Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there is a (a) legislative, (b) health and safety and (c) regulatory requirement for ferry passengers to alight from their vehicles during travel.

For domestically trading passenger ferries, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Merchant Shipping Notice, MSN 1823(M) sets out the requirements for compliance with Statutory Instrument, SI 2010 No. 680 - the Merchant Shipping (Passenger Ships) (Safety Code for UK Categorised Waters) Regulations 2010. It only permits the carriage of passengers in their vehicles under certain conditions, where the vehicle decks are open, and the voyage is of less than 30 minutes. This limitation is applied to other to similar vessels trading under equivalent legislation.

For larger vessels on international voyages, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 Chapter II-1 Regulation 23 specifically excludes passengers from enclosed vehicle decks, when the vessel is in navigation.