1) of the 1995 Act.

The Secretary of State is a relevant national authority for the purposes of section 14(1) of the 2023 Act^f5.

The requirements of paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 5 to the 2023 Act (relating to the appropriate Parliamentary procedure for these Regulations) have been satisfied.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1995 c. 21. Sections 85 and 86 were amended by the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 (c. 28), sections 8 and 29(2) and Schedule 7. Section 85 was also amended by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 (c. 8), section 2(3). Section 128 was amended by the Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Act 2006 (c. 8), section 2(3). There are other amendments but none is relevant. Section 306A was inserted by the Deregulation Act 2015 (c. 20), section 106. Sections 85, 86, 302 and 306A are applied to hovercraft by the Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1350).
f2: S.I. 1996/282, amended by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c. 23), Schedule 4, Part I, paragraph 3, S.I. 2015/664 and 2022/844. The Order applies to hovercraft by the Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1350).
f3: S.I. 1998/1500.The Order applies to hovercraft by the Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1350).
f4: 2023 c. 28.
f5: The term “relevant national authority” is defined in section 21(1) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.