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SECTION VI—PUBLIC HEALTH (SHIPS) REGULATIONS, 1952.
(1) List of Infected Areas (Regulation 6).
Arrangements for the preparation and amendment of the list, the form of the list, the persons
to whom it is supplied and the procedure for supplying it to those persons.
The list of Scheduled ports on page 4 of the Declaration of Health covers, broadly speaking,
the whole of Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Eastern Mediterranean. To attempt
to supply to Pilots and Customs Officers a weekly list of infected ports based on the Weekly
Record of Quarantinable Diseases issued by the Ministry of Health would lead to chaos and to
much more delay and inconvenience to shipping than the system of inspecting, as a routine,
ships from any part of the world in which dangerous infectious diseases are endemic or, from
time to time, epidemic.
Ships bound for London coming up the English Channel take on a Pilot off Dungeness, those
coming across the North Sea take on a Pilot at the Sunk Lightship, near Harwich. The Elder
Brethren of Trinity House have kindly agreed that Pilots should hand copies of the Declaration
of Health to the Masters of ships they board and accordingly supplies of the Declaration of
Health are sent, from to time, to Trinity House. In addition several of the larger shipping
companies using the Port are supplied, on request, with Declarations of Health, which are
placed on board their vessels with other ship's papers.
The instructions on page 4 of the Declaration of Health (applying only to the Port of London)
are as follows :—
The Master of a foreign-going ship approaching a Port in England or Wales from a Foreign Port
must ascertain the state of health of all persons on board, and fill in and sign a Declaration of
Health in the prescribed form, which he must hand to the Customs Officer or to the Port Medical
Officer, whichever first boards the ship.
(The following instructions apply only to the Port of London).
I. If the answers to any of the questions on page 1 is "YES", or if the ship EXCEPT IN
THE CASE OF TANKERS has called during the previous four weeks at any of the following
ports:—
All ports in ASIA, including TURKEY, INDIA, PAKISTAN and CEYLON; INDONESLA,
the EAST INDIES, the PHILIPPINES, FORMOSA and JAPAN; AFRICA and MADAGASCAR;
CENTRAL AMERICA including MEXICO; SOUTH AMERICA.
the Master must —
(1) Send a wireless message to "PORTELTH LONDON" stating the name of his vessel
and the time fihe is expected to arrive off Gravesend. This message must be sent off not
more than 12 hours and not less than 4 hours before arrival of the ship.
In the case of vessels bound for the Medway, the wireless message should be addressed to
"PORTELTH LONDON", as follows:-
"(Name of Vessel) (Time of Arrival) Sheerness"*
*(The addition of the word "Sheerness" to the wireless message is an indication that the
vessel is proceeding up the River Medway).
NOTE.— If wireless is not carried the Port Health Authority must be notified of the arrival
of the ship as soon as possible.
(2) By day, when within the Port of London, hoist the flag signal LIM, meaning "Port Health
Officer required";
By night when approaching Gravesend, flash letter 'Q' repeatedly from the morse lamp.
(3) If a Ship's Surgeon is not carried, have the crew mustered ready for inspection by the Port
Medical Officer as soon as he boards the vessel.
Free pratique will not be granted by Her Majesty's Customs until the vessel has been
visited by the Port Medical Officer.
II. If the answers to all the questions of page 1 are "NO", and the vessel has not called
during the previous four weeks at any of the Ports mentioned above, the Master need not
communicate with the Port Health Authority in the manner described above, unless requested
to do so by the Customs Officer.
(2) Radio messages.
(a) Arrangements for sending permission by radio for ships to enter the district (Regulation
13).
No such arrangement exists in the Port of London.
(b) Arrangements for receiving messages by radio from ships and for acting thereon.
(Regulation 14(l)(a) and (2) ).
Arrangements are in force by which the General Post Office telephone direct to the Medical
Officer on duty on the "Hygeia", all messages received by the North Foreland Radio Station,
from vessels in accordance with the instructions on the Declaration of Health.
Occasionally a vessel voluntarily sends a full Quarantine message in code, which is deciphered
by the Medical Officer from Volume II (Radio) of the International Code of Signals.
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