Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)RegulationsMerchant Shipping (Safe Manning, Training and Certification) Regulations, 2013Part 5 : Manning Requirements95. Determination of minimum number of persons employed on South African ships |
| (1) | Employment of officers and ratings onboard a South African ship shall be, as a minimum, in accordance with relevant regulation in Part 6. |
| (2) | This regulation does not limit the power of the Proper Officer to issue and determine suitable manning levels as authorised by regulation 91(4). |
| (3) | The Proper Officer may request that the owner and/or master of a ship which is engaged in operations to which Part 6 are deemed to be insufficient to conduct a risk assessment to establish minimum safe manning levels. |
| (4) | The owner and/or master may apply to the Proper Officer at the nearest port for the number of certificated officers and ratings to be determined in accordance with this subregulation. The Proper Officer may only issue such an alternative manning after: |
| (a) | The owner has applied in writing motivating the deviation from the manning levels provided in Part 6, and has provided a risk assessment. Should the application be for multiple vessels, such vessels shall be similar in size and operations; and |
| (b) | the Proper Officer, if in agreement with the application in sub-paragraph (a) shall— |
| (i) | appoint a surveyor to review the risk assessment and make recommendations to him; and |
| (ii) | if satisfied, issue a safe manning document with such alternative manning levels established in accordance with the risk assessment and recommendations of a surveyor. |
| (5) | The risk assessment referred to in subregulation (3) shall be conducted as prescribed by the Authority and remains valid until any one of the instances below: |
| (a) | not more than five years from date of issue; |
| (b) | not valid when the ownership or operations have been changed; |
| (c) | if the ship's safety certificates issued in terms of the act have lapsed for a period of more than three months without notification to the Authority; and |
| (d) | if the vessel is not maintained in a seaworthy state such that any inspection finds deficiencies of the following nature: |
| (i) | regular non-compliance with minimum rest hours; and |
| (ii) | poor maintenance of the ship. |