Interpretation

(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requiresMerchant Ships (Registration) 220 “Administration” means the International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize; “appropriate certificate” means an appropriate certificate as defined in the STCW Convention; “authorised person” means a person authorised by the Registrar of Merchant Ships or any other competent authority in Belize, for the purposes of these Regulations; “company” includes an individual, and in relation to a ship means the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as the manager, or the bareboat chatterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed on the company by the Regulations annexed to the STCW Convention; “dollar or “$” means a dollar in the currency of the United States of America; “GT” means gross tons; and the gross tonnage of a ship having alternative gross tonnage shall be the larger of those tonnages; “hazardous cargo” means cargo which is or may be explosive, flammable, toxic, health-threatening or environment-polluting; “Merchant Shipping Notice” means a notice described as such and issued by the Administration; “near coastal” means ocean waters not more than 100 miles offshore; “safe manning document” means a document, described as such, issued, in the case of a Belize registered ship by the Administration, and in the case of any other ship by or on behalf of the government of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly; Merchant Ships (Registration) 221 “STCW Code” means the Seafarers’ Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code adopted by the 1995 Conference of Parties to the International Convention on the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978; “STCW Convention” means the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended on the 7th July, 1995; (2) Any reference to the STCW Code, the STCW Convention or a particular Circular Note includes any amendment to that Convention or Note, which the Administration considers relevant from time to time and specifies in a Circular Note. (3) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires– (a) a reference to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation of that number in these Regulations; and (b) a reference to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph of that number in that regulation.