UK Offence Report

2 Any contravention of the following regulations is an offence by the master— a regulation 10 (duty of…

regulation 24(2) of The Merchant Shipping (International Safety Management (ISM) Code) Regulations 2026

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

2 Any contravention of the following regulations is an offence by the master—

a regulation 10 (duty of master);

b regulation 15;

c regulation 16(7);

d regulation 17(6);

e regulation 23(2).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
a master
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 a master 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 24(2)?

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 (International Safety Management (ISM) Code) Regulations 2026, 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
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
4 March 2026
In force from
31 March 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 revoke, replace and consolidate within a single instrument the legislation that gives effect to Chapter IX of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (the “SOLAS Convention”), requiring compliance by the companies that own, or are responsible for operating, ships with the International Safety Management Code (the “ISM Code”). The legislation that is revoked, replaced and consolidated by this instrument comprises— Regulation (EC) No. 336/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 February 2006 on the implementation of the International Safety Management Code within the Community repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 3051/95 (EUR 336/2006); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 540/2008 of 16 June 2008 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No. 336/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the implementation of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code within the Community, as regards format of forms (EUR 540/2008); and the Merchant Shipping (International Safety Management (ISM) Code) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1512). The new Regulations continue to extend the application of the ISM Code beyond the international requirements under Chapter IX of the SOLAS Convention, which apply to ships engaged in international voyages, to certain ships operating on domestic voyages. The scope of the new Regulations remains generally the same as the legislation which they replace, when that legislation was originally made. But changes have been made to deal with gaps that have arisen since the United Kingdom left the European Union and with an omission that has been identified in S.I. 2014/1512 in respect of roll-on/roll-off ferries operating in United Kingdom internal waters (known as Categorised Waters). The new Regulations update procedural and enforcement provisions to bring them into line with the approach in other more recent legislation implementing SOLAS Convention obligations, including the creation of a new offence relating to falsification of documents. Part 1 provides that future amendments to the provisions of the SOLAS Convention and certain other international instruments referred to in the Regulations will be automatically given effect in domestic law by way of the ambulatory reference provision in regulation 4, made under the power in section 306A of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Regulation 5 provides that the Regulations apply to passenger ships and to cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage and above and that in the case of United Kingdom registered ships they apply to such ships anywhere in the world but only apply to non-United Kingdom ships when they are in UK waters. There are certain exceptions, including government ships on non-commercial service, fishing vessels and pleasure vessels. The Secretary of State may grant exemptions under regulation 6. Part 2 requires ISM companies which own or operate ships to which the Regulations apply to comply with the ISM Code and imposes separate duties on the master of the ship and designated persons within the ISM company relating to the safe operation of the ship (regulations 8 to 11). Part 3 of the Regulations deals with verification and certification of ISM companies and ships. Regulations 12 to 17 set out verification requirements for ISM companies and United Kingdom ships for which they are responsible, and the procedures for the issuing of Documents of Compliance and Safety Management Certificates. Regulations 18 and 19 deal with duration, validity, suspension and cancellation of Documents of Compliance and Safety Management Certificates. Regulations 20 and 21 provide for verification and certification of United Kingdom ships by other SOLAS Convention countries and for the Secretary of State to verify and certify ships flagged to other SOLAS Convention countries, and their ISM companies. Regulation 22 provides for arbitration of disputes relating to verification. Regulation 23 prohibits non-United Kingdom ships in United Kingdom waters from proceeding to sea or on any voyage without relevant documentation. Part 4 provides that contraventions of certain requirements are offences and for the detention of ships which do not comply with the Regulations. Part 1 of the Schedule makes consequential amendments to other legislation and Part 2 lists legislation being revoked. Merchant Shipping Notices 1387(M) Amendment 3 and M.161 and Marine Guidance Note 708 (M), referred to in these Regulations, are available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) at Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1EG (telephone 020 3817 2000 and email MarineTechnology@mcga.gov.uk) and on https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/merchant-shipping-notices-msns and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/marine-guidance-notices-mgns. Copies of the SOLAS Convention, the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (the “STCW Convention), the ISM Code and the Code for Recognized Organizations (the “RO Code”) may be obtained in copy from the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”), 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR. The SOLAS Convention and the STCW Convention are also available, together with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (“UNCLOS”), from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (“FCDO”) treaties database (https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/). The text of IMO Resolutions amending the SOLAS Convention, the STCW Convention, the ISM Code and the RO Code may be obtained from the IMO and are available at https://www.imo.org/en/knowledgecentre/indexofimoresolutions/pages/default.aspx. Future amendments to the SOLAS Convention, the STCW Convention, the ISM Code and the RO Code may be obtained in copy from the IMO. Future amendments to the SOLAS Convention and STCW Convention, may, after coming into force in the United Kingdom, also be obtained from the FCDO treaties database. 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 Written Ministerial 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/government/collections/marine-guidance-notices-mgns. An Explanatory Memorandum and a de minimis assessment have been prepared and are published alongside this instrument at 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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.88 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