The Merchant Shipping Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict c. 104) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It was passed on 10 August 1854, together with the Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict c. 120), which together repealed several centuries of preceding maritime legislation. It introduced the keeping of official numbers for registered ships, and revised calculations of

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

. It also changed the management of

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and neighbouring islands, vesting it in the

Northern Lighthouse Board The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas. History The NLB was formed by Act of P ...

which was one of the General Lighthouse Authorities the act created. It also (indirectly) created the

Sea Gallantry Medal The Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (officially the 'Medal for Saving Life at Sea', and originally the ' Board of Trade Medal for Saving Life at Sea'), is a United Kingdom award for civil gallantry at sea. History The Merchant Shipping Act 1854 pro ...

, the only UK state honour created by

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

, rather than Royal Warrant. As with many older

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

, it was repealed in its entirety by the subsequent

Merchant Shipping Act 1894 A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

(57 & 58 Vict c. 60). In January 2007, after looting of the cargo of the

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

, the ''

MSC Napoli ''MSC Napoli'' was a United Kingdom- flagged container ship that developed a hull breach due to rough seas and slamming in the English Channel on 18 January 2007. She was deliberately run aground at Lyme Bay to avoid an environmental disaster ...

'', acting

Receiver of Wreck The Receiver of Wreck is an official who administers law dealing with maritime wrecks and salvage in some countries having a British administrative heritage. In the United Kingdom, the Receiver of Wreck is also appointed to retain the possession o ...

Mark Rodaway said he would invoke powers of this Act for the first time in 100 years,BBC News, MSC Napol
BBC.co.uk
/ref> although the extant powers to which he referred are actually held under the more recent, replacement, legislation.

Sources

*Research guide: Ship Registratio
AC.ukMerchant Shipping Act, 1854Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854Merchant Shipping Act, 1894

References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1854 1854 in transport Shipping in the United Kingdom {{UK-statute-stub

See also

Sources

References