The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has issued an amendment related to stability requirements in the Code of Practice for Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15m length overall.
The Code of Practice is currently under review, and a revised version will issue later in the year. In the meantime, boat operators are advised in a new Marine Notice to note the change in procedure with regard to measure the stability of small fishing vessels, which will take effect immediately.
In essence, it clarifies that existing vessels (keels laid prior to 1 May 2004) undergoing both a roll test as described in Annex 1 and inclining experiment as per the provisions of Annex 7 for new vessels (after 1 May 2004), but are not required to comply with both tests.
Where the “strongly recommended” stability standards described in Annex 7 are not applied, then the vessel shall be subjected to a roll test as described in Annex 1, with the vessel in ‘normal departure port condition’ and typical ‘arrive port condition’.
Marine Notice No 23 of 2020 is available to download below.