Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulation 1989

Citation and revocation

1 (1) These regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 1989.

(2) [omitted]

Interpretation

2 (1) In these regulations—

"chemical" means any chemical listed in the following Interna tional Maritime Organization publications:

(a) the General Index of the International Maritime Danger ous Goods Code 1988 Edition;

(b) the Index of Dangerous Chemicals Carried in Bulk;

"crew" means all persons including the master employed in any capacity on board a ship;

"Merchant Shipping Notice" means a Notice described as such and issued by the Department of Transport of the United Kingdom and includes a reference to any document amending or replacing that Notice which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant from time to time and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice;

"Limited European trading area" means an area bounded by a line from a point on the Norwegian coast in latitude 62 de grees North to a point 62 degrees North 02 degrees West thence to a point 58 degrees North 10 degrees West; thence to a point 54 degrees North 14 degrees West; thence to a point 51 degrees North 14 degrees West; thence to a point 38 degrees 40' North 10 degrees West; thence to Cape St. Vin cent; but excluding all waters which lie to the northward and eastward of a line between Kalmar on the East coast of Swe den and a point on the West coast of Oland in latitude 56 de grees 40' North and from the southern tip of Oland to Gdansk, except between the dates of 1st May and 30th November when the remaining waters of the Baltic Sea are included;

"pleasure craft" means a vessel used primarily for sport or recre ation;

"ship" means a ship registered in Bermuda;

"specified" means specified by the Secretary of State in a Mer chant shipping Notice;

"submersible vessel" means a vessel used or designed for use under the surface of any waters;

"voyage" means a journey from a port to the next port of call of a ship (which may be the same port).

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to the British Pharma copoeia, the European Pharmacopoeia, or the British National Formulary shall in its application to a particular case be construed as a reference to the edition thereof current at, or not more than three months before, the time when any requirement of these Regulations has effect.

(3) Any reference in these Regulations to a publication (other than those mentioned in paragraph (2) of this regulation) includes a ref erence to any amendment thereof published before the date on which these Regulations are made (and, in the case of the United States Pharmacopoeia, means the edition current at such date, as so amended); and shall include any document amending the same, or shall mean any new edition thereof together with any document amending the same, or shall mean any new edition thereof together with any document amending the same, which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant from time to time and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice.

(4) Any reference in these Regulations to a specified scale shall be a reference to that scale of medicines and medical stores contained in Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1319.

Application

3 (1) These Regulations apply to Bermuda ships other than:

(a) fishing vessels;

(b) fishery research vessels;

(d) submersible vessels unless being operated without shore or surface vessel support.

(2) The Minister may grant exemptions from all or any of the provisions of these Regulations (as may be specified in the exemption) for classes of cases or individual cases on such terms (if any) as he may so specify and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

Medicines and medical stores

4 (1) The medicines and medical stores of the scale specified in Head 2 of a numbered paragraph in the Schedule shall be kept on board every ship satisfying the conditions set out in Head 1 of such numbered paragraph ; and if a ship satisfies the conditions contained in Head 1 of more than one of the numbered paragraphs, medicines and medical stores kept on board shall comply with the sum of the requirements of the scales specified in Head 2 of those paragraphs.

(2) Any ship falling within of Head 1 of paragraph 6 of the Schedule need have on board for the purposes of complying with re quirement to carry the medicines and medical stores of scale V only those medicines or medical stores laid down in the International Mar itime Organization Medical First Aid Guide for use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods (1985 edition) (published by the International Maritime Organization).

(3) There shall be kept on board every ship on a voyage on which a doctor is carried as a member of the crew, any additional sup plies which the doctor may reasonably require having regard to the size of the crew, the number of passengers on board and the intended voyage.

Transitional

5 [omitted]

Standards of medicines and medical stores

6 All medicines and other medical stores required by these Regu lations to be kept on board a ship shall conform to the standards and re quirements of the British National Formulary or the British Pharma copoeia or the European Pharmacopoeia or the United States Pharma copoeia and with the requirements of and with specifications set out in Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1319.

Packaging and labelling of containers

7 (1) Without prejudice to any other enactment, any container of medicines or other medical stores required by regulation 4 to be kept on board a ship:

(a) shall have in English on a label the particulars specified in paragraph (3) of this regulation;

(b) in the case of a container of tablets or capsules, shall be capable of reclosure to prevent ingress of moisture;

(c) in the case of a container of disinfectant, shall not show deleterious reaction with the disinfectant after storage in normal conditions for six months;

(d) in the case of a container of insecticide, shall be airtight,

water-tight, packed in suitable and sturdy case and, if the container is a pressure canister, have a cap or other means of protecting the valve against accidental opening when the canister is not in use;

(e) in the case of medicine or disinfectant not in the con tainer supplied by its manufacturer, shall be packed in a sturdy, brown-coloured or non-translucent container.

(2) Any label referred to in paragraph (1) (a) of this regulation shall either be firmly affixed to the container and rendered resistant to moisture by varnish or other effective means or be an integral part of the container.

