Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Schedules

Second Schedule

Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974

Annex

Chapter V : Safety Navigation

Regulation 12 : Shipborne navigational equipment

Purchase

(a)

All ships of 1 600 tons gross tonnage and upwards but less than 10 000 tons gross tonnage shall be fitted with at least one radar. All ships of 10 000 tons gross tonnage and upwards shall be fitted with at least two radars, each capable of operating independently of the other. All radars fitted in compliance with this Regulation shall be of type approved by the Administration and shall conform to operational standards not inferior to those adopted by the Organization. Facilities for plotting radar readings shall be provided on the bridge in those ships.

[Paragraph (a) substituted by Proclamation No. R.168 of 1982.]

(b)

All ships of 1 600 tons gross tonnage and upwards, when engaged on international voyages, shall be fitted with radio direction-finding apparatus complying with the provisions of Regulation 12 of Chapter IV. The Administration may, in areas where it considers it unreasonable or unnecessary for such apparatus to be carried, exempt any ship of less than 5 000 tons gross tonnage from this requirement, due regard being had to the fact that radio direction-finding apparatus is of value both as a navigational instrument and as an aid to locating ships, aircraft or survival craft.

(c)

All ships of 1 600 tons gross tonnage and upwards, when engaged on international voyages, shall be fitted with a gyro-compass in addition to the magnetic compass. The Administration, if it considers it unreasonable or unnecessary to require a gyro-compass, may exempt any ship of less than 5 000 tons gross tonnage from this requirement.

(d)	All new ships of 500 tons gross tonnage and upwards, when engaged on international voyages, shall be fitted with an echo-sounding device.

(e)

Whilst all reasonable steps shall be taken to maintain the apparatus in an efficient condition, malfunction of the radar equipment, the gyro-compass or the echo-sounding device shall not be considered as making the ship unseaworthy or as a reason for delaying the ship in ports where repair facilities are not readily available.

(f)	All new ships of 1 600 tons gross tonnage and upwards, when engaged on international voyages, shall be fitted with radio equipment for homing on the radiotelephone distress frequency complying with the relevant provisions of paragraph (b) of Regulation 12 of Chapter IV.