UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 13(1) of The Merchant Shipping (Safety Measures for Ships Carrying Industrial Personnel and Special Personnel) Regulations 2025

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 Any contravention of—

a regulation 9(2) (compliance with Part III of the IP Code by cargo ships and high speed cargo craft constructed on or after 1st July 2024);

b regulation 9(3) (compliance with Part IV of the IP Code by cargo ships constructed on or after 1st July 2024);

c regulation 9(4) (compliance with Part V of the IP Code by high speed cargo craft constructed on or after 1st July 2024);

d regulation 10(2) (requirements for certain cargo ships constructed before 1st July 2024);

e regulation 10(5) (requirements for certain high speed cargo craft constructed before 1st July 2024);

f regulation 11(1) (requirements for special purpose ships); or

g regulation 12(1) (requirement for special personnel to have received training), is an offence by the owner and master of the ship in respect of each case of non-compliance.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
an owner
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that an owner meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 13(1)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Merchant Shipping (Safety Measures for Ships Carrying Industrial Personnel and Special Personnel) Regulations 2025, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
15 December 2025
In force from
19 January 2026
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement amendments to the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (“the Convention”) adopted by International Maritime Organization (IMO) Resolution MSC.521(106) and which came into force on 1st July 2024. The amendments insert new Chapter XV into the Annex to the Convention, which contains safety measures for the carriage of industrial personnel. The Regulations also implement the International Code for Ships Carrying Industrial Personnel (“the IP Code”), adopted by IMO Resolution MSC.527(106), which is made mandatory by Chapter XV and was given effect on 1st July 2024. The Regulations also implement two further non-mandatory Codes developed in the IMO: the Code of Safety for Special Purpose Ships, 1983 (“the SPS Code 1983”) and the Code of Safety for Special Purpose Ships, 2008 (“the SPS Code 2008”), relating to the carriage of special personnel. The Regulations contain requirements relating to the safe carriage of industrial personnel who are transported or accommodated on board cargo ships of any size and on high speed cargo craft for the purpose of offshore industrial activities. They apply where there is a total of more than 12 persons on board, consisting of industrial personnel, special personnel and passengers, where the maximum number of passengers does not exceed 12. The Regulations also contain requirements for the safe carriage of special personnel who are carried on board a ship in connection with the special purpose of that ship or because of special work being carried out on board the ship and apply where there is a total of more than 12 special personnel being carried on board, of which a maximum of 12 can be passengers. Industrial personnel and special personnel are neither passengers nor crew. In a situation where both industrial personnel and special personnel are being carried at the same time, the IP Code applies rather than the relevant SPS Code. The Regulations apply, with limited exceptions, to cargo ships, high speed cargo craft and special purpose ships which are United Kingdom ships (regulation 4). They apply to the same types of ships flying the flag of another State, including States which are not parties to the Convention, when those ships are in United Kingdom waters. The Regulations contain an ambulatory reference provision (regulation 5) so that any future amendments to provisions of the IP Code referenced in the Regulations will be automatically incorporated into the Regulations. Updates to the SPS Code 1983 or the SPS Code 2008 may be given legal effect by specifying them in a Merchant Shipping Notice (regulation 3(2)). The Regulations provide for the granting of exemptions (regulation 6), the approval of equivalents (regulation 7) and for the approval of equipment and arrangements relating to the carriage of industrial personnel and special personnel (regulation 8). The detail of the requirements for cargo ships and high speed cargo craft carrying industrial personnel and constructed on or after 1st July 2024 is contained in regulation 9. Grandfathering arrangements for cargo ships and high speed cargo craft carrying industrial personnel and constructed before 1st July 2024 are contained in regulation 10. Regulation 10 allows a relevant ship which was authorised by a State to carry more than 12 industrial personnel before 1st July 2024 to continue to do so in accordance with that authorisation and otherwise to comply with only certain specified provisions of the IP Code. The detail of the requirements for ships carrying special personnel (special purpose ships) is contained in regulation 11, including grandfathering exceptions for special purpose ships which were operating in accordance with the SPS Code 1983 on 1st July 2024 and allows them to continue to do so in specified circumstances. Regulation 12 contains requirements on the owner and master to ensure that special personnel are subject to basic training requirements before going on board the ship. Regulation 13 contains provision for offences and penalties and regulation 14 provides for the detention of cargo ships, high speed cargo craft and special purpose ships that do not comply with the Regulations. Provision relating to the issue of certification for cargo ships and high speed cargo craft carrying industrial personnel and for ships carrying special personnel is made in the Merchant Shipping (Survey and Certification) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/508) (“the 2015 Regulations”) by way of amendments to those Regulations contained in the Schedule to these Regulations. Amendments to the Merchant Shipping (High Speed Offshore Service Craft) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/41) (“the HSOSC Regulations”) are made to allow operators of high speed craft (including hovercraft) under 500 gross tonnage to elect to be certified under either the 2015 Regulations (and therefore comply with the requirements of the HSOSC Regulations) or under the Merchant Shipping (High Speed Craft) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1219) (“the High Speed Craft Regulations”) for the purposes of carrying industrial personnel. These amendments are contained in the Schedule. Consequential amendments are also made to the High Speed Craft Regulations to ensure that high speed craft that would otherwise be in scope of the HSOSC Regulations can be subject to the High Speed Craft Regulations. The Schedule also contains other consequential amendments. Guidance relating to the Regulations is contained in Marine Guidance Note (MGN) 701 (M), which is available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) of Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 020 3817 2000 and email vesselstandards @mcga.gov.uk) and at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/marine-guidance-notices-mgns. The text of the Code of Safety for Special Purpose Ships, 2008 and the Code of Safety for Special Purpose Ships, 1983 is contained, respectively, in Merchant Shipping Notice (MSN) 1919 (M) and Merchant Shipping Notice (MSN) 1920 (M), which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/merchant-shipping-notices-msns; they are also available in hard copy from the MCA. The Convention and its Protocol of 1988 may be obtained in hard 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. Future amendments to the Convention and to the Protocol may be obtained in copy from the IMO and, after coming into force in the United Kingdom, found on the FCDO treaties database (https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch). Until such publication is made on the FCDO treaties database, an amendment will be available from the MCA and on https://www.gov.uk. An amendment will be publicised in advance of its in-force date by means of a Parliamentary Statement to both Houses of Parliament and by way of a Marine Guidance Note, which will be available in copy from the MCA and on https://www.gov.uk. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. Instead, a de minimis assessment has been prepared and is published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

Neither House could have amended it. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not; the Houses can reject an instrument or record their regret, but they cannot change a word of it. That is the constitutional position for every offence on this site.

The full procedural history →

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.62.

Basis
the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.62 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source