Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 (SOR/2020-216)

DIVISION 2Equipment Required for Vessels Subject to Chapter V of SOLAS

Marginal note:Application

• 103 (1) This Division applies in respect of the following vessels:

  • (a) Canadian vessels of 150 gross tonnage or more but less than 500 gross tonnage that are engaged on an international voyage;

  • (b) Canadian vessels of 500 gross tonnage or more; and

  • (c) foreign vessels that are subject to Chapter V of SOLAS.

• Marginal note:Application — exceptions

  (2) Despite subsection (1), this Division does not apply in respect of the following Canadian vessels:

  • (a) fishing vessels;

  • (b) cable ferries;

  • (c) pleasure crafts; or

  • (d) vessels operating exclusively in the waters of the Great Lakes, their connecting and tributary waters, and the waters of the St. Lawrence River as far seaward as a straight line drawn

    • (i) from Cap-des-Rosiers to Pointe Ouest, Anticosti Island, and

    • (ii) from Anticosti Island to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River along a meridian of longitude 63° W.

Marginal note:Compliance

• 104 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (5), an authorized representative of a vessel must ensure that the following requirements are met in respect of the vessel:

  • (a) for a Canadian vessel, the requirements set out in Regulations 15 to 19 and 20 to 35 of Chapter V of SOLAS, except the requirements of Regulation 19.2.4; and

  • (b) for a foreign vessel, the requirements set out in Chapter V of SOLAS.

• Marginal note:Regulation 18 of Chapter V of SOLAS — type approval

  (2) For the purposes of this section, the words “type approved by the Administration” used in Regulation 18 of Chapter V of SOLAS must be read as “type approved by a competent authority” when that Regulation applies to a Canadian vessel.

• Marginal note:Exception — Regulation 18.9 of Chapter V of SOLAS

  (3) A Canadian vessel of 500 gross tonnage or more must comply with Regulation 18.9 of Chapter V of SOLAS only if it is engaged on an international voyage.

• Marginal note:Exception — Regulation 19.2.2.3 of Chapter V of SOLAS

  (4) The requirements set out in Regulation 19.2.2.3 of Chapter V of SOLAS do not apply

  • (a) to a ferry that engages solely on voyages of less than five nautical miles; and

  • (b) until January 1, 2022, to a vessel other than a vessel referred to in paragraph (a), if the vessel engages solely on voyages that are not international voyages.

• Marginal note:Exception — Regulation 19.2.7.1 of Chapter V of SOLAS

  (5) For the purposes of this section, Regulation 19.2.7.1 of Chapter V of SOLAS must be read without reference to “or, where considered appropriate by the Administration, a second 9 GHz radar”.

DIVISION 3Equipment Required for Vessels Not Subject to Chapter V of SOLAS

Marginal note:Non-application

105 This Division does not apply in respect of the following vessels:

• (a) a vessel that is subject to the requirements of Division 2 of this Part;

• (b) a vessel constructed before July 1, 2002 that meets the requirements set out in Part 2 of the Navigation Safety Regulations as they read on the day before the day on which this section came into force and, if the vessel is of 150 gross tonnage or more and is fitted with equipment referred to in column 1 of Schedule 2 of these Regulations before July 1, 2002, whose equipment is of a type approved by a competent authority as meeting

  • (i) the performance standards set out in the Annex to IMO resolution A.281(VIII), Recommendation on General Requirements for Electronic Navigational Aids,

  • (ii) the performance standards set out in the Annex to IMO resolution A.694(17), General Requirements for Shipborne Radio Equipment Forming Part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and for Electronic Navigational Aids, and

  • (iii) the standards set out in column 2 of Schedule 2 for that equipment; and

• (c) a foreign vessel that is a fishing vessel and that has on board documentation issued by the government of the state whose flag the vessel is entitled to fly certifying that the vessel meets the requirements set out in Chapter X of Annex 25 to IMO document MSC 92/26/Add.2, International Regulations for the Safety of Fishing Vessels relating to the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels 1977.

Marginal note:Standard magnetic compasses

• 106 (1) Every vessel, except the following vessels, must be fitted with a standard magnetic compass, independent of any power supply, that can be used to determine the vessel’s heading and to display the reading at the main steering position:

  • (a) vessels that are 8 m or less in length and navigate within sight of navigation marks; and

  • (b) cable ferries.

• Marginal note:Exception — vessels less than 150 gross tonnage

  (2) Despite subsection (1), a vessel of less than 150 gross tonnage may be fitted with

  • (a) a steering magnetic compass if the vessel is not engaged on an international voyage; or

  • (b) a steering magnetic compass and a gyro-compass if the vessel is engaged on an international voyage.

