Singapore legislation
Section 10
Section 10
Prohibition of discharge of noxious liquid substances from ships
(1)
Subject to subsection (2) and any regulations made under subsection (4), if any discharge of a noxious liquid substance, or of a mixture containing a noxious liquid substance, being a substance or mixture carried as cargo or part cargo in bulk, occurs from a Singapore ship into the sea or from any ship into Singapore waters, the master, the owner and the agent of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
(2)
Subsection (1) does not apply to the discharge of a noxious liquid substance or a mixture containing such substance from a ship —
which is necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea;
if the substance or the mixture (as the case may be) escaped from the ship in consequence of damage, other than intentional damage, to the ship or its equipment, and all reasonable precautions were taken after the occurrence of the damage or the discovery of the discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimising the escape of the substance or the mixture, as the case may be; or
if the discharge was for the purpose of combating specific pollution incidents in order to minimise the damage from pollution and was approved by the appointed authority and where the discharge occurred in the jurisdiction of the government of a country other than Singapore, by that government.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (2), damage to a ship or to its equipment is taken to be intentional damage if the damage arose in circumstances in which the master, the owner or the agent of the ship —
acted with intent to cause the damage; or
acted recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.
(4)
The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations to exempt any ship from the operation of subsection (1), either absolutely or subject to any prescribed conditions, and either generally or as respects particular classes of ships, or in relation to particular descriptions of noxious liquid substances or mixtures containing such substances or to the discharge of such substances or mixtures in prescribed circumstances, or in relation to particular areas of the sea.