The Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018

• Citation: S.I. 2018/1104
• Sections: 41

Section 1 Citation, commencement and expiry

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018 and come into force on 13th November 2018.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), these Regulations cease to have effect at the end of the period of ten years beginning with the day on which they come into force.

(3) These Regulations, so far as they relate to the entry for the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards of Safety Communications) Regulations 1997 in Schedule 1, in Part 1, in the table in paragraph 5, in section A, fourth row, cease to have effect at the end of the period of seven years beginning with the day on which these Regulations come into force.

Section 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations—

“ the Act ” means the Merchant Shipping Act 1995;

“ the Agency ” means the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport;

“ inspection ” includes audit, survey and test;

“ issue ” includes amendment, endorsement, re-issue and renewal;

“ local office ” means—

one of the Agency's Marine Offices ,

an office of the Marine Management Organisation ,

an office of Marine Scotland , or

an office of the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland ;

“ premium service ”, in relation to a fee, means a service performed for an applicant attending in person at a local office or at the office where the register of British ships is kept , or attending a priority appointment online ;

“ standard hourly rate ” means—

£120 per hour in respect of any work carried out after 12th November 2018 and before 13th November 2019, and

£147 per hour in respect of any work carried out after 12th November 2019; and

“ vessel ” has the same meaning as “ ship ” in the Act.

Section 3 Fees payable to the Agency

(1) The fee payable in respect of a service or other function described in Schedule 1 is the fee—

(a) specified in that Schedule in relation to that service or function, or

(b) otherwise determined under that Schedule.

(2) Where a fee is payable in respect of the issue of a certificate, the Agency is not required to issue the certificate until that fee has been paid.

Section 4 Payment for travel, subsistence and other expenses

(1) Where a fee is determined by reference to the amount of work involved, the fee includes an amount for the time spent travelling, except that travelling time in excess of —

(a) 4 hours for each visit to a ship or a person in the United Kingdom, and

(b) 10 hours in any period of 24 hours for travel from the United Kingdom to a ship or a person located abroad and back to the United Kingdom,

is to be disregarded.

(2) The reasonable cost of travel and subsistence incurred in visiting a ship or a person outside the United Kingdom is to be reimbursed to the Agency in addition to the fee payable under these Regulations.

(3) Paragraph (4) applies to expenses reasonably incurred in respect of any assistance provided to the Agency by a person not employed by it.

(4) To the extent that the expenses referred to in paragraph (3) relate to a service or function of the Agency for which a fee is payable under these Regulations, they are to be reimbursed to the Agency in addition to that fee.

Section 5 Transitional provisions

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where an application for a service or other function for which a fee is payable under these Regulations is made before the day they come into force, but the service or function is provided on or after that date, the fee payable in respect of that service or function is the fee prescribed immediately before the coming into force of these Regulations.

(2) Paragraph (3) applies where—

(a) an application for a service or other function is made before these Regulations come into force,

(b) the fee payable in respect of that service or function is to be calculated by reference to an hourly rate, and

(c) any work to conduct that service or function is carried out after these Regulations come into force.

(3) The hourly rates prescribed under these Regulations apply for the purpose of calculating—

(a) the fee in respect of the service or other function carried out after the date these Regulations come into force, and

(b) any additional fee which becomes payable under Part 14 of Schedule 1 by reason of an event occurring after that date.

Section 6 Revocation

The Regulations specified in Schedule 2 are revoked.

Section 7 Amendments

(1) In each of the regulations specified in paragraph (2), for “Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2006” substitute “ Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018 ” .

(2) The regulations specified for the purposes of paragraph (1) are—

(a) regulations 11(1) and 13(1)(b) of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution From Ships) Regulations 2008 ,

(b) regulations 11(1) and 13(1)(b) of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2008 ,

(c) regulation 8(1) of the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships) Safety Code for UK Categorised Waters) Regulations 2010 ,

(d) regulation 22(3) of the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2011 , and

(e) regulations 15(1)(c) and 17(2) of the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution from Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 2018 .

Section 8 Review

(1) The Secretary of State must—

(a) carry out a review of the regulatory provision contained in these Regulations, and

(b) publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review.

(2) The report must be published before 13th November 2023.

