asked the Minister for the Marine the action he has taken or proposes to take to ensure that the car ferries operating to and from this country meet a satisfactory standard.
Written Answers. - Car Ferry Standards.
93.
All Ro-Ro passenger vessels registered in the State and foreign registered ships when in an Irish port or territorial waters must comply with the provisions of the International Maritime Organisation's Safety of Life at Sea Convention, 1974 (SOLAS). A set of 21 statutory instruments was executed in 1983 in order to give legal effect to the Convention while a further set of 12 instruments giving effect to the First Amendments to the Convention was executed in 1985. The rules concern such matters as life-saving appliances, navigational facilities, fire protection, construction, surveys, radio installations etc.
Ro-Ro passenger vessels registered in the State are subjected to an annual survey by marine surveyors of my Department for the renewal of the Passenger and Safety Certificate. The object of the survey is to ensure that the vessel is maintained in a seaworthy condition. Such a vessel is issued with the above certificate which is renewable annually and which also details crew complement and the number of passengers permitted to be carried.
In so far as foreign registered vessels are concerned my marine surveyors carry out inspections in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. The latter is an agreement between the maritime authorities of 14 European countries aimed at ensuring that ships comply with international safety, pollution prevention and other standards. All deficiencies found during inspection are reported to the Port State Control Computer Centre at Saint-Malo, France. In addition, the vessel may be detained to rectify deficiencies, allowed to proceed to the next port where the deficiencies must be rectified or given 14 days to rectify the deficiencies, depending on their gravity. Under the Port State Control Memorandum, each member state undertakes to achieve an annual total of inspections corresponding to 25 per cent of the estimated number of individual foreign merchant ships (as distinct from ship's movements) which entered its ports during a 12 month period. In practice this results in an inspection rate of around 85 per cent of all individual ships using ports in the State.
The position under international law in relation to foreign flag vessels plying to and from Irish ports is that, unless on boarding the vessel there is a clear indication that the vessel is in breach of the relevant requirements, my Department's surveyors must accept the evidence of the certificates of compliance with the various international Conventions issued by the country of registry.