Act of Parliament · 1985 Revised Edition
Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act
Feedback & supportCivil liability for oil pollution by merchant shipsOfficial textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“Authority” means the Port of Singapore Authority established under the Port of Singapore Authority Act [Cap. 236];
“Convention” means the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage signed in Brussels in 1969;
“Convention country” means a country in respect of which the Convention is in force;
“Convention State” means a State which is a party to the Convention;
“Court” means the High Court of Singapore;
“damage” includes loss;
“Director” means the Director of Marine appointed under the Merchant Shipping Act [Cap. 179] and includes the Deputy Director of Marine appointed thereunder;
“master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of a ship;
“oil” means any persistent oil such as crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil, lubricating oil and whale oil, whether carried on board a ship as cargo or in the bunkers of such a ship;
“owner”, in relation to a ship, means the person registered as the owner of the ship, or, in the absence of registration, the person owning the ship, except that, in relation to a ship owned by a State which is operated by a person registered as the ship’s operator, it means the person registered as the operator;
“port” has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Port of Singapore Authority Act;
“ship” means any sea-going vessel and any seaborne craft of any type whatsoever carrying oil in bulk as cargo;
“Singapore ship” means a ship registered under Part XIII of the Merchant Shipping Act.
References in this Act to the area of Singapore include the territorial waters of Singapore and references to the area of any other Convention country include the territorial sea of that Convention country.
Where, as a result of any occurrence taking place while a ship is carrying a cargo of oil in bulk, any oil carried by the ship (whether as part of the cargo or otherwise) is discharged or escapes from the ship, the owner of the ship shall be liable, except as otherwise provided by this Act —
for any damage caused in the area of Singapore by contamination resulting from the discharge or escape;
for the cost of any measures reasonably taken after the discharge or escape for the purpose of preventing or reducing any such damage in the area of Singapore; and
for any damage caused in the area of Singapore by any measures so taken.
Where a person incurs a liability under subsection (1), he shall also be liable for any damage or cost for which he would be liable under that subsection if the references therein to the area of Singapore included the area of any other Convention country.
Where oil is discharged or escapes from two or more ships and —
a liability is incurred under this section by the owner of each of them; but(b)the damage or cost of which each of the owners would be liable cannot reasonably be separated from that for which the other or others would be liable,each of the owners shall be liable, jointly with the other or others, for the damage or cost for which the owners together would be liable under this section.
In relation to any damage or loss resulting from the discharge or escape of any oil from a ship, references in this Act to the owner of the ship are references to the owner at the time of the occurrence or first of the occurrences resulting in the discharge or escape.
For the purposes of this Act, where more than one discharge or escape results from the same occurrence or from a series of occurrences having the same origin, they shall be treated as one; but any measures taken after the first of them shall be deemed to have been taken after the discharge or escape.
The Contributory Negligence and Personal Injuries Act [Cap. 54] shall apply in relation to any damage or cost for which a person is liable under this section, but which is not due to his fault, as if it were due to his fault.
s 4Exceptions from liability under section 3
The owner of a ship from which oil has been discharged or has escaped shall not incur any liability under section 3 if he proves that the discharge or escape —
resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war, insurrection or an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible natural phenomenon;
was due wholly to anything done or left undone by another person, not being an employee or agent of the owner, with intent to do damage; or
was due wholly to the negligence or wrongful act of a government or other authority in exercising its functions of maintaining lights or other navigational aids for the maintenance of which it was responsible.
s 5Restriction of liability for oil pollution
Where, as a result of any occurrence taking place while a ship is carrying a cargo of oil in bulk, any oil carried by the ship is discharged or escapes then, whether or not the owner incurs a liability under section 3 —
he shall not be liable otherwise than under that section for any such damage or cost as is mentioned therein; and
no employee or agent of the owner nor any person performing salvage or cleaning operations with the agreement of the owner shall be liable for any such damage or cost.
Where the owner of a ship incurs a liability under section 3 by reason of a discharge or an escape which occurred without his actual fault or privity —
section 272 of the Merchant Shipping Act [Cap. 179] (relating to the limitation of liability) shall not apply in relation to that liability; but(b)he may limit that liability in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and if he does so his liability (that is to say, the aggregate of his liabilities under section 3 resulting from the discharge or escape) shall not exceed 133 special drawing rights for each ton of the ship’s tonnage nor (where that tonnage would result in a greater amount) 14 million special drawing rights.
For the purposes of this section, the tonnage of a ship shall be ascertained as follows: —
if the ship is a Singapore ship, its tonnage shall be taken to be its registered tonnage increased, where a deduction has been made for engine room space in arriving at that tonnage, by the amount of that deduction;
if the ship is not a ship as is mentioned in paragraph (a) and it is possible to ascertain what would be its registered tonnage if it were registered in Singapore, that paragraph shall apply (with the necessary modifications) as if the ship were so registered;
if the ship is not a ship as is mentioned in paragraph (a) and it is not possible to ascertain its tonnage in accordance with paragraph (b), its tonnage shall be taken to be 40% of the weight (expressed in tons of 1,016 kilograms) of oil which the ship is capable of carrying;
if the tonnage of the ship cannot be ascertained in accordance with paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), the Director shall, if so directed by the Court, certify what, on the evidence specified in the direction, would in his opinion be the tonnage of the ship if ascertained in accordance with those paragraphs, and the tonnage stated in his certificate shall be taken to be the tonnage of the ship.