(3) Section 30(4) of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 requires that the report published under this regulation must, in particular—

(a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision referred to in paragraph (1)(a),

(b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,

(c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and

(d) if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way which involves less onerous regulatory provision.

(4) In this regulation, “ regulatory provision ” has the same meaning as in sections 28 to 32 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (see section 32 of that Act).

Section 1

In this Part, “ the statutory requirements ” means requirements imposed by or under—

(a) the Act, and

(b) the statutory instruments listed in the Table in this Part.

Section 1

In the Table of fees in this Part, references to a certificate, endorsement or examination are to a certificate or endorsement under –

(a) the Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations 1984 , ...

(b) the Merchant Shipping (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations 2022

(c) the Merchant Shipping (Polar Code) (Safety) Regulations 2021

and to an examination for any such certificate or endorsement.

Section 1

In this Part, “ ship ” includes a ship registered under section 17 of the Act (ships bareboat chartered-in by British charterers) but does not include a fishing vessel.

Section 1

In this Part, “ fishing vessel ” includes a vessel registered under section 17 of the Act (ships bareboat chartered-in by British charterers).

Section 1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Section 1

In this part, “ copy ” means a certified copy of—

(a) a declaration or other document, a copy of which is made evidence by virtue of the Act, or

(b) an extract from a document declared by the Act to be admissible in evidence.

Section 1

In this Part, references to a British Seaman's Card or to a discharge book are references to the documents of those names issued pursuant to the Merchant Shipping (Seamen's Documents) Regulations 1987 .

Section 1

The fee payable on an application for the issue of a certificate under section 164 of the Act (which relates to certificates of compulsory insurance against liability for pollution) is £31.

Section 1

In this Part, “ bank holiday ” means any day to be observed as such under section 1 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 .

Section 1

The fee for the Secretary of State's consideration and, if appropriate, approval or re-approval of a waste management plan prepared and submitted by a harbour authority or terminal operator in respect of a harbour or terminal pursuant, as the case may be, to regulation 6(1) or (2) or 8(1) of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003 (“ the Regulations ”) is charged at the standard hourly rate.

Section 1

The fee for the issue by the Secretary of State of an exemption, pursuant to section 48 of the Act (power to exempt from manning requirements), from the requirements in regulation 3 of the Merchant Shipping (Officer Nationality) Regulations 1995 relating to a strategic ship is £250.

Section 2

(1) Subject to paragraph 3, this Part applies to—

(a) the inspection of a ship, its equipment or management, for the issue of—

(i) a certificate; or

(ii) a letter of acceptance in lieu of a certificate;

(b) the approval and appointment of a surveyor not employed by the Agency to undertake an inspection mentioned in sub-paragraph (a), the consideration of the results thereof and the issue of a certificate or letter of acceptance in lieu of a certificate;

(c) an application for exemption from any of the statutory requirements (and the issue of an exemption, if approved);

(d) an inspection under section 258(1) of the Act;

(e) an inspection pursuant to the statutory requirements which results in the detention of a ship to which Part I of the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2011 applies, and any subsequent inspection relating to the deficiencies which led to the detention;

(f) an inspection pursuant to the statutory requirements which results in the issue of a prohibition of departure notice issued in accordance with regulation 8 of the Merchant Shipping (Inspections of Ro-Ro Passenger Ships and High-Speed Passenger Craft) Regulations 2023 and any subsequent inspection relating to the deficiencies which led to the issue of that notice.

(g) an inspection for the purposes of an approval under regulation 9(2), or an extension of an approval under regulation 9(4), of the Merchant Shipping (Polar Code) (Safety) Regulations 2021 ;

(h) an inspection for the purposes of an approval under regulation 48(2), or an extension of an approval under regulation 48(5), of the Merchant Shipping (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations 2022

(2) In this paragraph and paragraph 3, “ certificate ” means a certificate of compliance with any of the statutory requirements.

Section 2

Where an application for an examination in relation to item 1 in the Table is cancelled after the prescribed fee has been paid, a refund must be made of —

(a) £152 in the case of cancellation before a notice of eligibility has been issued, or

(b) £130 in the case of cancellation after a notice of eligibility has been issued.

Table of fees

Section 2

(1) The fees prescribed in the Table of fees are subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) Where a person requests and receives premium service, the fee prescribed in column (4) is payable in addition to the fee prescribed in column (3) or, where more than one fee is prescribed in respect of one transaction, in addition to the aggregate of those fees.

