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No. S 181

Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour
Convention) Act 2014

(ACT 6 OF 2014)

Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour
Convention) (Medicines and Medical Equipment)
Regulations 2014

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 82 of the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act 2014, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, with the approval of the Minister for Transport, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) (Medicines and Medical Equipment) Regulations 2014 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2014.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“foreign-going ship” includes every ship employed in trading or going between some place or places in Singapore and some place or places situated beyond the limits prescribed for home-trade ships;

“home-trade ship” means a ship plying solely upon a home‑trade voyage;

“home-trade voyage” means a voyage within the following limits:
an imaginary line drawn from a position in the Gulf of Martaban in latitude 16° 15′ north, longitude 96° east in a south-easterly direction to a position in latitude 15° north, longitude 97° east, thence due south to a position in latitude 9° north, longitude 97° east, thence in a south-westerly direction to a position in latitude 6° north, longitude 94° east, thence due south to a position latitude 4° north, longitude 94° east, thence in a south-easterly direction to a position in latitude 8° south, longitude 104° east, thence in an easterly direction to a position in latitude 10° south, longitude 120° east, thence due east to a position in latitude 10° south, longitude 125° east, thence due north to a position in latitude 8° north, longitude 125° east, thence due west to a position in latitude 8° north, longitude 110° east, thence in a 315° direction (N.W. true) to the coast of Vietnam, thence initially westward following the coasts of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the West Malaysia and Myanmar to the starting point;

“medicine case” means a medicine case required to be kept on board a ship without a qualified medical practitioner under regulation 10;

“medicine register” means a medicine register required to be kept on board a ship under regulation 14;

“passenger” means a person carried on board a ship with the knowledge or consent of the owner, manager, charterer, operator, agent or master of the ship, not being —

(a)	a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship on the business of the ship;
(b)	a person on board the ship pursuant to an obligation imposed on the master by any law (including a law of a country other than Singapore) to convey persons left behind in any country on being shipwrecked, distressed or by reason of circumstances that could not have been prevented or forestalled by the owner, manager, charterer, operator, agent or master of the ship;
(c)	a person temporarily employed on the ship in port; or
(d)	a child below one year of age;

“passenger ship” means a ship which carries more than 12 passengers;

“registered pharmacist” means a person who is registered as a pharmacist under the Pharmacists Registration Act (Cap. 230) or a person who possesses such qualification as may be approved by the Director;

“special limit voyage” means a voyage within the following limits:
from a point where the longitude 103° 00′ east cuts the west coast of Johor, thence due south to latitude 00° 30′ north, thence due east to longitude 105° 00′ east, thence due north to latitude 01° 00′ north, thence to the point 02° 00′ north, 104° 15′ east, thence due west to the coast of Johor; and thence following the coast of Johor westwards to the starting point.

Application

3. These Regulations shall apply to —

(a)	all Singapore ships ordinarily engaged in commercial activities wherever they may be; and
(b)	all seafarers employed on ships referred to in paragraph (a).

Master’s and shipowner’s responsibilities

4.—(1) The master of a ship to which these Regulations apply shall ensure that the provisions of these Regulations are complied with in relation to his ship.

(2) The shipowner of a ship to which these Regulations apply shall, upon the request of the master of his ship, provide such assistance as is necessary for compliance with the provisions of these Regulations in relation to his ship.

(3) Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.

(4) It shall be a defence for any person charged for an offence under paragraph (3) to prove —

(a)	that the deficiency in medicines or medical equipment was caused by medicines and medical equipment being used for their proper purposes and that it has not been reasonably practicable to replace them; or
(b)	that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

Medical guide

5. Every ship shall carry on board a copy of the following:

(a)	International Medical Guide for Ships;
(b)	Ship Captain’s Medical Guide;
(c)	Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods;
(d)	Document for Guidance — An International Maritime Training Guide; and
(e)	International Code of Signals.

Medicines and medical equipment for foreign-going ships

6. Every foreign-going ship shall keep on board —

(a)	medicines in a medicine chest according to Scale A set out in Part I of the First Schedule; and
(b)	medical equipment set out in Part II of the First Schedule.

