On 19/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 30/12/1999.
PART VI
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
22.
—(1) An inspector may exercise the powers referred to in subsection (2) only for the purpose of ascertaining —
(a)
whether a provision of this Act or any regulations made thereunder that is applicable in relation to a Singapore ship has been complied with in respect of that ship;
(b)
whether there has been a discharge from a ship in contravention of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;
(c)
whether a provision of the Convention that is applicable in relation to a ship other than a Singapore ship has been complied with in respect of that ship; or
(d)
whether a provision of a law of a country other than Singapore giving effect to the Convention, being a provision that is applicable in relation to a ship other than a Singapore ship, has been complied with in respect of that ship.
(2) An inspector may for any of the purposes referred to in subsection (1) —
(a)
go on board a ship with such assistants and equipment as he considers necessary;
(b)
require the master of a ship to take such steps as the inspector directs to facilitate the boarding;
(c)
inspect and test any machinery or equipment of a ship;
(d)
require the master of a ship to take such steps as the inspector directs to facilitate the inspection or testing of any machinery or equipment of the ship;
(e)
open, or require the master of a ship to cause to be opened, any hold, bunker, tank, compartment or receptacle in or on board the ship and inspect the contents of any hold, bunker, tank, compartment or receptacle in or on board the ship;
(f)
require the master of a ship to produce a record book required by any regulations made under this Act to be carried in the ship or any other books, documents or records relating to the ship or its cargo that are carried in the ship;
(g)
make copies of, or take extracts from, any such books, documents or records;
(h)
require the master of a ship to certify that a true copy of an entry in a record book required by any regulations made under this Act to be carried in the ship is a true copy of such an entry;
(i)
examine, and take samples of, any substances on board a ship; and
(j)
require a person to answer questions.
(3) Any person who —
(a)
without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply with a requirement made of him by an inspector in the exercise of his powers under subsection (2); or
(b)
in answer to a question that he is required to answer under subsection (2), makes a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
23.
—(1) 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.
(2) Where the Director or Port Master has reasonable cause to believe that a ship —
(a)
has incurred a liability under section 17 or 18; or
(b)
has contravened any of the requirements of this Act or any regulations made thereunder and, in the opinion of the Director or Port Master, the ship presents an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment or has caused harm to such environment,
the Director or Port Master or any officer authorised in writing by the Director or Port Master may detain that ship.
(3) 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 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.
[7/96]
(4) 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.
24.
—(1) 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.
(2) 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).
(3) 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.
(4) Any police guard so placed on board a ship may take such steps as are necessary to prevent the ship from leaving the port.
(5) 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.
25. Where the owner, master or agent of a ship has been convicted of an offence under the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder and any fine imposed in respect of the conviction is not paid at the time ordered by the court, the court shall, in addition to any power for enforcing payment, have the power to direct the amount remaining unpaid to be levied by distress and sale of the ship, her tackle, furniture and apparel.
26.
—(1) 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.
(2) The Minister may in his discretion exempt any ship or person from any of the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder.
(3) 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.
27.
—(1) 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.
(2) 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).
(3) 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.
(4) 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).
28.
—(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.
(2) 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.
29. The Director may appoint such officers as he may think fit for the purpose of exercising the powers conferred and performing the duties imposed on the Director under this Act and any regulations made thereunder.
30. No act or omission by the Minister, the Director, Port Master, any officer employed in the administration of this Act or any other person acting under the direction of the Minister, the Director or Port Master shall, if the act or omission was bona fide for the purpose of executing this Act or any regulations made thereunder, subject them or any of them personally to any action, liability, claim or demand.
31.
—(1) 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.
(2) 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 proceedings 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
32. Any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be tried by a Magistrate’s Court or a District Court and that Court shall, notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68) and any other written law, have jurisdiction to impose the maximum penalty provided for by this Act or any regulations made thereunder.
33.
—(1) 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.
(2) The Minister may make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.
33A. All fines imposed for any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder and all sums collected under section 33 shall be paid into the funds of the Authority.
[8/99]
34.
—(1) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations as appear to the Authority 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 —
(a)
giving effect to any provision of the Convention which has not been given effect to in this Act;
(b)
giving effect to any provision of the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation 1990 (including the Final Act of the Conference and the attached resolutions) signed in London on 30th November 1990;
(c)
giving effect to any provision of any international agreement not mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) which relates to the prevention, reduction or control of pollution of the sea or pollution from ships;
(d)
giving effect to any international agreement which modifies any of the international agreements mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c); and
(e)
prescribing any measure which the Authority considers necessary for the prevention, control or reduction of pollution of the sea or pollution from ships.
[7/96; 8/99]
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, by such regulations —
(a)
require persons carrying on any trade, business or manufacture to install such equipment as may be prescribed by the Authority for the purpose of eliminating any oil in any trade effluent and for preventing or reducing the discharge of any trade effluent into Singapore waters;
(b)
require the owners or operators of cargo terminals, shipyards, oil refineries and oil terminals in Singapore, and such other facilities in Singapore as the Port Master may determine, to store such detergents, dispersants and equipment as the Authority may prescribe to deal with any pollution of Singapore waters;
(c)
provide for the conduct of investigations of casualties in respect of any discharge from a ship or any contravention of the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;
(d)
provide for the appointment, registration, duties and powers of MARPOL surveyors and the approval of the organisation employing such surveyors for the purposes of giving effect to Annex II to the Convention;
(e)
prescribe fees to be paid in respect of the issue or recording of any certificate, licence or other instrument or the doing of any other thing in pursuance of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;
(f)
provide for the approval of documents and the carrying out of surveys and inspections for the purpose of giving effect to any of the international agreements referred to in subsection (1)(a) to (d), or to a measure referred to in subsection (1)(e) and the issue, duration and recognition of any certificate for that purpose;
(g)
provide for the denial of entry or prohibition of proceeding to sea of any ship which does not have in force a certificate issued pursuant to any regulations made under paragraph (g); and
(h)
provide for the extra territorial application of any of the regulations to Singapore ships and to persons on board such ships.
[7/96; 8/99]
(3) Any regulations made under this section may —
(a)
make different provisions for different circumstances;
(b)
empower any specified person to grant exemption from any provisions of the regulations;
(c)
provide for the delegation of functions exercisable by virtue of the regulations;
(d)
include such incidental, supplemental and transitional provisions as appear to the Authority to be expedient for the purposes of the regulations; and
(e)
provide that a contravention thereof shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $20,000 or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or with both.
[7/96; 8/99]
35. This Act shall bind the Government.