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Antigua & Barbuda Legislation
The laws relating to Merchant Shipping in Antigua and Barbuda are in two main forms.  Primary legislation which is the Merchant Shipping Act, as amended, and which is made by the Parliament and Secondary legislation which is made by the Minister in conjunction with Parliament in accordance with powers to do so that are contained in the Act.  Secondary legislation is in the form of Merchant Shipping Regulations.
Directives
In addition to primary and secondary legislation the Merchant Shipping Act allows the Director of ADOMS to make Director’s Directives in certain safety related areas.  These are also a form of Antigua and Barbuda laws and need to be followed.

A full list of all the current Directives is available by following this link. See  all directives >>

Circulars
Circulars are a system for promulgating advice and guidance on technical and policy issues affecting Antigua and Barbuda ships.  They cover a wide range of topics and are issued regularly to advise of forthcoming changes in conventions, policy decisions, new guidance on interpretation, ADOMS interpretations of “to the satisfaction of the administration” and related matters of importance to owners, managers, seafarers, and recognised organisations acting on behalf of ADOMS.  A full list of current circulars can be seen by following this link.   Each one is numbered by year of original issue, and its consecutive number in that year.   Where a Circular shows (Rev ) after the number it indicates that the Circular has been revised or updated since its original issue.  In general minor revisions will be indicated in this manner but major revisions will be promulgated by a new Circular replacing the original.  Some of the Circulars were previously available on the old website under a different numbering scheme,  where this has happened the original number is indicated in the body of the Circular. See  all circulars >>
Forms
In this section is a full set of forms needed for registration and for other purposes. See  all forms >>
Other information.
In this section can be found other guidance and information of value to seafarers, owners and managers but which is not included as a Circular or contained in laws.

See other information