20Marking of Ships

20 Marking of Ships (1) Subject to this regulation, a ship must, for the purposes of section 26 of the Act, be marked as follows: (a) the name of the ship must be inscribed, in accordance with subregulation (2), on each bow; (b) the names of the ship and its home port must be inscribed, in accordance with subregulation (2): (i) on the stern; or (ii) if the configuration of the stern is such that those names cannot be legibly displayed on the stern, on each side of the hull as near as practicable to the stern; or (iii) if compliance with subparagraph (i) or (ii) is not practicable — on such other part or parts of the ship as the Registrar permits; (c) an inscription in accordance with subregulation (3) must be made, in a position in which it may readily be inspected, on the main beam of the ship or, if the ship has no main beam or it is impracticable so to make the inscription on the main beam, on another main structural member or integral part of the ship. (2) The inscriptions referred to in paragraphs (1) (a) and (b) must be made in the following manner: (a) all alphabetical characters must be in the form of: (i) upright sans serif block capital letters, not being expanded or condensed forms of those letters, the height of which is not less than 100 millimetres and the thickness of the strokes of which is not less than 20%, and not more than 25%, of their height; or (ii) lettering approved, either generally or in a particular case, by the Registrar, being lettering that is not less legible than lettering of the kind referred to in subparagraph (i); (b) all numerals, whether Arabic or Roman, must be in a style matching that of the alphabetical characters; (c) the inscription must be applied in waterproof paint of a colour that makes a distinct contrast with the colour of the background on which it appears. (3) The inscription referred to in paragraph (1) (c) must comprise: (a) the letters ‘O.N.’ followed by the official number of the ship; and (b) either: (i) the letters ‘N.T.’ followed by the net tonnage of the ship as shown on its tonnage certificate; or (ii) if the ship is not a ship to which subsection 16 (1) of the Act applies — the letters ‘L.O.A.’ followed by the length of the ship in metres taken to 2 decimal places; being letters and figures: (c) that: (i) are incised into the surface of the portion of the ship to which they are applied; or (ii) form part of the fabric of that portion of the ship and project from the surrounding surface of that portion of the ship; and (d) the height of which is: (i) not less than 100 millimetres; or (ii) where the portion of the ship to which they are applied is such that compliance with subparagraph (i) is not practicable, the maximum practicable height. (4) Where, by reason of the nature of the constructional features of a ship, there is no part of the ship that is readily identifiable as a bow, or as the stern, of the ship, an inscription required by paragraph (1) (a) or (b) to be made on a bow or on the stern of the ship, as the case requires, must be made on such part of the ship as the Registrar determines. (5) Where, in the opinion of the Minister, it is unreasonable to require compliance, or compliance in full, with the requirements of paragraph (1) (a) or (b) in relation to a ship, or in relation to ships included in a class of ships, the Minister may, by instrument in writing, exempt the ship, or ships included in the class of ships, from the requirements specified in the instrument, subject to compliance with the conditions (if any) specified in the instrument. (6) For the purposes of subsection 26 (1) of the Act, a certificate in writing endorsed on or attached to a notice served on the owner, or one of the owners, of a ship under that subsection, being a certificate that: (a) states that the ship to which the notice relates has been marked in accordance with the requirements of this regulation with marks directed by the Registrar by the notice; and (b) is duly signed by the owner, or one of the owners, of the ship; is evidence that the ship has been marked in accordance with this regulation with marks directed by the Registrar under that subsection.