Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Bill

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“appointed authority” means the Director of Marine, the Port of Singapore Authority and any person appointed by the Minister for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;

“Convention” means the Convention of 1973 as modified and added to by the Protocol of 1978;

“Convention of 1973” means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (including its protocols, annexes and appendices) which constitutes attachment 1 to the final act of the International Conference on Marine Pollution signed in London on 2nd November 1973;

“Director” means the Director of Marine appointed under section 6 of the Merchant Shipping Act [Cap. 179] and includes the Deputy Director of Marine appointed under that section;

“discharge”, in relation to harmful substances or effluents containing such substances, means any release howsoever caused from a ship, place or thing and includes any escape, disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting or emptying but does not include —

“garbage” means all kinds of victual, domestic and operational waste excluding fresh fish and parts thereof, generated during the normal operation of the ship and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically except sewage originating from ships;

“harmful substance” means any substance which, if introduced into the sea, is liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, and includes any substance subject to control under this Act;

“inspector” means a person who —

“in packaged form” means in an individual package or receptacle including a freight container or a portable tank or tank container or tank vehicle or shipborne barge or other cargo unit containing harmful substances for shipment;

“marine pollutant” means a substance which is identified as a marine pollutant in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time;

“MARPOL” refers to the Convention;

“MARPOL surveyor” means a surveyor appointed or registered by the Director or by or on behalf of the government of a state party to the Convention;

“master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of any ship;

“noxious liquid substance” means any substance which is prescribed by regulations as being a noxious liquid substance and which is subject to the provisions of Annex II of the Convention;

“occupier”, in relation to any place on land if it has no actual occupier, means the owner thereof and, in relation to a railway wagon or road vehicle, means the person in charge of the wagon or road vehicle and not the occupier of the land on which the wagon or vehicle stands;

“oil” means petroleum in any form including crude oil, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and refined products (other than petrochemicals which are prescribed by regulations as being subject to the provisions of Annex II of the Convention) and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes the substances prescribed by regulations as being listed in Appendix I of Annex I of the Convention;

“oily mixture” means a mixture with an oil content of 15 parts or more in 1,000,000 parts of the mixture;

“oil residues” means any waste material consisting of, or arising from, oil or an oily mixture;

“oil terminal” means any place having permanent means of loading or discharging oil whether in bulk or package, into or from any 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 or the bareboat charterer of the ship; and in the case of a ship owned by a state and operated by a company which in that state is registered as the ship’s operator, “owner” shall include such state;

“place on land” includes anything resting on the bed or shore of the sea, or of Singapore waters, and also includes anything afloat (other than a ship) if it is anchored or attached to the bed or shore of the sea or of Singapore waters;

“plastics” includes, but is not limited to, synthetic ropes, synthetic fishing nets and plastic garbage bags;

“port” has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Port of Singapore Authority Act [Cap. 236];

“Port Master” means the Port Master appointed under section 30 of the Port of Singapore Authority Act and includes any Deputy Port Master appointed under that section;

“Port of Singapore Authority” means the Port of Singapore Authority established under the Port of Singapore Authority Act;

“Protocol of 1978” means the Protocol relating to the Convention of 1973 which constitutes attachment 2 to the final act of the International Conference on Tanker Safety and Pollution Prevention signed in London on 17th February 1978;

“reception facilities” means facilities which enable ships to discharge or deposit residues and mixtures, which residues and mixtures contain oil or noxious liquid substances;

“ship” means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats, air cushion vehicles, submersibles, floating craft and fixed or floating platforms;

“Singapore ship” means a ship registered under Part XIII of the Merchant Shipping Act [Cap. 179];

“Singapore waters” means the following waters: (a)the whole of the sea within the seaward limits of the territorial waters of Singapore; and

“surveyor of ships” means a surveyor of ships appointed under section 8 of the Merchant Shipping Act;

“tank” means an enclosed space which is formed by the permanent structure of a ship and which is designed for the carriage of liquid in bulk;

“terminal” means any terminal, (including an oil terminal), jetty, pier or mono-buoy, and a yard or drydock (including the precincts thereof) in which vessels are constructed, reconstructed, repaired, refitted, finished or broken up;

“terminal operator” means a person or body of persons, other than the Port of Singapore Authority, having, for the time being, the management of a terminal in Singapore;

“trade effluent” means the solid or liquid waste of any trade, business or manufacture.

For the purpose of any provision of this Act relating to the discharge of oil, an oily mixture, refuse, garbage, waste matter, plastics, marine pollutant in packaged form, noxious liquid substance or trade effluent from a ship, any floating craft other than a ship which is attached to a ship shall be treated as part of the ship.

