Clause 9

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.(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the discharge of ballast water through ballast water management in accordance with regulations made under section 34.(3) 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.(4) 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.Special defences to section 10A10B. Where a person is charged with an offence under section 10A(1), it is a defence for the person charged to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —

the uptake or discharge of ballast water or sediments was necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of the ship in an emergency situation or saving life at sea;

the discharge of ballast water or sediments —

was accidental; and

resulted from damage to the ship or its equipment, other than damage that was caused by the person wilfully or recklessly,and all reasonable precautions were taken before and after the occurrence of the damage, or the discovery of the occurrence of the damage or discharge, for the purpose of preventing or minimising the discharge;

the uptake or discharge of ballast water or sediments was for the purpose of avoiding or minimising pollution incidents from the ship;

the discharge of ballast water or sediments occurred on the high seas, and comprised the same ballast water and sediments that had been taken up in the high seas; or

the discharge of ballast water or sediments was at the same location where the whole of the discharged ballast water or sediments originated, and the discharged ballast water and sediments had not been mixed with ballast water and sediments from any other location which have not undergone ballast water management.”.