ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Merchant Shipping Act
261. Interpretation
Edition: 2023-12-11 · In force
261. Interpretation
(1)In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—“alteration” includes deterioration;“clearance” includes transire;“Convention country” and “contracting Government” have the meanings given to them by section 290;“deck-line” means such a mark as is referred to in section 263(2)(c);“load lines” means such lines as are referred to in section 263(2)(d);“Load Lines Convention” means the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966, and its Protocol of 1988;“non-Kenyan ship” means a ship which is not registered in Kenya;“post-1966 Convention ship” means a ship whose keel is laid, or which is at a similar stage of construction, on or after the material date;“pre-1966 Convention ship” means a ship which is not a post-1966 Convention ship; and“valid Convention certificate” has the same meaning given to it by section 273(5).(2)For the purposes of the definitions of pre-1966 and post-1966 Convention ships, the material date—(a)in relation to a ship which is registered in or flies the flag of a Convention country other than Kenya, is the date as from which it is declared under section 290 that the government of that country has accepted or acceded to the Load Lines Convention or that it is a territory to which that Convention extends; and(b)in relation to any other ship, is 21st July, 1968.(3)In this Part, subject to subsection (4), “international voyage” means a voyage between—(a)a port in Kenya and a port outside Kenya; or(b)a port in a Convention country (other than Kenya) and a port in any other county or territory (whether or not a Convention country) which is outside Kenya.(4)In determining, for the purposes of subsection (3), what are the ports between which a voyage is, no account shall be taken of any deviation made by a ship from its intended voyage which is due solely to stress of weather or any other circumstances which neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) of the ship could have prevented or forestalled, and for the purposes of that subsection any territory for whose international relations a Government is separately responsible shall be taken to be a separate territory.(5)Any reference in this Part to the gross tonnage of a ship shall be construed as a reference to the tonnage of the ship as ascertained in accordance with the tonnage regulations; and, where in accordance with those regulations alternative tonnages are assigned to a ship, the gross tonnage of the ship shall, for the purposes of this Part, be taken to be the larger of those tonnages.(6)For the purposes of this Part, the length of a ship shall be ascertained in accordance with such regulations as may be made by the Cabinet Secretary under this Part.(7)Any reference in this Part to any provision of the Load Lines Convention shall, in relation to any time after that provision has been amended in pursuance of Article 29 of that Convention, be construed as a reference to that provision as so amended.