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1. This Regulation shall apply in respect of passengers travelling:

(a) on passenger services where the port of embarkation is situated in the territory of a Member State;

(b) on passenger services where the port of embarkation is situated outside the territory of a Member State and the port of disembarkation is situated in the territory of a Member State, provided that the service is operated by a Union carrier as defined in Article 3(e);

(c) on a cruise where the port of embarkation is situated in the territory of a Member State. However, Articles 16(2), 18, 19 and 20(1) and (4) shall not apply to those passengers.

2. This Regulation shall not apply in respect of passengers travelling:

(a) on ships certified to carry up to 12 passengers;

(b) on ships which have a crew responsible for the operation of the ship composed of not more than three persons or where the distance of the overall passenger service is less than 500 metres, one way;

(c) on excursion and sightseeing tours other than cruises; or (d) on ships not propelled by mechanical means as well as original, and individual replicas of, historical passenger ships designed before 1965, built predominantly with the original materials, certified to carry up to 36 passengers.

3. Member States may, for a period of 2 years from 18 December 2012, exempt from the application of this Regulation seagoing ships of less than 300 gross tons operated in domestic transport, provided that the rights of passengers under this Regulation are adequately ensured under national law.

4. Member States may exempt from the application of this Regulation passenger services covered by public service obligations, public service contracts or integrated services provided that the rights of passengers under this Regulation are comparably guaranteed under national law.

5. Without prejudice to Directive 2006/87/EC and to Directive 2009/45/EC, nothing in this Regulation shall be understood as constituting technical requirements imposing obligations on carriers, terminal operators or other entities to modify or replace ships, infrastructure, ports or port terminals.