Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill

This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Act, 1973, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Paragraph (a) of section 2 of the Merchant Shipping Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended —

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 8 thereof the following new section: —“Delegation of powers8A. The Authority may delegate to any of its officers all or any of the functions and powers conferred on the Authority by this Act.”.

Section 14 of the principal Act is hereby repealed.

Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 17 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 21 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 23 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the expression “, lifeboatman or steersman” appearing in the second and third lines thereof and substituting therefor the words “or lifeboatman”.

Subsection (2) of section 25 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the expression “, steersman,” appearing in the second line thereof.

Subsection (2) of section 163 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Director” appearing therein and substituting therefor the words “Port Master”.

Subsection (2) of section 197 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Director” appearing in the first line thereof and substituting therefor the words “Port Master”.

Section 211 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“Licences for brokers211.—

Section 213 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“Acting as pilgrim broker without licence

213. Any person who without a licence from the Minister acts as a pilgrim broker shall be liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars.”.

Section 215 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 268 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the expression “steersman;” appearing in the nineteenth line of the definition “the holder of a local certificate” therein.

Section 305 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“Receiver of wrecks

305. The Authority shall have the general supervision throughout Singapore over all matters relating to wrecks and may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint any person to be the receiver of wreck in any district and to perform the duties of receiver under this Part.”.

Subsection (1) of section 306 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “a British or foreign” appearing in the first line thereof and substituting therefor the word “any”.

Section 311 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 314 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Director” appearing in the third line thereof and substituting therefor the words “Port Master”.

Subsection (1) of section 316 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “fifty” appearing in paragraph (a) thereof and substituting therefor the words “one thousand”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately above section 317 thereof appearing under the sub-heading “ Unclaimed Wreck” thereto the following new section: —“Right of Government to unclaimed wreck316A. The Government is entitled to all unclaimed wreck found in any part of Singapore except in places where the Government has granted to any person the right to that wreck.”.

Section 319 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Subsection (1) of section 324 of the principal Act is hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —“(1) Where the services are rendered wholly or in part within Singapore in saving life from any vessel, or elsewhere in saving life from any Singapore vessel, there shall be payable to the salvor by the owner of the vessel, cargo or apparel saved, a reasonable amount of salvage to be determined in case of dispute in the manner hereinafter mentioned.”.

Section 327 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the words “not exceeding fifty dollars as the Minister” appearing in the fifth and sixth lines thereof and substituting therefor the words “as the Authority”.

Subsection (3) of section 329 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Minister” appearing in the first line thereof and substituting therefor the word “Authority”.

Section 335 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 336 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“Application of Part X336. This Part shall apply to all vessels which are within the territorial waters of Singapore.”.

Section 337 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“Power of Port Master to give directions as to anchorage or berthage

337. The Director or the Port Master may, outside the limits of any port, direct where any vessel shall be berthed, moored or anchored, and may direct the removal of any vessel from one berth, station or anchorage to another berth, station or anchorage, and the time within which such removal is to be effected.”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 337 thereof the following new section: —“Power to prohibit vessels from entering Singapore337A. The Director or the Port Master may prohibit any vessel from entering the territorial waters of Singapore if he is of the opinion that it would not be in the interests of Singapore for such vessel to enter or remain in Singapore.”.

Section 338 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 339 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 340 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“No ship to leave port without port clearance340.—

Section 341 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Director” appearing in the third line of subsection (1) thereof and in the marginal note thereto and substituting therefor in each case the words “Port Master”.

Subsections (2) and (3) of section 342 of the principal Act are hereby deleted and the following substituted therefor: —“(2) Where under this Act or any other written law a ship is to be detained, the Port Master shall, and where under this Act or any other written law a ship may be detained, the Port Master may, refuse to issue a port clearance to that ship.(3) The Port Master may refuse to issue a port clearance to any ship whose owner or master has not complied with, or has been charged with an offence under, any of the provisions of this Act or any other written law.”.

Section 343 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Director” appearing in the first and in the fourth lines thereof and substituting therefor in each case the words “Port Master”.

Section 344 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “Director” appearing in the third line thereof and substituting therefor the words “Port Master”.

Section 346 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “hundred” appearing in the ninth line thereof and substituting therefor the word “thousand”.

Sections 349 to 360 of the principal Act are hereby repealed.

Section 361 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 363 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

Section 366 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“Court for trial of offences

366. Unless the context otherwise requires, any offence under this Act or the Merchant Shipping Acts may be tried by a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court and such Court shall, notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 113) and any other written law, have jurisdiction to impose the maximum penalty provided for by this Act and the Merchant Shipping Acts.”.

Section 367 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the expression “Director,” appearing in the fourth line thereof the expression “the Port Master,”.

Section 371 of the principal Act and the sub-heading thereto are hereby repealed.

Subsection (1) of section 390 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the word “Director” appearing in the first line thereof the expression “, the Port Master”.

The principal Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 391 thereof the following new section: —“Protection to Authority391A. The Authority and every officer of the Authority shall not be liable for any suit, claim or demand by reason of anything in good faith done or refused pursuant to this Act.”.

In any written law and in any document whatsoever unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to the officer of the Government whose duty it is to grant port clearance to any vessel shall be construed as a reference to the Port Master.