{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-seamens-documents-regulations-1987/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-seamens-documents-regulations-1987/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1987/408",
  "legislation_title": "The Merchant Shipping (Seamen’s Documents) Regulations 1987",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-seamens-documents-regulations-1987",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations revoke the Merchant Shipping (Seamen’s Documents) Regulations 1972, as amended, and re-enact them with further amendments. The major changes are:—\n(a) British Seamen’s Cards no longer require endorsement after 5 years; they are issued valid for ten years;\n(b) British Seamen’s Cards are no longer obligatory for British seafarers;\n(c) the precise form of such a Card is not included in the Regulations; instead the Regulations specify the particulars to be included in a Card;\n(d) application for seamen’s documents can now be made not only to a superintendent but also to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen;\n(e) the removal of the requirement to list periods of work or standing by, of paid and unpaid leave and of sickness and study leave in discharge books;\n(f) the addition of a requirement to include a record of certificates issued under the Merchant Shipping (Medical Examination) Regulations 1983 in discharge books;\n(g) the extension of powers to make certain entries in discharge books to include Principals, or approved deputies, of training establishments approved by the Department of Transport, and the holders themselves;\n(h) the inclusion of a requirement to make persons to whom a discharge book is produced return it to the holder as soon as practical;\n(i) increase of one in the number of photographs to be submitted if application is made for both a British Seaman’s Card and a discharge book;\n(j) masters of non-UK registered vessels may make voyage entries relating to service in those vessels.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/408/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T16:30:07.364027+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}