Any reference in this Act to the discharge of any oil or noxious liquid substance from a ship or place on land shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to the discharge of the oil or substance from the ship or place on land at any place in or outside the area of Singapore and the reference to the area of Singapore shall include the territorial waters of Singapore.

If any refuse, garbage, waste matter, plastics, marine pollutant in packaged form or trade effluent is discharged from any ship into Singapore waters or into any part of the sea or waters outside Singapore waters and the refuse, garbage, matter, plastics, pollutant or effluent subsequently drifts or flows into Singapore waters, the owner of the ship shall be liable for the costs of any measure reasonably taken by the appointed authority after the discharge for the purpose of removing it and for preventing or reducing any damage caused in Singapore by contamination resulting from the discharge.

Where the refuse, garbage, waste matter, plastics, marine pollutant in packaged form or trade effluent is discharged from two or more ships —

If any oil, oily mixture or noxious liquid substance is discharged from any ship into Singapore waters or into any part of the sea or waters outside Singapore waters and the oil, mixture or substance subsequently flows or drifts into Singapore waters, the owner of the ship shall be liable for the costs of any measures reasonably taken by the appointed authority after the discharge for the purpose of removing it and for preventing or reducing any damage caused in Singapore by contamination resulting from the discharge.

Where the oil, oily mixture or noxious liquid substance is discharged from two or more ships and a liability is incurred under this section by the owner of each of them but 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 and severally with the other or others, for the whole of the damage or cost for which the owners together would be liable under this section.

The reference in this section to the measures reasonably taken after the discharge of oil, an oily mixture or a noxious liquid substance for the purpose of preventing or reducing any damage caused by contamination resulting from the discharge shall include actions taken to remove the oil, oily mixture or substance from the water and foreshores or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to minimise or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare, including, but not limited to fish, shellfish, wildlife, and public and private property, foreshores and beaches.

This section shall not apply in relation to any discharge of oil or an oily mixture where section 3 of the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act [Cap. 180] applies.

Where a person is charged with an offence under section 3 as the occupier of a place on land, or as the person in charge of any apparatus, from which the oil or oily mixture is alleged to have been discharged, it shall be a defence to prove that the discharge of the oil or oily mixture was not due to any want of reasonable care, and that as soon as practicable after the discharge was discovered all reasonable steps were taken for stopping or reducing it.

Without prejudice to subsection (1), it shall be a defence for the occupier of a place on land, who is charged with an offence under section 3, to prove that the discharge was caused by the act of a person who was in that place without the permission (express or implied) of the occupier.

Where a person is charged with an offence under section 3 in respect of the discharge of an oily mixture from a place on land, it shall (without prejudice to any other defence under this section) be a defence to prove —

Where it is proved that, at the time to which the charge relates, the surface of the waters into which the oily mixture was discharged or the land adjacent to those waters was fouled by oil, the defence under subsection (3) shall not apply unless the court is satisfied that the fouling was not caused, or contributed to, by oil contained in any effluent discharged at or before that time from that place.

Where any oil or oily mixture is discharged in consequence of the removal of sunk, stranded or abandoned ships by the Port of Singapore Authority in exercise of any power conferred by written law, and apart from this subsection the Authority or a person employed by or acting on behalf of the Authority would be guilty of an offence under section 3 in respect of that discharge, the Authority or person shall not be convicted of that offence unless it is shown that the Authority or that person failed to take such steps (if any) as were reasonable in the circumstances for preventing, stopping or reducing the discharge.

Subject to subsection (2) and any regulations made under subsection (5), if any disposal or discharge of refuse, garbage, waste matter, trade effluent, plastics or marine pollutant in packaged form occurs from any ship into Singapore waters, 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 $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

Subsection (1) shall not apply to the disposal or discharge of refuse, garbage, waste matter, trade effluent, plastics or marine pollutant in packaged form from a ship —

Subsection (1) shall not apply where a synthetic fishing net, or synthetic material used in the repair of such a net, on a ship is lost at sea, and all reasonable precautions were taken to prevent the loss.

For the purposes of subsection (2), damage to a ship or to its equipment shall be taken to be intentional damage, if the damage arose in circumstances in which the master, the owner or the agent of the ship —

The Minister may 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 descriptions of refuse, garbage, waste matter, trade effluent, plastics or marine pollutant in packaged form or to the disposal or discharge thereof in prescribed circumstances, or in relation to particular areas of the sea.

Subject to subsection (2) and any regulations made under subsection (4), if any discharge of oil or an oily mixture occurs from a Singapore ship into any part of the sea or from any ship into Singapore waters, 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 of not less than $500 and not more than $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

Subsection (1) shall not apply to the discharge of oil or an oily mixture from a ship —

For the purposes of subsection (2), damage to a ship or to its equipment shall be taken to be intentional damage, if the damage arose in circumstances in which the master, the owner or the agent of the ship —

The Minister may 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 descriptions of oil or oily mixtures or to the discharge of oil or oily mixtures in prescribed circumstances, or in relation to particular areas of the sea.