Medicines and medical equipment for home-trade ships

7. Every home-trade ship shall keep on board —

(a)	medicines in a medicine chest according to Scale B set out in Part I of the First Schedule; and
(b)	medical equipment set out in Part II of the First Schedule.

Medicines and medical equipment for ships plying upon special limit voyages

8. Every ship plying solely upon a special limit voyage from the Port of Singapore shall keep on board —

(a)	medicines in a medicine chest according to Scale C set out in Part I of the First Schedule; and
(b)	medical equipment set out in Part II of the First Schedule.

Ships carrying dangerous cargo

9. Every ship carrying dangerous cargo shall, in addition to the medicines in the medicine chest, and the medical equipment required to be carried under regulation 6, 7 or 8, carry on board such additional medicines and medical equipment as are specified in the Second Schedule.

Ships without qualified medical practitioners

10.—(1) Every ship going to sea carrying more than 12 passengers but without a qualified medical practitioner as a seafarer shall (in addition to the medicines in the medicine chest and the medical equipment the ship is required to carry under regulation 6, 7 or 8) carry in a medicine case the medicines and the medical equipment specified in Part III of the First Schedule.

(2) Any item which cannot be included in the medicine case shall —

(a)	where possible, be strapped to it; or
(b)	otherwise, be kept in a place adjacent to the medicine case.

(3) The medicine case shall be locked, and be kept in a locked cabinet, and the key to the medicine case shall be kept in the possession of the master or someone nominated by him.

(4) The medicine case shall be labelled clearly as follows:

“The medicines in this case are to be used only by a qualified medical practitioner or a person under the direct supervision of a qualified medical practitioner who is on board the ship or who is conveying medical advice by radio or satellite communication.”.

Ships with qualified medical practitioners

11. There shall be kept on board every ship on a voyage on which a qualified medical practitioner is engaged to provide medical care to persons on board, any additional supplies which such medical practitioner may reasonably require having regard to the size of the crew, the number of passengers on board and the intended voyage.

First-aid kit

12. Every ship that is a passenger ship shall carry one first‑aid kit as specified in Part IV of the First Schedule for every 100 passengers or fraction of that number, except that no passenger ship shall be required to carry more than 3 kits per ship.

Inspection of medicines and medical equipment

13.—(1) For the purposes of section 30(2) of the Act, the medicines in the medicine chest and medicine case, if any, the medical equipment and the first-aid kits on board a ship shall be inspected at least once in every 12 months by a registered pharmacist.

(2) The registered pharmacist shall, if he is satisfied after the inspection that the ship is provided with the medicines and medical equipment in accordance with the appropriate scale as required under these Regulations, including such medicine case and first‑aid kits as may be required in accordance with the requirements of regulations 10 and 12, respectively, issue a certificate to that effect.

(3) The certificate issued under paragraph (2) shall contain the following details:

(a)	the name of the ship;
(b)	the trading area of the ship;
(c)	the name and official seal of the registered pharmacist;
(d)	the scale applied by the registered pharmacist for the inspection of the medicines in the medicine chest and medical equipment carried on board;
(e)	the number of first-aid kits carried on board, if applicable;
(f)	the date of inspection; and
(g)	the registered pharmacist’s certification that the contents of the medicines in the medicine chest and the medicine case, if any, the medical equipment and the first-aid kits, if any, are in a satisfactory condition.

(4) Upon completion of each inspection, the certificate referred to in paragraph (2) shall be submitted by the master to the Director, for endorsement.

(5) The Director may, upon such conditions as he thinks fit, attest to his recognition of such certificate by endorsing on the certificate or by providing a document attesting to such recognition.

(6) The certificate shall be readily available for inspection on board the ship, and shall be produced, on request, to seafarers employed on that ship, the Director, a person authorised by the Director, a surveyor of ships and authorised officers in port States.

Medicine register and preservation of prescriptions

14.—(1) Every ship shall carry on board a medicine register containing the information specified in the Third Schedule.

(2) An entry, signed by the master, shall be made in the medicine register of the supply of any medicine on board the ship to any seafarer.

(3) The medicine register shall be preserved on board every ship for a period of 3 years from the date on which the last entry is made.

