14Maintenance of equipment

14 Maintenance of equipment

[SOLAS V/16]

14.1 General requirement to maintain equipment

14.1.1 Subject to 14.1.3, the master of a ship must take all reasonable steps to have navigational equipment maintained in efficient working order.

14.1.2 The owner of a ship must ensure that appropriate spare parts and suitable tools for repairs to navigational equipment fitted on the ship are provided on the ship.

14.1.3 Except as provided in SOLAS regulations 7(b)(ii), 8 and 9 of Chapter I of SOLAS, if a defect is discovered at a place where repair facilities are not readily available, the ship may proceed to a port where repairs can take place,[8] provided that suitable arrangements are made by the master to take the inoperative equipment or unavailable information into account in planning and executing a safe voyage to that port.[9]

14.2 Instructions

The owner of a ship must ensure that adequate information and instructions written in English (or in the case of a foreign ship, a language acceptable to the flag State of the ship) about the use and maintenance of all navigational equipment installations on the ship are provided on the ship.

14.3 Magnetic compass

14.3.1 The master of a ship over 100 gross tonnage must keep a compass deviation book in which is to be recorded the information specified in Appendix 1.

14.3.2 The master of a ship must ensure that observations for the purpose of ascertaining compass errors are made at appropriate intervals and recorded in the compass deviation book.[10]

14.3.3 The master of a ship must ensure that where the observations show the deviations to be excessive,[11] each magnetic compass on the ship is adjusted by a licensed compass adjuster to correct any deviation.[12]

14.3.4 The master of a ship must ensure that for each magnetic compass, the tables or curve of residual deviations from the last adjustment, and details of subsequent changes in deviations, are available for use at all times.

14.3.5 The master of a ship must ensure that the size and position of magnets and soft iron correctors in a compass and the date and nature of any changes made to those items or to their position at any time are recorded in the compass deviation book.[13]

14.3.6 On completion of an examination and adjustment of a ship's compasses under 14.3.3, the adjuster must provide the master with a table of deviations in accordance with Form MO21/1 in Appendix 2.

14.3.7 If, in relation to a ship:

(a) one or more of the requirements of 14.3.2, 14.3.3, 14.3.4 and 14.3.5 has not been complied with; and
(b) a surveyor has reason to believe that the compasses of the ship are, or may be, unreliable,