Where the owner of a ship has or is alleged to have incurred a liability under section 3, he may apply to the Court for the limitation of that liability to an amount determined in accordance with section 6.
If on such an application the Court finds that the applicant has incurred such a liability and is entitled to limit it, the Court shall, after determining the limit of liability and directing payment into Court or to the Authority of the amount of that limit —
determine the amounts that would, apart from the limit, be due in respect of the liability to the several persons making claims in the proceedings; and
direct the distribution of the amount paid into Court or to the Authority (or, as the case may be, so much of it as does not exceed the liability) among those persons in proportion to their claims, subject to subsections (4), (5), (6) and (7).
A payment into Court or to the Authority of the amount of a limit determined in pursuance of this section shall be made in Singapore dollars; and
for the purpose of converting such an amount from special drawing rights into Singapore dollars one special drawing right shall be treated as equal to such a sum in Singapore dollars as the International Monetary Fund has fixed as being the equivalent of one special drawing right for —
the day on which the determination is made; or
if no sum has been so fixed for that day, the last day before that day for which a sum has been so fixed;
a certificate given by or on behalf of the Minister for Finance stating —
that a particular sum in Singapore dollars has been so fixed for the day on which the determination was made; or
that no sum has been so fixed for that day and that a particular sum in Singapore dollars has been so fixed for a day which is the last day for which a sum has been so fixed before the day on which the determination was made,shall be conclusive evidence of those matters for the purposes of this Act; and
a document purporting to be such a certificate shall, in any proceedings, be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate.
No claim shall be admitted in proceedings under this section unless it is made within such time as the Court may direct or such further time as the Court may allow.
Where any sum has been paid in or towards satisfaction of any claim in respect of the damage or cost to which the liability extends —
by the owner or the person referred to in section 15 as the insurer; or
by a person who has or is alleged to have incurred a liability, otherwise than under section 3, for the damage or cost and who is entitled to limit his liability in connection with the ship by virtue of section 272 of the Merchant Shipping Act [Cap. 179],the person who paid the sum shall, to the extent of that sum, be in the same position with respect to any distribution made in proceedings under this section as the person to whom it was paid would have been.
Where the person who incurred the liability has voluntarily made any reasonable sacrifice or taken any other reasonable measures to prevent or reduce damage to which the liability extends or might have extended, he shall be in the same position with respect to any distribution made in proceedings under this section as if he had a claim in respect of the liability equal to the cost of the sacrifice or other measures.
The Court may, if it thinks fit, postpone the distribution of such part of the amount to be distributed as it considers appropriate having regard to any claims that may later be established before a court of any country outside Singapore.
s 8Restriction on enforcement of claims after establishment of limitation fund
Where the Court has found that a person who has incurred a liability under section 3 is entitled to limit that liability to any amount and he has paid into Court or to the Authority a sum not less than that amount —
the Court shall order the release of any ship or other property arrested in connection with a claim in respect of that liability or any security given to prevent or obtain release from such an arrest; and
no judgment or decree for any such claim shall be enforced, except so far as it is for costs if the sum paid into Court or to the Authority or such part thereof as corresponds to the claim, will be actually available to the claimant or would have been available to him if the proper steps in the proceedings under section 7 had been taken.
s 9Concurrent liabilities of owners and others
Where, as a result of any discharge or escape of oil from a ship, the owner of the ship incurs a liability under section 3 and any other person incurs a liability, otherwise than under that section for any such damage or cost as is mentioned in subsection (1) of that section, then, if —
the owner has been found, in proceedings under section 7, to be entitled to limit his liability to any amount and has paid into Court or to the Authority a sum not less than that amount; and
the other person is entitled to limit his liability in connection with the ship by virtue of section 272 of the Merchant Shipping Act [Cap. 179],no proceedings shall be taken against the other person in respect of his liability, and if any such proceedings were commenced before the owner paid the sum into Court or to the Authority, no further steps shall be taken in the proceedings except in relation to costs.
s 10Establishment of limitation fund outside Singapore
Where the events resulting in the liability of any person under section 3 also resulted in a corresponding liability under the law of another Convention country, sections 8 and 9 shall apply as if the references to sections 3 and 7 included references to the corresponding provisions of that law and the references to sums paid into Court included references to any sums secured under these provisions in respect of the liability.
Sections 6 to 10 shall not apply to a ship which at the time of the discharge or escape was registered in a country —
which was not a Convention country; and
which was a country in respect of which the 1957 Convention was in force.
In this section, “the 1957 Convention” means the International Convention relating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Sea-going Ships signed in Brussels on 10th October 1957.
If the Minister, by order published in the Gazette, declares that any country —
is not a Convention country within the meaning of this Act; and
is a country in respect of which the 1957 Convention is in force,or that it was such a country at a time specified in the order, the order shall, while in force, be conclusive evidence of the facts stated in the order.
s 12Extinguishment of claims
No action to enforce a claim in respect of a liability incurred under section 3 shall be entertained by any court in Singapore unless the action is commenced not later than 3 years after the claim arose nor later than 6 years after the occurrences or first of the occurrences resulting in the discharge or escape by reason of which the liability was incurred.