Division 1 — Liability
Liability for oil pollution
3.—(1)  Where, as a result of any occurrence, any oil is discharged or escapes from a ship to which this section applies, the owner of the ship shall, except as otherwise provided by this Part, be liable —
(a)for any damage caused outside the ship in the territory of Singapore by contamination resulting from the discharge or escape;
(b)for the cost of any measures reasonably taken after the discharge or escape for the purpose of preventing or reducing any damage so caused in the territory of Singapore by contamination resulting from the discharge or escape; and
(c)for any damage caused in the territory of Singapore by any measures so taken.
(2)  Where, as a result of any occurrence, there arises a grave and imminent threat of damage being caused outside a ship to which this section applies by the contamination that might result if there were a discharge or escape of oil from the ship, the owner of the ship shall be liable —
(a)for the cost of any measures reasonably taken for the purpose of preventing or reducing any such damage in the territory of Singapore; and
(b)for any damage caused outside the ship in the territory of Singapore by any measures so taken,
and in this Act, any such threat is referred to as a relevant threat of contamination.
(3)  Subject to subsection (4), this section shall apply to any ship constructed or adapted for carrying oil in bulk as cargo.
(4)  Where any ship so constructed or adapted is capable of carrying any other cargoes besides oil, this section shall apply to any such ship —
(a)while it is carrying oil in bulk as cargo; and
(b)while it is on any voyage following the carriage of any such oil, unless it is proved that no residues from the carriage of any such oil remain in the ship,
but not otherwise.
(5)  Where a person incurs a liability under subsection (1) or (2), he shall also be liable for any damage or cost for which he would be liable under subsection (1) or (2) if the references therein to the territory of Singapore included the territory of any other Liability Convention country.
(6)  Where —
(a)as a result of any occurrence, a liability is incurred under this section by the owner of each of 2 or more ships; but
(b)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 with the other or others, for the whole of the damage or cost for which the owners together would be liable under this section.
(7)  For the purposes of this section, references to the owner of the ship are references to the owner at the time of the occurrence or first of the occurrences, resulting in the discharge or escape of oil from the ship or giving rise to the relevant threat of contamination, as the case may be.
(8)  The Contributory Negligence and Personal Injuries Act (Cap. 54) shall apply in relation to any damage or cost for which a person is liable under this section, but which is not due to his fault, as if it were due to his fault.
Exceptions from liability under section 3
4.  No liability shall be incurred by the owner of a ship under section 3 by reason of any discharge or escape of oil from the ship, or by reason of any relevant threat of contamination, if he proves that the discharge or escape, or the threat of contamination, as the case may be —
(a)resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war, insurrection or an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible natural phenomenon;
(b)was due wholly to anything done or left undone by another person, not being an employee or agent of the owner, with intent to do damage; or
(c)was due wholly to the negligence or wrongful act of a government or other authority in exercising its functions of maintaining lights or other navigational aids for the maintenance of which it was responsible.
Restriction of liability for oil pollution
5.—(1)  Where, as a result of any occurrence —
(a)any oil is discharged or escapes from a ship; or
(b)there arises a relevant threat of contamination,
then, whether or not the owner of the ship in question incurs a liability under section 3 —
(i)he shall not be liable otherwise than under that section for any damage or cost referred to in that section; and
(ii)no person to whom this paragraph applies shall be liable for any such damage or cost unless it resulted from anything done or omitted to be done by him either with intent to cause any such damage or cost or recklessly and in the knowledge that any such damage or cost would probably result.
(2)  Subsection (1)(ii) shall apply to —
(a)any servant or agent of the owner of the ship;
(b)any person not falling within paragraph (a) but employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship or to perform any service for the ship;
(c)any charterer of the ship (however described and including a bareboat charterer), and any manager or operator of the ship;
(d)any person performing salvage operations with the consent of the owner of the ship or on the instructions of a competent public authority;
(e)any person taking any of the measures referred to in section 3(1)(b) or 3(2)(a); and
(f)any servant or agent of a person falling within paragraph (c), (d) or (e).
(3)  The liability of the owner of a ship under section 3 for any impairment of the environment shall be taken to be a liability only in respect of —
(a)any resulting loss of profits; and
(b)the cost of any reasonable measures of reinstatement actually taken or to be taken.
Limitation of liability under section 3
6.—(1)  Where, as a result of any occurrence, the owner of a ship incurs a liability under section 3 by reason of a discharge or escape or by reason of any relevant threat of contamination, then, subject to subsection (4) —
(a)section 136 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap.179) shall not apply in relation to that liability; but
(b)he may limit that liability in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and if he does so his liability (being, the aggregate of his liabilities under section 3 resulting from the occurrence) shall not exceed the relevant amount.
(2)  In subsection (1)(b), “the relevant amount” means —
(a)in relation to a ship not exceeding 5,000 tons, 3 million special drawing rights;
(b)in relation to a ship exceeding 5,000 tons, 3 million special drawing rights together with an additional 420 special drawing rights for each ton of its tonnage in excess of 5,000 tons up to a maximum amount of 59.7 million special drawing rights.
(3)  The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, by order published in the Gazette make such amendments to subsection (2)(a) and (b) as may be appropriate for the purpose of giving effect to the entry into force of any amendment of the limits of liability laid down in paragraph 1 of Article V of the Liability Convention.
(4)  Subsection (1) shall not apply in a case where it is proved that the discharge or escape or the relevant threat of contamination, as the case may be, resulted from anything done or omitted to be done by the owner either with intent to cause any such damage or cost as is mentioned in section 3 or recklessly and in the knowledge that any such damage or cost would probably result.
(5)  For the purposes of this section, the tonnage of a ship shall be its gross tonnage calculated in accordance with the regulations in Annex 1 of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships 1969.
