On 19/06/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/06/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/06/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 02/01/2011.
PART VIII
LIABILITY OF SHIPOWNERS AND SALVORS FOR MARITIME CLAIMS
[56/2004 wef 01/05/2005]
134. In this Part —
“Convention” means the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976, as set out in the Schedule;
“ship” in the Convention includes —
(a)
any air-cushion vehicle designed to operate in or over water while so operating; and
(b)
any structure (whether completed or in the course of completion) launched and intended for use in navigation as a ship or part of a ship.
135.
—(1) Subject to subsection (3), the owner of a Singapore ship is not liable for any loss or damage —
(a)
where any property on board the ship is lost or damaged by reason of fire on board the ship; or
(b)
where any gold, silver, watches, jewels or precious stones on board the ship are lost or damaged by reason of theft, robbery or other dishonest conduct and their nature and value were not at the time of shipment declared by their owner or shipper to the owner or master of the ship in the bill of lading or otherwise in writing.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), where the loss or damage arises from anything done or omitted by any person in his capacity as master or member of the crew or (otherwise than in that capacity) in the course of his employment as a servant of the owner of the ship, subsection (1) also excludes the liability of —
(a)
the master, member of the crew or servant; and
(b)
in a case where the master or member of the crew is the servant of a person whose liability would not be excluded by that subsection apart from this paragraph, the person whose servant he is.
(3) This section does not exclude the liability of any person for any loss or damage resulting from any such personal act or omission of his as is mentioned in Article 4 of the Convention.
(4) In this section, “owner”, in relation to a ship, includes any part owner and any charterer, manager or operator of the ship.
136.
—(1) Subject to this Part, the provisions of the Convention, other than paragraph 1(d) and (e) of Article 2 of the Convention, shall have the force of law in Singapore.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph 3 of Article 6 of the Convention, it is hereby provided that a claim in respect of damage to harbour works, basins, waterways or aids to navigation has priority over any other claim under paragraph 1(b) of that Article.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Convention, the right to limit liability under the Convention applies in relation to any ship whether seagoing or not, and “shipowner” in that paragraph has a corresponding meaning.
137.
—(1) In the application of Article 6 of the Convention —
(a)
to a ship licensed as a harbour craft under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 170A), that Article has effect as if the aggregate of the amounts in paragraph 1(a)(i) and (b)(i) referred to the sum insured under the policy of insurance for the time being required by the Port Master under that Act to be in force in relation to that harbour craft in respect of third party risks; and
(b)
to any other ship with a tonnage less than 300 tons, that Article has effect as if —
(i)
paragraph 1(a)(i) referred to 166,667 Units of Account; and
(ii)
paragraph 1(b)(i) referred to 83,333 Units of Account.
(2) For the purposes of Article 6 of the Convention and subsection (1)(b), a ship’s tonnage is its gross tonnage calculated in such manner as may be prescribed by an order made by the Minister.
(3) Any order under this section shall, so far as appears to the Minister to be practicable, give effect to the regulations in Annex I of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969.
138. In the case of a passenger ship within the meaning of Part V, the ship’s certificate mentioned in paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Convention is the passenger ship’s certificate issued under or recognised by regulations made under section 100.
139.
—(1) The Authority may, from time to time, by order prescribe the rate of interest to be applied for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Convention.
(2) Where a fund is constituted with the High Court in accordance with Article 11 of the Convention for the payment of claims arising out of any occurrence, the Court may stay any proceedings relating to any claim arising out of that occurrence which are pending against the person by whom the fund has been constituted.
(3) No lien or other right in respect of any ship or property shall affect the proportions in which under Article 12 of the Convention the fund is distributed among several claimants.
140. Where the release of a ship or other property is ordered under paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the Convention, the person on whose application it is ordered to be released is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the High Court to adjudicate on the claim for which the ship or property was arrested or attached.
141. The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, declare that any State specified in the order is, or was at a date specified in the order, a party to the Convention in respect of a particular country, and any such order shall be conclusive evidence that that State is, while the order remains in force, or was at that date, a party to the Convention in respect of that country.
142.
—(1) For the purposes of Article 6 of the Convention, the Authority may certify the respective amounts in Singapore dollar which are to be taken as equivalent for a particular day to the sums expressed in special drawing rights in that Article.
(2) A certificate given by the Authority under subsection (1) shall be conclusive evidence of the matters referred to in that subsection for the purposes of that Article; 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.
(3) The Authority may charge such fee as it may determine for any certificate given by it under this section.
143. The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend the Schedule in accordance with any revision to the Convention or to any protocol to the Convention which may apply to Singapore from time to time.
144. Nothing in the Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Act 2004 shall apply in relation to any liability arising out of an occurrence which took place before the coming into operation of that Act, and the repealed Part VIII in force immediately before the coming into operation of that Act shall continue to apply to that occurrence as if that Act had not been enacted.