(4) Every prescription for the supply of any medicine or medical equipment for use on board a ship shall be preserved for a period of 3 years from the date on which the last delivery under it was made.

Alternative medicines and medical equipment

15.—(1) Where any medicine required by these Regulations to be kept on board a ship is not readily available for supply, the master shall obtain suitable alternatives from a registered pharmacist or a qualified medical practitioner.

(2) Where any medical equipment required by these Regulations to be kept on board a ship is not readily available for supply, the master shall obtain suitable alternatives from a qualified medical practitioner and may, where the ship is not in Singapore, obtain suitable alternatives from a registered pharmacist or a qualified medical practitioner.

(3) The shipowner of a ship to which these Regulations apply shall, upon the request of the master of his ship, provide such assistance as is necessary to obtain suitable alternatives for his ship in accordance with paragraph (1) or (2).

Standards of medicines kept on board

16. The contents of all medicines kept on board a ship in accordance with these Regulations shall conform to the standards and requirements set out in the British National Formulary or the British Pharmacopoeia or the European Pharmacopoeia or the United States Pharmacopoeia.

Packaging and labelling

17.—(1) Without prejudice to any other written law, the container of any medicine or medical equipment required by these Regulations to be kept on board a ship —

(a)	shall bear a label stating, in English, the particulars specified in paragraph (3);
(b)	in the case of a container of tablets or capsules, shall be capable of re-closure to prevent ingress of moisture;
(c)	in the case of a container of disinfectant, shall not show deleterious reaction with the disinfectant after storage in normal conditions for 6 months;
(d)	in the case of insecticide, shall be air-tight, water-tight, packed in a suitable and sturdy case and, if the container is a pressure canister, have a cap or other means of protecting the valve against accidental opening when the canister is not in use; and
(e)	in the case of medicine or disinfectant not in the container supplied by its manufacturer, shall be packed in a sturdy, brown-coloured or non-translucent container.

(2) Any label referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall either be firmly affixed to the container and rendered resistant to moisture by varnish or other effective means or be an integral part of the container.

(3) The particulars required by paragraph (1)(a) to be shown on labels are —

(a)	the name by which the medicine is referred to in the First Schedule;
(b)	any storage requirements laid down in any of the publications referred to in these Regulations;
(c)	if the medicine or medical equipment is perishable, the expiry date as defined in regulation 19(1)(b);
(d)	the name and address of the supplier of the medicine and medical equipment, the product licence number and batch number;
(e)	in the case of any container of a disinfectant or of an antiseptic prescribed in the First Schedule, the dilution recommended for any purposes stated thereon;
(f)	in the case of any container of an insecticide prescribed in the First Schedule, instructions for use and precautions to be taken as specified in the Fourth Schedule; and
(g)	in the case of a container of hypochlorite, a notice indicating that the chemical may combust spontaneously and that the hypochlorite should be stored in a cool dark place.

Storage of medicines and medical equipment

18.—(1) Any medicine and medical equipment shall be stored in accordance with the instructions on its container.

(2) Any medicine and medical equipment shall, unless it is required to be kept in a refrigerator or in a first-aid kit, be stored in a cool, dry, locked cabinet or locked container.

Replenishment of dated medicine and medical equipment

19.—(1) Where —

(a)	a ship is required to have on board any medicine and medical equipment in accordance with these Regulations; and
(b)	any label required by regulation 17(1)(a) to be borne by any container or any medicine or medical equipment indicates a date after which the medicine or medical equipment contained in it is not to be used (referred to in this regulation as the expiry date),

that medicine and medical equipment shall be replaced at the earliest possible date after the expiry date, and in any event within 3 months of the expiry date.

(2) Any medicine or medical equipment which has passed the expiry date shall, once replacements have been obtained, or after 3 months, whichever is the earlier, be disposed of in accordance with regulation 20.

Disposal of medicines and medical equipment

20. All medicines and medical equipment shall, subject to the requirements prescribed under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap. 185), where applicable, be disposed of properly in accordance with the Fifth Schedule.

Made this 12th day of March 2014.

LUCIEN WONG

Chairman,
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

[MPA 46/11.C01.V03/LSK; AG/LLRD/SL/180A/2013/13 Vol. 1]