Translation: Only the Faroese text has legal validity

Pursuant to section 2 subsection 2, sections 7-11 and section 14, section 15 subsection 2, section 18 subsections 2 and 3 and section 49 subsection 2  of the Parliamentary Act no. 165 of 21 December 2001 on safety at sea as amended by Parliamentary Act no. 71 of 30  May 2011, Parliamentary Act no. 61 of 17  May 2013 and by Parliamentary Act no. 122 of 15 December 2014, the following shall be laid down:

Section 1. Unless otherwise provided in the individual chapters in annex 2, this executive order applies to:

1) Passenger ships engaged on international voyages, irrespective of size.

2) Merchant vessels with a length of or above 15 metres or with a scantling number of 100 or above, irrespective of whether they are engaged on domestic or international voyages, see however subsection 2.

3) Pleasure vessels of a length of or above 24 metres.

Subsection 2. Merchant vessels with a length of or above 15 metres or with a scantling number of 100 or above, but with a length below 24 metres operating within 100 nautical miles of the nearest land, may as an alternative to these regulations apply the provisions laid down in executive order from the Faroese Maritime Authority on construction and equipment, etc. of small commercial vessels (Notice F).

Section 2.  Detailed regulations regarding the construction and equipment of the ships mentioned in section 1, are published in annex 2 to this executive order.

Section 3. The shipowner shall ensure that the crew is familiar with the parts of this executive order that are of importance to their performance of their work on board the vessel.

Section 4. Contraventions of the provisions in annex 2 shall be punished by fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.

Subsection 2. Companies and other legal persons shall incur criminal liability under the regulations in chapter 5 of the Faroese penal code.

Section 5. This executive order shall enter into force on 1 July 2017, cf however subsections 2 and 3.  

Subsection 2. The construction requirements in annex 2, appendix 1 shall enter into force on 1 September 2017.

Subsection 3. Unless otherwise provided in this executive order, the construction requirements of the previous provisions shall continue to apply to existing ships.

Subsection 4.  Certificates with associated declarations of compliance, part 1 and part 2, issued before 1 January 2017 with a view to complying with the provisions stipulated in chapter XV, regulation 5, shall remain valid until the expiry of the deadline for renewal surveys.

The Faroese Maritime Authority, 23 June 2017

Hans Johannes á Brúgv, Director General

        / Gunnvá S. á Lofti, Head of Department

Annex 1

The provisions of this executive order shall be read, understood and interpreted with regard to below mentioned amendments and adjustments to Faroese conditions:

The executive order in general:

1)      Everywhere where “the Danish Maritime Authority” or other Danish authority is stated in annex 2 to this executive order, it shall, when it concerns Faroese jurisdiction, be understood as “the Faroese Maritime Authority” or other possible authorized Faroese authority.

2)      Everywhere where the wordings “Denmark/Danish”, “Greenland/Greenlandic” or “Danish vessel/Greenlandic vessel” are stated in annex 2 to this executive order, they shall be understood as “the Faroe Islands/Faroese” or “Faroese vessels” unless the provisions concern circumstances outside Faroese jurisdiction.

3)      Since the Faroe Islands is not an EU member State, the provisions in this executive order with regard to formal internal rights and obligations for an EU member State towards another member state or the obligation to report etc. towards an EU authority, do not apply to Faroe Islands unless this directly has been imposed on third country vessels. Technical requirements arising from EU regulations, and which are laid down in this executive order are, however, applicable to relevant Faroese vessels, covered by this executive order, to the extent the mentioned EU regulations also apply to vessels not flying the EU flag.

4)      The Faroese Maritime Authority may either in general or in each specific case, deviate from the time limits on fulfilling the requirements mentioned in annex 2, provided that it is not contrary to the Faroe Island’s obligations pursuant to international conventions and possible EU regulations.

5)      In general, the executive order shall be read and understood with regard to Faroese vessels, Faroese conditions and Faroese jurisdiction.

6)      The dates mentioned it the annexes to this executive order, and which are connected to the entry into force of the relevant Danish regulations, shall, in Faroese context, be understood as applicable from the date this executive order on Notice from the Faroese Maritime Authority enters into force.

7)      The guidelines in force at any time from the Danish Maritime Authority, and which relate to this executive order, shall also with necessary adjustments be applicable for the Faroese Maritime Authority.

8)      The provisions in chapter XXI (Prevention of pollution by oil), chapter XXIW ( Prevention of pollution by sewage from ships ) and chapter XXV (Prevention of pollution by garbage from ships) shall be read with regard to executive order no. 122, 123 and 124 of 25 November 2005 on the discharge of garbage, sewage and oil from ships, respectively, as well as other possible relevant  provisions pursuant to the Parliamentary Act on protection of the marine environment.

Specific Faroese rules on imported vessels below 500 GT and SOLAS ships:

1)      Passenger ships as well as merchant ships covered by this executive order which pursuant to the provisions in chapter 1, part A-2 (t) are below 500 GT and which are imported/registered on the Faroe Islands  after 1 October 2007, will, irrespective of when the keel is laid, be considered as new ships according to the regulation on ships of which the keel is laid on or after 1 January 2002. The Faroese Maritime authority may derogate from the provisions in sentence 1, in case the ship and shipowner comply with certain, detailed regulations laid down by the Faroese Maritime Authority on among others the condition of the ship, sufficient survey and operation of the ship and shipowner.

2)      Ships of 500 GT or more (SOLAS-ships) shall generally comply with all the requirements in this executive order as either new or present vessels pursuant to chapter 1, part A-2 (k) and (1). However, the Faroese Maritime Authority may completely or partially exempt these vessels from possible national Danish specific requirements in this executive order which do not derive from international conventions which have been ratified in the Faroes Islands. Equally, these vessels may completely or partially be exempted from possible EU requirements, which do not extend to third party states.

Authority:

1)      The provisions of chapters I, II-1 (A-E), II-2 and III-XIV are essentially based on the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1974 with later amendments and associated protocols, and Directive 2003/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

2)      Chapter II-5 A is based on the International Convention on Load Lines of 5 April 1966 (ILLC 66) together with the associated protocol of 1988 and Annex B to this protocol. Chapter II-5 N contains regulations which supplement or expand on the Convention and the Protocol of 1988 and regulations for ships less than 24 metres in length.

3)      The provisions of chapter II-3 on accommodation etc. as well as chapter XIV on seafarers’ living and working conditions implement the International Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

4)      The provisions of chapter XIII implement the IMO Member State Audit Scheme.

5)      The provisions of chapter XIV implement the international safety measures for ships navigating polar waters.

6)      Chapters XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV and XXVI contain a number of provisions implementing those parts of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, MARPOL 73/78 and its associated Protocol of 1997, which fall within the scope of the Parliamentary Act on safety at sea. These provisions are marked with an “S”. In addition, the mentioned chapters also contain a reproduction of the part of the Convention which solely relates to the Parliamentary Act on protection of the marine environment. The reproduction is marked with an “M” for each rule. These provisions are only included for informative purposes. The regulations which implement these parts of the Convention into Danish legislation are issued by the Minister for the Environment within the framework of the Parliamentary Act on protection of the marine environment. Some of the regulations in the Convention regard matters which fall under the Parliamentary Act on safety at sea as well as the Parliamentary Act on protection of the marine environment. Regulations in the chapters mentioned implementing regulations of the Convention within the scope of the Parliamentary Act on safety at sea are marked with “S/M”.

7)      Danish regulations supplementing or expanding the provisions of the SOLAS, ILLC 66 and MARPOL Conventions as well as Danish provisions especially aimed at small cargo ships and pleasure vessels are in italics.