Section 10A

Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and section 10B, if any discharge of ballast water or sediments occurs from any ship into Singapore waters, or from a Singapore ship into any part of the sea, 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.

Subsection (1) does not apply to the discharge of ballast water through ballast water management in accordance with regulations made under section 34.

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 areas of the sea.

In this section —

“owner”, in relation to a ship, includes any organisation or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the owner of the ship and who on assuming such responsibility has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Safety Management Code;

“International Safety Management Code” means the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, 2002 adopted by the International Maritime Organization and any amendment to the Code which has come into force and has been accepted by the Government.