At present, section 8(5) of the Merchant Shipping Act empowers the Minister to refuse to grant a certificate to the owner of a passenger ship who has been convicted of an offence. Section 9(2) gives the Minister the powers to suspend or revoke a certificate where an owner fails or refuses to comply with a condition of a certificate but this provision only applies to the vessel to which the certificate applies. The Minister has no power in regard to any vessel the owner may have – that is, the Minister can only act in regard to the passenger ship in respect of which the convictions were made and cannot do anything about any additional ships or passenger boats the owner may have.