Singapore legislation
Section 241
Section 241
Power to detain unsafe ships and procedure for detention
(1)
Where a British ship, being in any port in Singapore, is an unsafe ship, that is to say, is by reason of the defective condition of the ship’s hull, equipment or machinery, or by reason of undermanning, or by reason of overloading or improper loading, unfit to proceed to sea or to proceed within the limits of any port without serious danger to human life, having regard to the nature of the service for which the ship is intended, the ship may be provisionally detained for the purpose of being surveyed or for ascertaining the sufficiency of her crew and either finally detained or released as follows:
the Minister, if he has reason to believe, on complaint or otherwise, that a British ship is unsafe, may order the ship to be provisionally detained as an unsafe ship for the purpose of being surveyed or for ascertaining the sufficiency of the crew;
when a ship has been provisionally detained, there shall forthwith be served on the master of the ship a written statement of the grounds of her detention, and the Minister may, if he thinks fit, appoint some competent person or persons to survey the ship and report thereon to him;
the Minister on receiving the report may either order the ship to be released or, if in his opinion the ship is unsafe, may order the ship to be finally detained, either absolutely or until the performance of such conditions with respect to the execution of repairs or alterations, or the unloading or reloading of cargo, or the manning of the ship as he thinks necessary for the protection of human life, and the Minister may vary or add to any such order;
before the order for final detention is made, a copy of the report shall be served on the master of the ship, and within 7 days after that service the owner or master of the ship may appeal to the court of survey for the port where the ship is detained, in the manner directed by the rules of that court;
where a ship has been provisionally detained, the owner or master of the ship, at any time before the person appointed under this section to survey the ship makes that survey, may require that he shall be accompanied by such person as the owner or master may select out of the list of assessors for the court of survey, and in that case, if the surveyor and assessor agree, the Minister shall cause the ship to be detained or released accordingly, but if they differ the Minister may act as if the requisition had not been made, and the owner and master shall have the like appeal touching the report of the surveyor as is before provided by this section;
where a ship has been provisionally detained, the Minister may at any time, if he thinks it expedient, refer the matter to the court of survey for the port where the ship is detained;
the Minister may at any time, if satisfied that a ship detained under this section is not unsafe, order the ship to be released either upon or without any conditions.
(2)
The Director and the Surveyor-General (referred to in this Act as a detaining officer) shall have the same power as the Minister has under this section of ordering the provisional detention of a ship for the purpose of being surveyed or for ascertaining the sufficiency of her crew and of appointing a person or persons to survey the ship; and if he thinks that a ship so detained by him is not unsafe may order the ship to be released.
(3)
A detaining officer shall forthwith report to the Minister any order made by him for the detention or release of a ship.
(4)
An order for the detention of a ship, provisional or final, and an order varying the same, shall be served as soon as possible on the master of the ship.
(5)
A ship detained under this section shall not be released by reason of her British register being subsequently closed.
(6)
A detaining officer and a person authorised to survey a ship under this section shall for that purpose have the same power as a person appointed by a court of survey to survey a ship, and the provisions of this Act with respect to the person so appointed shall apply accordingly, and the powers exercisable by him under this section shall include power to muster the crew.[262