(3) The particulars required by paragraph (1) (a) of this regula tion to be shown on labels are:

(a) the ordering name by which the medicine or medical store is referred to in Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1319;

(b) any storage requirements laid down in any of the publi cations referred to in regulation 6, elsewhere in these Regulations or in Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1319;

(d) the name and address of the supplier of the medicines and medical stores, the product licence number and batch number;

(e) in the case of any container of a disinfectant or of an antiseptic prescribed in any of the Scales set out in Mer chant Shipping Notice No. 1319, the dilution recom mended for any purposes stated thereon;

(f) in the case of any container or an insecticide prescribed in any of the Scales set out in Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1319, instructions for use and precautions to be taken as detailed in paragraph 8 of Schedule 4 of Mer chant Shipping Notice No. 1319;

(g) in the case of a container of hypochlorite, a notice indi cating that the chemical may combust spontaneously and that the hypochlorite should be stored in a cool dark place; and

(h) any further information required by Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1319.

Storage of medicines

8 (1) Any medicine or medical store shall be stored in accordance with any instructions on its container or prescribed in Merchant Ship ping Notice No. 1319.

(2) Any medicine shall, where applicable, be stored in accor dance with the requirements for controlled drugs contained in the Ship Captain's Medical Guide and subject thereto, unless it is required to be kept in a refrigerator or in a first aid satchel or box, shall be stored:

(a) in the medical cabinet if, under the Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Regulations 1978 the ship is re quired to have medical cabinet or

(b) in a cool, dry, locked cabinet or locked container.

(3) Any medicines or medical stores kept in a hyperbaric de compression chamber or otherwise in such a way as not to be readily ac cessible at all times to the master or any person authorised by him shall not be taken into account in respect of the requirements of regulation 4.

Replenishment of dated medicines

9 Where—

(a) a ship is required in pursuance of regulation 4 to have on board any medicine or other medical stores in accor dance with any of the Scales set out in Merchant Ship ping Notice No. 1319 and

(b) any label required by regulation 7 (1) (a) to be borne by any container of any such medicine or other medical stores, indicates a date after which the medicine or other medical store contained in it is not to be used (hereafter called "the expiry date")

that medicine or medical store shall be replaced at the earliest possible date after the expiry date, and in any event within three months of the expiry date. Medicines or medicinal stores which have passed the expiry date shall once replacements have been obtained, or after 3 months, whichever is the earlier, be disposed of in accordance with the ship cap tain's Medical Guide.

Offences

10 (1) If any requirement of regulations 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 is contra vened, the owner of the ship shall be guilty of an offence, punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding three thousand five hundred dollars.

(2) It shall be a defence for any person charged in connection with a contravention of regulation 4 to show that the deficiency was caused by medicines and medical stores being used for their proper pur pose and that it has not been reasonably practicable to replace them.

(3) It shall be a defence for a person charged under this regu lation, including a person charged by virtue of regulation 11, to show that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid commission of the offence.

Offences; act or default of another person

11 Where an offence under these Regulations is committed, or would have been committed except for the operation of regulation 10(3), by any person due to the act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this regulation whether or not proceedings are taken against the firstmentioned person.

Offences by body corporate

12 (1) Where an offence under any of these Regulations committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the preceding paragraph shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

Inspection and detention

13 Any person duly authorised by the Minister or the Secretary of State may inspect any ship and if he is satisfied that there is a failure to comply in relation to that ship with the requirements of regulation 4, 6 or 7 of these Regulations he may detain the ship until such requirements are met.

Compensation and enforcement of detention

14 Section 460(1) and section 692(1) to (3) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (which relate respectively to liability for costs and compensa tion for the detention of a ship and enforcing the detention of a ship) shall have effect in relation to a ship detained under these Regulations subject to the following modifications:—

(1) in section 460 (1) the following words shall be omitted:—

"by reason of the condition of the ship or the act or default of the owner"

"provisional"

"as an unsafe ship"

"and survey" "or survey"; and

(2) for the words "this Part of this Act" in section 460(1) and "this Act" wherever they appear in section 692 (1) to (3), there shall be substituted "the Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 1989.

SCHEDULE

(1) Head 1

For vessels on voyages exceeding 100 miles to or from any place in Bermuda to, from, or between locations outside the Limited European Trading Area or the Baltic Sea (including the Gulfs of Bothnia and Fin land).

Head 2

Scale I

(2) Head 1

For vessels plying either within the Limited European Trading Area and the Baltic Sea (including the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland) or elsewhere in the world on a voyage not exceeding 100 miles except as described for Scales IIA, III and IV below.

Head 2

Scale II

(3) Head 1

For vessels on voyages within the Limited European Trading Area and the Baltic Sea (including the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland) carrying not more than 8 persons except as described in Scale IV.

Head 2

Scale IIA

(4) Head 1

For vessels proceeding to sea on voyages between ports in the British Isles and wholly within the Limited European Trading Area except as de scribed for Scales IV below.

Head 2

Scale III

(5) Head 1

For vessels on voyages not exceeding 72 hours duration between ports in British Isles, and also for vessels carrying not more than 8 persons be tween ports in the British Isles and ports on the Continent of Europe between the River Elbe and Brest.

Head 2

Scale IV

(6) Head 1

Vessels carrying chemicals as the whole or part of a cargo in quantities carried in excess of those defined in Volume 1 Section 18 of the IMDG Code, or the residues from earlier such cargoes.

Head 2

Scale V subject to regulation 4(2)

(7) Head 1

For ships, proceeding to sea carrying more than 12 passengers with no qualified doctor as a member of the crew.

Head 2

Scale VI.

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Bermuda Consolidated Legislation

Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulation 1989