Merchant Shipping (Wreck Removal) Act 2017 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Locating, Marking and Removal of Wrecks
8. Removal of wrecks
Feedback & supportThe Director may remove a wreck which the Director has determined to constitute a hazard —
Director
“Director” means the Director of Marine appointed under section 4 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and includes the Deputy Director of Marine appointed under that section;
where the registered owner of the ship does not remove the wreck within the deadline specified in the notice mentioned in section 7(2);
where the registered owner of the ship cannot be contacted; or
where the Director has determined that having regard to the nature of the hazard immediate action must be taken to remove the wreck.
Where the Director removes a wreck under subsection (1), the Director must do so by the most practical and expeditious means available, consistent with considerations of safety and protection of the marine environment.
wreck
“wreck”, following upon a maritime casualty, means —(a)a sunken or stranded ship;(b)any part of a sunken or stranded ship, including any object that is or has been on board such a ship;(c)any object that is lost at sea from a ship and that is stranded, sunken or adrift at sea; or(d)a ship that is about, or may reasonably be expected, to sink or to strand, where effective measures to assist the ship or any property in danger are not already being taken.
The Director —
may sell any wreck, free of liens and encumbrances and in the manner the Director thinks fit;
may take out of the proceeds of the sale of the wreck the expenses incurred by the Director in relation to the sale as reimbursement; and
must hold the surplus of the proceeds of the sale (if any) in trust for the persons entitled to the surplus of the proceeds of sale.