Subject to subsection (2), if any oil residues that cannot be discharged from a Singapore ship into the sea without contravening section 7 are not retained on board the ship, the master and the owner of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500,000.

Oil residues may be discharged from a ship to a reception facility provided in accordance with section 11.

Subject to subsection (2) and any regulations made under subsection (4), if any discharge of a noxious liquid substance, or of a mixture containing a noxious liquid substance, being a substance or mixture carried as cargo or part cargo in bulk, occurs from a Singapore ship into the sea or from any ship into Singapore waters, 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 $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

Subsection (1) shall not apply to the discharge of a noxious liquid substance or a mixture containing such substance from a ship —

For the purposes of subsection (2), damage to a ship or to its equipment shall be taken to be intentional damage if the damage arose in circumstances in which the master, the owner or the agent of the ship —

The Minister may 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 descriptions of noxious liquid substances or mixtures containing such substances or to the discharge of such substances or mixtures in prescribed circumstances, or in relation to particular areas of the sea.

The powers exercisable by the Port of Singapore Authority in respect of the port shall include power to provide reception facilities for ships using the port or any terminal in Singapore.

Any power of the Port of Singapore Authority to provide reception facilities shall include —

Subject to any directions given by the Minister under subsection (5), the Port of Singapore Authority in respect of the port (excluding terminals within the port which are not managed by the Authority) and a terminal operator in respect of his terminal shall ensure that —

The Port of Singapore Authority or a terminal operator shall provide the Minister with such information as the Minister directs in respect of any reception facilities provided by or by arrangement with the Authority or the operator at the port or terminal, as the case may be.

Where it appears to the Minister, after consultation with any organisation appearing to the Minister to be the representative of owners of ships registered in Singapore, the Port of Singapore Authority and, where appropriate, the terminal operator, that if the port (excluding terminals within the port which are not managed by the Authority) or a terminal managed by the operator —

Any person who fails to comply with any direction given under subsection (4) or (5) within the period specified in the direction, or within any extended period allowed by the Minister (whether before or after the end of the period so specified) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.

Subsections (3) to (6) shall not apply unless the port (excluding terminals within the port which are not managed by the Port of Singapore Authority) or a terminal managed by a terminal operator is —

The Minister may make regulations in respect of every matter relating to the provision of reception facilities and other facilities for ships to deposit refuse, garbage, plastics or sewage and, in particular, those regulations may provide —

The Minister may make regulations requiring oil record books to be carried in all Singapore ships and in all ships in Singapore waters and requiring the master of any such ship to record in the oil record book carried by it —

The Minister may make regulations requiring the keeping of records relating to the transfer of oil to and from ships while they are in Singapore waters.

The requirements of any regulations made under subsection (2) shall be in addition to the requirements of any regulations made under subsection (1).

Any records required to be kept by any regulations made under subsection (2) shall, unless the ship is a barge, be kept by the master of the ship and shall, if the ship is a barge, be kept, in so far as they relate to the transfer of oil to the barge, by the person supplying the oil and, in so far as they relate to the transfer of oil from the barge, by the person to whom the oil is delivered.

Regulations made under this section requiring the carrying of oil record books or the keeping of records may —

The Minister may make regulations requiring cargo record books to be carried in all Singapore ships and in all ships in Singapore waters, being ships which carry noxious liquid substances in bulk and requiring the master of any such ship to record in the cargo record book carried by it —

The Minister may make regulations requiring the keeping of records relating to the transfer of noxious liquid substances to and from ships while they are in Singapore waters.

The requirements of any regulations made under subsection (2) shall be in addition to the requirements of any regulations made under subsection (1).

Any records required to be kept by any regulations made under subsection (2) shall be kept by the master of the ship.

Regulations made under this section requiring the carrying of cargo record books or the keeping of records may —

If any ship fails to carry an oil record book or cargo record book as is required under section 12 or 13, the owner, the agent or the master of that ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.

Any person who fails to comply with any of the requirements imposed by section 12 or 13 or any regulations made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.

Any person who makes an entry in any oil record book or cargo record book carried or any record kept under section 12 or 13 which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material particular shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.

In any proceedings under this Act —

If any actual or probable discharge of any harmful substance occurs in prescribed circumstances from a Singapore ship into any part of the sea or from any ship into Singapore waters, the master of the ship shall without delay report the occurrence in such manner and to such officer as may be prescribed.

It is a defence if a person charged with an offence against subsection (1) proves that he was unable to comply with that subsection in relation to the relevant occurrence.