• Marginal note:Exception — vessels from 150 to 500 gross tonnage

  (3) Despite subsection (1), a vessel that is of 150 gross tonnage or more but less than 500 gross tonnage may be fitted with

  • (a) if the vessel is engaged on a sheltered waters voyage, an inland voyage or a near coastal voyage, Class 2 and if the voyage is not an international voyage, a steering magnetic compass; and

  • (b) if the vessel is engaged on a near coastal voyage, Class 1, an unlimited voyage or an international voyage, a steering magnetic compass and a gyro-compass.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (4) Every magnetic compass must be properly compensated and its table or curve of residual deviations must be available on board in the vicinity of the compass.

• Marginal note:Means of correction

  (5) Every vessel that is fitted with a magnetic compass, except pleasure crafts of less than 150 gross tonnage, must be fitted with a means of correcting heading and bearings to true at all times.

• Marginal note:Means of communication

  (6) Every vessel that is fitted with a standard magnetic compass must be fitted with a means of communication between the standard magnetic compass position and the position from which the vessel is normally navigated.

Marginal note:Sound reception systems

107 Every vessel that has a totally enclosed bridge must be fitted with a sound-reception system that can be used to enable the person in charge of the deck watch to hear sound signals and determine their direction.

Marginal note:Means of communicating

108 Every vessel with an emergency steering position must be fitted with a two-way voice communication system that can be used to communicate heading information to that position.

Marginal note:Vessels of 150 gross tonnage or more

• 109 (1) Every vessel of 150 gross tonnage or more must be fitted with the following equipment:

  • (a) a GNSS receiver referred to in item 8, column 1, of Schedule 1 that can be used at all times throughout the intended voyage to establish and update the vessel’s position by electronic means;

  • (b) a pelorus or compass bearing device, independent of any power supply, to take bearings over an arc of the horizon of 360°, if the vessel is engaged on a near coastal voyage, Class 1, an unlimited voyage or an international voyage;

  • (c) a spare magnetic compass that is interchangeable with the magnetic compass referred to in section 106; and

  • (d) a daylight signalling lamp to communicate by light signals during the day and during the night using a source of electrical energy not solely dependent on the vessel’s main power supply, if the vessel is engaged on an international voyage.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Despite paragraph (1)(a), a vessel may be fitted with a GNSS receiver that is not referred to in item 8, column 1, of Schedule 1, if

  • (a) the receiver provides a level of safety that is equivalent to or higher than that of the receivers set out in item 8, column 1, of Schedule 1;

  • (b) there are IMO performance standards and IEC test standards that apply to the receiver; and

  • (c) the receiver has been type approved by a competent authority as meeting those standards.

Marginal note:Vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more

110 Every vessel of 300 gross tonnage or more must be fitted with the following equipment:

• (a) echo-sounding equipment to measure and display the available depth of water;

• (b) a 9-GHz radar to determine and display the range and bearing of radar transponders and of other surface craft, obstructions, buoys, shorelines and navigational marks;

• (c) unless it is engaged on a sheltered waters voyage, a speed-and-distance measuring device to indicate speed and distance travelled through the water; and

• (d) if the vessel is less than 500 gross tonnage,

  • (i) an automatic tracking aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of targets in order to determine collision risk or an automatic radar plotting aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of at least 20 targets and that is connected to a device to indicate speed and distance travelled through the water, and

  • (ii) a transmitting heading device or a gyro-compass to transmit heading information for input to the equipment referred to in subparagraph (i) and paragraph (b).

Marginal note:Vessels of 500 gross tonnage or more

111 Every vessel of 500 gross tonnage or more must be fitted with the following equipment:

• (a) rudder, propeller, thrust, pitch and operational mode indicators, or other means that can be used to determine and display, in a manner readable from the conning position, the rudder angle, propeller revolutions, the force and direction of thrust and, if applicable, the force and direction of lateral thrust and the pitch and operational mode of the propellers;

• (b) an automatic tracking aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of targets in order to determine collision risk or an automatic radar plotting aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of at least 20 targets and that is connected to a device to indicate speed and distance travelled through the water; and

• (c) in the case of a vessel engaged on a voyage other than a sheltered waters voyage,

  • (i) a gyro-compass to determine and display its heading by shipborne non-magnetic means and to transmit heading information for input to the equipment referred to in paragraphs (b) and 110(b) and, if applicable, paragraph 113(a),

  • (ii) a gyro-compass heading repeater to visually supply heading information at the emergency steering position, if such a position is on board,

  • (iii) a gyro-compass bearing repeater to take bearings over an arc of the horizon of 360º using the gyro-compass referred to in subparagraph (i) or, in the case of a vessel of less than 1 600 gross tonnage, as close as possible to 360º, and

  • (iv) a daylight signalling lamp to communicate by light signals during the day and during the night using a source of electrical energy that is not solely dependent on the vessel’s main power supply.