Limitation actions
7.—(1)  Where the owner of a ship has or is alleged to have incurred a liability under section 3, he may apply to the Court for the limitation of that liability to an amount determined in accordance with section 6.
(2)  If on such an application the Court finds that the applicant has incurred such a liability and is entitled to limit it, the Court shall, after determining the limit of liability and directing payment into Court or to the Authority of the amount of that limit —
(a)determine the amounts that would, apart from the limit, be due in respect of the liability to the several persons making claims in the proceedings; and
(b)direct the distribution of the amount paid into Court or to the Authority (or, as the case may be, so much of it as does not exceed the liability) among those persons in proportion to their claims, subject to the provisions of this section.
(3)  A payment into Court or to the Authority of the amount of a limit determined under this section shall be made in Singapore dollars, and —
(a)for the purpose of converting such an amount from special drawing rights into Singapore dollars, one special drawing right shall be treated as equal to such a sum in Singapore dollars as the International Monetary Fund has fixed as being the equivalent of one special drawing right for —
(i)the day on which the determination is made; or
(ii)if no sum has been so fixed for that day, the last day before that day for which a sum has been so fixed;
(b)a certificate given by or on behalf of the Minister for Finance stating —
(i)that a particular sum in Singapore dollars has been so fixed for the day on which the determination was made; or
(ii)that no sum has been so fixed for that day and that a particular sum in Singapore dollars has been so fixed for a day which is the last day for which a sum has been so fixed before the day on which the determination was made,
shall be conclusive evidence of those matters for the purposes of this Part; and
(c)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.
(4)  No claim shall be admitted in proceedings under this section unless it is made within such time as the Court may direct or such further time as the Court may allow.
(5)  Where any sum has been paid in or towards satisfaction of any claim in respect of the damage or cost to which the liability extends —
(a)by the owner or the persons referred to in section 15 as “the insurer”; or
(b)by a person who has or is alleged to have incurred a liability, otherwise than under section 3, for the damage or cost and who is entitled to limit his liability in connection with the ship by virtue of section 136 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 179),
the person who paid the sum shall, to the extent of that sum, be in the same position with respect to any distribution made in proceedings under this section as the person to whom it was paid would have been.
(6)  Where the person who incurred the liability has voluntarily made any reasonable sacrifice or taken any other reasonable measures to prevent or reduce damage to which the liability extends or might have extended, he shall be in the same position with respect to any distribution made in proceedings under this section as if he had a claim in respect of the liability equal to the cost of the sacrifice or other measures.
(7)  The Court may, if it thinks fit, postpone the distribution of such part of the amount to be distributed as it considers appropriate having regard to any claims that may later be established before a court of any country outside Singapore.
(8)  No lien or other right in respect of any ship or other property shall affect the proportions in which any amount is distributed in accordance with subsection (2)(b).
Restriction on enforcement of claims after establishment of limitation fund
8.  Where the Court has found that a person who has incurred a liability under section 3 is entitled to limit that liability to any amount and he has paid into Court or to the Authority a sum not less than that amount —
(a)the Court shall order the release of any ship or other property arrested in connection with a claim in respect of that liability or any security given to prevent or obtain release from such an arrest; and
(b)no judgment or decree for any such claim shall be enforced, except so far as it is for costs,
if the sum paid into Court or to the Authority or such part thereof as corresponds to the claim, will be actually available to the claimant or would have been available to him if the proper steps in the proceedings under section 7 had been taken.
Concurrent liabilities of owners and others
9.  Where, as a result of any discharge or escape of oil from a ship or as a result of any relevant threat of contamination, the owner of the ship incurs a liability under section 3 and any other person incurs a liability, otherwise than under that section, for any such damage or cost as is mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) of that section, then, if —
(a)the owner has been found, in proceedings under section 7, to be entitled to limit his liability to any amount and has paid into Court or to the Authority a sum not less than that amount; and
(b)the other person is entitled to limit his liability in connection with the ship by virtue of section 136 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 179),
no proceedings shall be taken against the other person in respect of his liability, and if any such proceedings were commenced before the owner paid the sum into Court or to the Authority, no further steps shall be taken in the proceedings except in relation to costs.
Establishment of limitation fund outside Singapore
10.  Where the events resulting in the liability of any person under section 3 also resulted in a corresponding liability under the law of another Liability Convention country, sections 8 and 9 shall apply as if the references to sections 3 and 7 included references to the corresponding provisions of that law and the references to sums paid into Court included references to any sums secured under these provisions in respect of the liability.
Exclusions
11.—(1)  Sections 6 to 10 shall not apply to a ship which at the time of the discharge or escape of oil from the ship, or at the time the relevant threat of contamination arose, as the case may be, was registered in a country —
(a)which was neither a Liability Convention country nor a country that is a party to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1969; and
(b)which was a country in respect of which the 1957 Convention was in force.
(2)  If the Minister, by order published in the Gazette, declares that any country —
(a)is neither a Liability Convention country nor a country that is a party to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1969; and
(b)is a country in respect of which the 1957 Convention is in force,
or that it was such a country at a time specified in the order, the order shall, while in force, be conclusive evidence of the facts stated in the order.
(3)  In this section, “the 1957 Convention” means the International Convention relating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Sea-going Ships signed in Brussels on 10th October 1957.
Extinguishment of claims
12.  No action to enforce a claim in respect of a liability incurred under section 3 shall be entertained by any court in Singapore unless the action is commenced not later than 3 years after the claim arose nor later than 6 years after the occurrence or first of the occurrences resulting in the discharge or escape, or in the relevant threat of contamination, as the case may be, by reason of which the liability was incurred.