# The Merchant Shipping (Polar Code) (Safety) Regulations 2025, Introduction: Introductory text


Merchant Shipping
Made 1st December 2025
Laid before Parliament 2nd December 2025
Coming into force 1st January 2026
The Secretary of State is satisfied, for the purposes of section 47(2) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, that it is necessary or expedient, in the interests of safety, to make Regulations in so far as they require ships to carry qualified seamen.
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 47(1), (3), (4), (4A) and (4B), 85(1), (3) and (5) to (7), 86(1)(a) to (d), 128(5), 302(1), 306A and 307(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, article 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) (Law of the Sea Convention) Order 1996, and article 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Control of Pollution) (SOLAS) Order 1998, and with the consent of the Treasury.
The Secretary of State has consulted such persons in the United Kingdom as the Secretary of State considers will be affected by the exercise of powers in this instrument in accordance with sections 86(4) and 306(4) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1234/introduction (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-polar-code-safety-regulations-2025/introduction
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.