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The Railways and Transport Safety Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in 14 January 2003. As expected it creates a new offence for professional masters, pilots and seamen to have excess alcohol in their breath, blood or urine. Professionals in this context are those acting in the course of a business or employment, and the permitted level is the same as under the Road Traffic Act and related provisions applying to other forms of transport.
Non-professionals are treated differently under the Bill. The excess alcohol offence can only be committed if they are on board a ship which is underway and when they are exercising or purporting to exercise a function in connection with the navigation of the ship. In addition there is power for the Secretary of State to disapply the excess alcohol provision by reference to the power of a motor, the size of the ship and to location.
In this respect the Bill is less draconian than the Government's initial announcement in March 2001, following Lord Justice Clark's report of the Inquiry into the collision betwen the Marchioness and the Bowbelle, which recommended the application of alcohol legislation to all private pleasure craft.