
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1981 and shall come into operation on 1st May 1981.
(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively:—
 “the Acts” means the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act 1949 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1964;
 “the Protocol of 1978” means the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974;
 “the Safety Convention of 1974” means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974
 “1974 certificate” means a certificate which—

(a) purports to have been issued in accordance with the Safety Convention of 1974 in respect of a ship registered outside the United Kingdom; and
(b) immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations, complied with such of the provisions of the Merchant Shipping (Accepted Safety Convention Certificates) Regulations 1980, as were applicable in the circumstances.
2 
Any country to which the Safety Convention of 1974 applies shall, up to and including the 30th April 1982, be treated for the purposes of the Acts as if it were a country to which the Protocol of 1978 applies.
3 
Any 1974 certificate which—
(a) relates to a ship registered in a country in respect of which the Protocol of 1978 takes effect on the 1st May 1981; and
(b) is in force on the 1st May 1981
shall, so long as it remains in force, be treated as if it were an accepted Safety Convention certificate within the meaning of the Acts.
4 
Any 1974 certificate which relates to a ship registered in a country to which the Protocol of 1978 does not for the time being apply shall be treated as if it were an accepted Safety Convention certificate within the meaning of the Acts so long as the certificate remains in force:
provided that no such certificate shall be so treated after the 30th April 1982.
5 
Any 1974 certificate which—
(a) relates to a ship registered in a country in respect of which the Protocol of 1978 takes effect on a date later than the 1st May 1981; and
(b) is in force on such later date
shall be treated, with effect from such later date and so long as it remains in force, as if it were an accepted Safety Convention certificate within the meaning of the Acts.
Trefgarne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department of Trade
8th April 1981