Interpretation

In these Regulations“apprentice” means a person who is granted a Certificate of Competency for Master’s Apprentice, under the Harbours and Merchant Shipping (Certificate of Competency) Regulations, 2019; “Board” means the Board of the Belize Port Authority established and constituted under sections 3 and 4 of the Belize Port Authority Act; “certificate of competency” means a certificate issued under the Act certifying satisfactory competence of a person to act as a master, mate or an engineer of a vessel; “Collision Regulations” means the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, adopted by the International Maritime Organisation on 20 October 1972, which entered into force on 15 July 1977; 93 “commercial vessel” means a duly registered and licensed vessel in commercial use for the carrying of passengers for reward on any voyage, or excursion; “exposed waters” means waters that are to the east of the internal waters or more than 30 nautical miles from a harbour or safe refuge; “hazardous substances” has the meaning assigned to it in Subparts A and B of the Schedule to the Environmental Protection Act; Cap. 328. “homemaker” means a married individual who manages a household as their main occupation and whose spouse earns the income on behalf of the family; Cap. 251. “insurer” has the meaning assigned to it in the Insurance Act; “landing place” means a place designated by the Ports Commissioner where people and goods can be landed from a ship; “master” means the person who is in charge or command of a “mate” means a person, other than a master or an engineer, who is employed or engaged or works, in any capacity on board a vessel to which these Regulations apply; “member of the crew” means every person, other than a master, who is employed or engaged in any capacity on board the water taxi; “operator” means a person issued with a permit under regulation 7(2), to operate a water taxi; “passenger” means a person carried on a water taxi other than– (a) the master; 94 (b) an apprentice; (c) a member of the crew or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on a water taxi in the business of the water taxi; (d) a child under one year of age; or (e) a person carried on a water taxi in pursuance of the obligation laid upon the master to carry a shipwrecked or distressed person; “passenger fare” means the fare imposed on a person under regulation 28 and specified in Schedule IV; Schedule IV. “permit” means a permit issued under regulation 7, to a person, to operate a water taxi; “personal effects” means an article, which a passenger, taking into account all the circumstances of the journey, may reasonably require for his personal use during the journey, including, but not limited to– (a) clothing; (b) toilet articles; (c) still and motion picture cameras, together with a reasonable quantity of film and accessories; (d) portable slide or film projectors and accessories, together with a reasonable quantity of slides or film; (e) strollers; (f) wheelchair for special needs; 95 (g) sports equipment including tents and other camping equipment, fishing equipment, climbing equipment, diving equipment, skis, tennis rackets, surfboards, and golfing equipment; (h) portable dialysis and similar medical apparatus, and any disposable items used therewith; or (i) any other article that is or that the Ports Commissioner is satisfied is, for personal use; “prohibition order” means an order issued under regulation 36, as set out in Schedule I; Schedule I. “Register” means the Register of Permits required under regulation 39; “routes and schedule” means a series of crossings from one landing place to another, which is established and published by the Board; “scheduled return trip” means a trip from a scheduled place of origin to a scheduled destination and return to the place of origin; “SCV Code” means the Code of Safety for Small Commercial Vessels Operating in the Caribbean, prepared for Caribbean countries by the International Maritime Organisation; “seaworthiness certificate” means a certificate in relation to a vessel, granted under section 12 of the Act; “water taxi” means a commercial vessel that is– (a) in conformity with the requirements specified in regulation 32; 96 (b) permitted to ply for hire or reward for the carriage of fare paying passengers; (c) operated within rivers, lagoons and other internal waters and territorial waters of Belize; and (d) not a fishing vessel; “water taxi service” means the business of operating a commercial vessel as a water taxi.