(3) Where a person applies, on any one occasion, for the registration of more than one change in the Register in respect of the same ship for which more than one fee would be payable under item 9, 10 or 11 in the Table of fees—

(a) the fee for the first change is £46;

(b) the fee for the second and each subsequent change is £17; and

(c) the fee for premium service is £100 in addition to the aggregate of the other fees.

Table of fees

Section 2

(1) The fees prescribed in the Table of fees are subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) Where a person requests and receives premium service, the fee prescribed in column (4) is payable in addition to the fee prescribed in column (3) or, where more than one fee is prescribed in respect of one transaction, in addition to the aggregate of those fees.

(3) Where a person applies, on any one occasion, for the registration of more than one change in the Register in respect of the same ship for which more than one fee would be payable under item 10, 11 or 12 in the Table of fees—

(a) the fee for the first change is £46;

(b) the fee for the second and each subsequent change is £17; and

(c) the fee for premium service is £100 in addition to the aggregate of the other fees.

Table of fees

Section 2

The fee for a copy of a document is £15 for each hour or part of an hour required for copying.

Section 2

Subject to paragraph 4, the fee for the issue, or replacement, of a British Seaman's Card or a discharge book is £55.

Section 2

The fee payable on an application for the issue of a certificate under section 255N of the Act (which relates to wreck removal insurance satisfying the requirements of the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks 2007 ) is £31.

Section 2

(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), where an inspection is delayed or is disrupted during its course, or a visit to carry out an inspection is abortive, a fee calculated at the standard hourly rate for the delay caused or time wasted is chargeable.

(2) The fee mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) is not chargeable where—

(a) the delay or time wasted is less than one hour in total or is due to circumstances over which the applicant has no control; or

(b) the person carrying out the inspection is reasonably able to perform other work in the vicinity for which a fee has been paid.

Section 2

The fee for the preparation by the Secretary of State of a waste management plan in respect of a harbour or terminal pursuant to regulation 9 of the Regulations is charged at the standard hourly rate.

Section 3

Where a fee is prescribed under another Part of this Schedule in respect of an application for the issue of a certificate, that fee applies and not the fee prescribed under this Part.

Section 3 Premium service

Where a person requests and receives premium service for either item 1 or item 2 in the Table of fees in this Part, a fee of £150 is payable in addition to the sum of the fees paid on the same occasion.

Section 3

In the Table of fees in this Part, references to a certificate, endorsement or examination are to a certificate of equivalent competency or endorsement under—

(a) the Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations 1984, or

(b) the Merchant Shipping (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations 2022

and to an examination for any such certificate or endorsement.

Section 3

Where a person requests and receives premium service, a fee of £50 is payable in addition to the aggregate of the fees for copying done on the same occasion.

Section 3

Where a person requests and receives premium service, a fee of £50 is payable in addition to the aggregate of the fees for documents issued on the same occasion.

Section 3

(1) Where any part of an inspection is carried out during the periods described in sub-paragraph (2), an additional fee of £74 per hour is chargeable for that part, unless an additional fee is chargeable under paragraphs 4 or 5.

(2) The periods mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) are—

(a) on a day other than a Saturday or Sunday, between midnight and 8 a.m, and between 6 p.m. and midnight, and

(b) at any time on Saturday.

Section 3

The fee for the issue by the Secretary of State of an exemption in respect of a harbour authority or terminal operator pursuant to regulation 15(1) and (2) of the Regulations, or in respect of a ship pursuant to regulation 15(3) of the Regulations, is £147.

Section 4

(1) A person applying in respect of a service mentioned in paragraph 2(1)(a) or (c) must, before commencement of the work, pay a deposit on account of the fee calculated by reference to an estimate of the duration of the work likely to be required and the standard hourly rate.

(2) The amount of deposit is subject to review during the course of the work, and the applicant must pay any additional sum calculated by reference to any increased estimate of the work likely to be required.

(3) At the conclusion of the work, the fee is to be recalculated by reference to the actual duration and the difference is to be paid by, or as the case may be, refunded to, the applicant.

