Prevention of Pollution ofthe Sea Act 1990 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Prevention of Pollution Fromland and Apparatus
4. Special defences to section 3
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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 is 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.
occupier
“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 vehicle and not the occupier of the land on which the wagon or vehicle stands;
Without affecting subsection (1), it is 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.
place on land
“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;
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 is (without affecting any other defence under this section) a defence to prove —
discharge
“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 —(a)release of harmful substances directly arising from the exploration, exploitation and associated off‑shore processing of seabed mineral resources; or(b)release of harmful substances for purposes of legitimate scientific research into pollution abatement or control;
that the oil was contained in an effluent produced by operations for the refining of oil;
that it was not reasonably practicable to dispose of the effluent otherwise than by discharging it into Singapore waters; and
that all reasonably practicable steps had been taken for eliminating oil from the effluent.
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) does 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.
oily mixture
“oily mixture” means a mixture with an oil content of 15 parts or more in 1 million parts of the mixture;
Where any oil or oily mixture is discharged in consequence of the removal of sunk, stranded or abandoned ships by the Authority in exercise of any power conferred by any 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.
oil
“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 foregoing, includes the substances prescribed by regulations as being listed in Appendix I of Annex I of the Convention;