Marginal note:Vessels of 3 000 gross tonnage or more

112 Every vessel of 3 000 gross tonnage or more must be fitted with the following equipment:

• (a) in addition to and functionally independent of the radar referred to in paragraph 110(b), a 3-GHz or 9-GHz radar that can be used to determine and display the range and bearing of other surface craft, obstructions, buoys, shorelines and navigational marks; and

• (b) if the vessel is less than 10 000 gross tonnage, in addition to and functionally independent of the automatic tracking aid or automatic radar plotting aid referred to in paragraph 111(b), an automatic tracking aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of targets in order to determine collision risk, or an automatic radar plotting aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of at least 20 targets that is connected to a device to indicate speed and distance travelled through the water.

Marginal note:Vessels of 10 000 gross tonnage or more

113 Every vessel of 10 000 gross tonnage or more must be fitted with the following equipment:

• (a) in addition to and functionally independent of the aids required under paragraph 111(b), an automatic radar plotting aid to automatically plot the range and bearing of at least 20 targets that is connected to a device to indicate speed and distance travelled through the water; and

• (b) if the vessel is engaged on a voyage other than a sheltered waters voyage, a heading or track control system to automatically control, and keep to, a heading or straight track.

Marginal note:Vessels of 50 000 gross tonnage or more

114 Every vessel of 50 000 gross tonnage or more must be fitted with the following equipment:

• (a) a rate-of-turn indicator to determine and display the rate of turn; and

• (b) in addition to the device required by paragraph 110(c), a speed-and-distance measuring device to indicate the speed and distance over the ground in the forward and athwartships direction.

DIVISION 4Additional Equipment

Marginal note:Voyage data recorder — vessel constructed after 2011

• 115 (1) A Canadian vessel that is not engaged on an international voyage must be fitted with a voyage data recorder (VDR) if the vessel was constructed on or after January 1, 2012 and is

  • (a) a passenger vessel of 500 gross tonnage or more; or

  • (b) a vessel of 3 000 gross tonnage or more that does not engage solely on voyages in the waters of the Great Lakes, their connecting and tributary waters and the waters of the St. Lawrence River as far seaward as a straight line drawn

    • (i) from Cap-des-Rosiers to Pointe Ouest, Anticosti Island, and

    • (ii) from Anticosti Island to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River along a meridian of longitude 63° W.

• Marginal note:Voyage data recorder — vessel constructed before 2012

  (2) A Canadian vessel that is not engaged on an international voyage must be fitted with a VDR or a simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR) if the vessel was constructed before January 1, 2012 and is a passenger vessel of 500 gross tonnage or more.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply in respect of

  • (a) pleasure craft;

  • (b) fishing vessels; and

  • (c) passenger vessels, other than ferries, that are engaged solely on sheltered waters voyages and operate during fewer than six months in a year.

Marginal note:Voyage data recorder — performance tests

• 116 (1) On installation of a voyage data recorder (VDR) or a simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR) on a vessel, and each subsequent year after the date of installation, a performance test must be carried out in accordance with paragraph 2 and the Appendix to the Annex to IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1222, Guidelines on Annual Testing of Voyage Data Recorders (VDR) and Simplified Voyage Data Recorders (S-VDR) by the manufacturer or a person authorized by the manufacturer.

• Marginal note:Subsection 13(1) of Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations

  (2) In the case of a vessel that is required under section 115 to be fitted with a VDR, the annual performance test referred to in subsection (1) may be carried out at the same time as an inspection for the purpose of issuing a certificate under subsection 13(1) of the Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations if the period between tests does not exceed

  • (a) 15 months, in the case of a passenger vessel; and

  • (b) 18 months, in the case of any other vessel.

• Marginal note:Performance test certificate

  (3) A copy of the most recent annual performance test certificate delivered by the person who completed the performance test must be kept on board the vessel.

• Marginal note:Language of certificates

  (4) If an annual performance test certificate is written in a language other than English or French, it must be accompanied by an English or French translation.