Section 4

Where an application in relation to item 2 in the Table is withdrawn or rejected after the prescribed fee has been paid, on the grounds that the applicant does not meet the preliminary criteria for detailed assessment, £50 must be refunded.

Table of fees

An oral examination to assess either (but not both) a candidate's—

standard of English; or

knowledge of United Kingdom legal and administrative processes

Section 4

No fee is payable in respect of a replacement British Seaman's Card or discharge book where the document has been lost, destroyed or defaced through no fault of the holder.

Section 4

Where any part of an inspection is carried out in Scotland at any time on a Sunday or a Bank Holiday, an additional fee calculated at the standard hourly rate is chargeable for that part.

Section 5

Subject to any additional fee which may be payable under Part 14 of this Schedule, the fee for a service or function to which this Part applies performed by a person employed by the Agency is to be determined by reference to the time spent in doing the necessary work and calculated at the standard hourly rate.

Table of statutory instruments imposing statutory requirements

1993/1072

2005/2114

2014/1614

1999/1704

2004/1266

2006/89

1998/2411

2001/54

2014/1616

2015/21

2015/1692

2016/1026

2018/1109

2018/1202

2022/1219

2025/1195

2002/2125

2002/2135

2015/21

2005/1092

2008/3145

2011/2616

2014/3306

2018/68

1998/929

2002/2201

2018/242

2018/667

2020/1166

2022/1219

2025/1195

None

2025/1280

1989/1351

1996/3173

2004/302

1999/992

1999/1957

2000/2687

2003/2951

2004/302

2005/2114

2010/1075

2022/1269

2023/568

2023/1216

2024/636

2025/1280

2004/302

2005/2114

2000/2687

2001/2642

2010/680

2010/1075

2016/1025

2022/1269

2025/1280

2022/1219

2023/787

2025/1280

2025/1195

2025/1195

2025/1280

1983/1801

1997/1511

2002/1473

2000/1335

2005/2114

2011/603

2018/155

1982/1292

1994/1104

1999/3210

2004/302

2015/664

1999/1957

2000/2687

2001/1638

2004/302

2005/2114

2011/1043

2016/1025

2025/1280

2002/2201

2016/1025

2025/1280

2022/1219,

2025/134

2025/1195

2010/680

2010/1075

1999/0643

2004/302

2004/2151

2005/2114

2023/246

2000/2687

2001/1638

2002/1650

2004/302

2004/2884

2023/246

2000/2687

2001/1638

2002/1650

2004/302

2010/680

2010/1075

2022/1269

2002/1473

2003/771

2004/302

2004/1107

2004/2883

2010/680

2010/1075

2012/2636

2018/53

2023/568

2010/680

2010/1075

2022/1219

2025/1298

2023/1216

2025/1195

2025/1280

2025/1298

2025/1195

2025/1280

2025/1280

2025/1298

1985/2002

1991/2885

1993/1580

2015/664

1990/2595

1997/2569

1998/254

2015/664

2015/664

2021/818

2022/1219

2022/1234

2024/636

2024/1296

2025/1280

2001/1639

2001/2568

2002/2626

2007/3224

2009/229

2014/3306

2015/386

2016/922

2010/895

2010/3035

2011/3056

2014/3076

2016/1025

2019/940

2019/311, 2021/1108 and 2023/384

2025/1280

2025/1280

1995/1428

1998/1013

2006/3223

2009/3348

2013/1956

2014/386

2014/431

2017/1149

2009/3348

2013/1956

2014/386

2014/431

2025/1195

2025/1234

2014/1614

2018/242

2018/667

2019/716

2022/1219

2022/1342

2025/1195

2018/53

2018/1221

2022/41

2022/1169

2022/1219

2023/1216

2024/280

2024/636

2025/1234

2025/1298

1998/1916

1999/3206

2005/2114

2004/302

2010/680

2010/1075

2014/1512

2010/1075

2011/3056

2009/1176

2016/1211

2018/68

1994/541

1998/1915

1998/2976

1999/3206

2012/1809

2017/879

2018/1221

2018/1299

2019/509

2019/746

2022/203

2022/241

2022/748

2025/1195

Section 5

Where any part of an inspection is carried out in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland at any time on a Sunday or a Bank Holiday, or on Good Friday or Christmas Day, an additional fee calculated at the standard hourly rate is chargeable for that part.