Where a discharge referred to in subsection (1) occurs and —

Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.

On the prosecution of a person for an offence under subsection (3), it is a defence if the person proves —

An inspector may exercise the powers referred to in subsection (2) only for the purpose of ascertaining —

An inspector may for any of the purposes referred to in subsection (1) —

Any person who —

Where the Director or Port Master has reasonable cause to believe that a ship which proposes to enter the port does not comply with the requirements of this Act or any regulations made thereunder, he may deny the entry of such ship to the port.

Where the Director or Port Master has reasonable cause to believe that a ship —

The Director or Port Master may release a ship detained under subsection (2) if the owner of the ship deposits with the Government or the Port of Singapore Authority a sum of money or furnishes such security which would, in the opinion of the Director or Port Master, be adequate to meet the owner’s liability under this Act.

Section 3(1)(d) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act [Cap. 123] shall be construed as extending to any claim in respect of a liability incurred by the owner of a ship under this Act.

If any ship is detained under section 23(2) and the ship proceeds to sea before it is released by the Director or Port Master, the master of the ship, the owner thereof and any person who sends the ship to sea, if that master, owner or person is party or privy to the act of sending the ship to sea, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

The Director or Port Master or any officer authorised by the Director or Port Master to detain a ship may, if he thinks it necessary, place a police officer on board as a guard (referred to in this section as a police guard).

Where a ship proceeding to sea takes to sea when any officer authorised to detain the ship, police guard or inspector is on board in the execution of his duty, the owner and the master of the ship shall each be liable to pay all expenses of and incidental to the officer, police guard or inspector being so taken to sea, and also to a fine not exceeding $2,000, or not exceeding $200 for every day until the officer, police guard or inspector returns or until such time as would enable him after leaving the ship to return to the port from which he is taken, and the expenses ordered to be paid may be recoverable as a fine.

Any police guard so placed on board a ship may take such steps as are necessary to prevent the ship from leaving the port.

Any person who opposes or in any way obstructs any officer authorised to detain the ship, a police guard or an inspector shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

This Act shall not apply to any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a State (including the Government) and used for the time being, only on government non-commercial service.

The Minister may in his discretion exempt any ship or person from any of the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder.

Any exemption granted by the Minister under subsection (2) may be granted subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit and the exemption shall not have effect unless those conditions are complied with.

The Government may, by its officers, employees, agents or contractors, enter upon any land adjoining the sea or foreshore for the purpose of removing or eliminating any oil, oily mixture, refuse, garbage, waste matter, plastics, marine pollutant in packaged form, noxious liquid substance or trade effluent from Singapore waters.

The Government shall pay compensation to the owner of the land for any permanent damage caused to the land in the exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (1).

If any dispute arises as to the amount of compensation payable to the owner of such land, the dispute may be summarily determined by a Magistrate’s Court or a District Court.

Except as provided in subsection (2), no action shall be brought against the Government for any compensation in respect of any damage caused arising out of the exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (1).

The Director, the Port Master, a police officer or any person authorised in writing by the Director or Port Master, may arrest without warrant any person who has committed or whom he reasonably believes to have committed an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder and take him before a Magistrate’s Court or a District Court, as the case may be, to be dealt with according to law.

Any article concerning, by or for which an offence has been committed may be seized and taken to a police station, unless given up sooner by order of a Magistrate’s Court or a District Court, until the charge is decided in due course of law.

The Director may, by instrument in writing under his hand, appoint persons who in his opinion are qualified to be analysts for the purposes of this Act.

Subject to subsection (4), a certificate of an analyst appointed under subsection (1) stating that he has analysed or examined a substance and stating the result of his analysis or examination is admissible in evidence in any proceeding for an offence under this Act as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate and of the correctness of the result of the analysis or examination.

For the purposes of this section, a document purporting to be a certificate referred to in subsection (2) on its production by the prosecution shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate.

A certificate referred to in subsection (2) shall not be received in evidence in pursuance of that subsection unless the person charged has been given a copy of the certificate together with reasonable notice of the intention of the prosecution to produce the certificate as evidence in the proceedings.

Where a certificate of an analyst appointed under subsection (1) is admitted in evidence under subsection (2), the person charged may require the analyst to be called as a witness for the prosecution and the analyst may be cross-examined as if he had given evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

The Director, Port Master or any person authorised in writing by the Director or Port Master may compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $2,000.

The Minister may make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.

The Minister may make such regulations as appear to him necessary or expedient for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act and for prescribing anything which may be prescribed under this Act and, in particular, for the purpose of giving effect to the following:

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may by such regulations —

Any regulations made under this section may —

The Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act [Cap. 243] is repealed.

Notwithstanding the repeal of the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act, the provisions of that Act shall continue to apply in relation to —