Singapore legislation
Section 324
Section 324
Marking of ship
(1)
Every British ship, unless exempted from the operation of section 7 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 [U.K. 1894 c. 60] or unless otherwise marked under this Part, shall, while within any port in Singapore, be marked permanently and conspicuously to the satisfaction of the Port Master as follows:
her name shall be marked on each of her bows, and her name and the name of her port of registry shall be marked on her stern, on a dark ground in white or yellow letters or on a light ground in black letters, such letters to be of a length not less than one decimetre and of proportionate breadth;
her official number and the number denoting her registered tonnage shall be cut in on her main beam;
in the case of every such ship registered before 1st September 1980, a scale denoting her draught of water shall be marked on each side of her stem and of her stern post in roman capital letters or in figures, not less than 15 centimetres in length the lower line of such letters or figures to coincide with the draught line denoted thereby, and those letters or figures shall be marked by being cut in and painted white or yellow on a dark ground, or in such other way as the Director approves; and
in the case of every such ship registered on or after that date, a scale of decimetres, or of metres and decimetres, denoting her draught of water shall be marked on each side of her stem and of her stern post —
in figures at two-decimetre intervals, if the scale is in decimetres;
in figures at each metre interval and at intervening two-decimetre intervals, if the scale is in metres and decimetres; and
the capital letter ‘M’ being placed after each metre figure; the top figure of the scale showing both the metre and (except where it marks a full metre interval) the decimetre figure; the lower line of figures, or figures and letters (as the case may be), coinciding with the draught line denoted thereby; the figures and letters being not less than one decimetre in length and being marked by being cut in and painted white or yellow on a dark ground, or in such other way as the Director approves.
(2)
If the scale showing the ship’s draught of water is in any respect inaccurate, so as to be likely to mislead, the owner of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
(3)
In every case where subsection (1)(c) applies, the draught markings shall be altered to comply with subsection (1)(d) before 1st January 1986.
(4)
The marks required by this section shall be permanently continued, and no alteration shall be made therein, except in the event of any of the particulars thereby denoted being altered in the manner provided by the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 [U.K. 1894 c. 60].
(5)
Any owner or master of a British ship who neglects to cause his ship to be marked as required by this section or to keep her so marked, and any person who conceals, removes, alters, defaces or obliterates, or suffers any person under his control to conceal, remove, alter, deface or obliterate any of those marks, except in the event aforesaid or except for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for each offence to a fine not exceeding $2,000, and on a certificate from a surveyor of ships that a ship is insufficiently or inaccurately marked the ship may be detained until the insufficiency or inaccuracy has been remedied.[345** Section 344 in the 1970 Edition was repealed by Act 38/84.