Civil Liability (Oil Pollution) Bill

Bill No. 24/1973

Read the first time on 11th July 1973.

An Act to make provisions with respect to civil liability for oil pollution by merchant ships, offshore facilities or onshore facilities, and for matters connected therewith; and to amend the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act, 1971 (No. 3 of 1971).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Civil Liability (Oil Pollution) Act, 1973 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

(2) The Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of the different provisions of this Act.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“Authority” means The Port of Singapore Authority established under the Port of Singapore Authority Act (Cap. 173);

“damage” includes loss;

“Director” means the Director of Marine appointed under section 6 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 172) and and includes the Deputy Director of Marine appointed under that section;

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

“offshore facility” means any facility of any kind located in, on or under any of the territorial waters of Singapore other than a ship;

“oil” means oil of any description and includes spirit produced from oil of any description, coal tar, oil refuse and oil mixed with waste;

“onshore facility” means any facility (but not limited to motor vehicles and rolling stocks) of any kind located in, on or under any land within Singapore other than submerged land;

“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 except that, in relation to a ship owned by a State which is operated by a person registered as the ship’s operator, it means the person registered as the operator;

“owner or operator”, in relation to an offshore facility and an onshore facility, means any person owning or operating such offshore facility or onshore facility and in the case of an abandoned offshore facility, the person who owned or operated such facility immediately prior to such abandonment;

“port” has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Port of Singapore Authority Act (Cap. 173);

“Port Master” means the Port Master appointed under section 35 of the Port of Singapore Authority Act and includes any Deputy Port Master appointed under that section;

“ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation and includes a dum-barge and also includes an air cushioned vehicle;

“Surveyor-General” means the Surveyor-General of Ships appointed under section 8 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 172).

(2) In relation to any damage or loss resulting from the discharge or escape of any oil from a ship references in this Act 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 the escape.

(3) References in this Act to the area of Singapore include the territorial waters of Singapore.

(4) Any reference in this Act to the measures reasonably taken after the discharge or escape of oil for the purpose of preventing or reducing any damage caused by contamination resulting from such discharge or escape shall include actions taken to remove the oil from the water and foreshores or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to minimize 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.

(5) Any reference in this Act to the discharge or escape of any oil from a ship, offshore facility or onshore facility shall be construed as a reference to the discharge or escape of the oil from the ship, offshore facility or onshore facility at any place in or outside the area of Singapore.

Liability for oil pollution

3.—(1) Where any oil is discharged or escapes from any ship (whether carried as part of a cargo of a ship or otherwise), offshore facility, or onshore facility —

(a)	the owner of the ship; or
(b)	the owner or operator of the offshore facility or onshore facility,

shall be liable, except as otherwise provided by this Act, —

(c)	for any damage caused in the area of Singapore by contamination resulting from the discharge or escape;
(d)	for the cost of any measures reasonably taken after the discharge or escape for the purpose of preventing or reducing any such damage in the area of Singapore; and
(e)	for any damage caused in the area of Singapore by any measures so taken.

(2) Where any oil is discharged or escapes from two or more ships and —

(a)	a liability is incurred under this section by the owner of each of them; 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,

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.

(3) For the purposes of this Act, where more than one discharge or escape results from the same occurrence or from a series of occurrences having the same origin, they shall be treated as one; but any measures taken after the first of them shall be deemed to have been taken after the discharge or escape.

(4) The Contributory Negligence and Personal Injuries Act (Cap. 31) 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. The owner or operator of a ship, offshore facility, or onshore facility, from which oil has been discharged or has escaped, shall not incur any liability under section 3 if he proves that the discharge or escape —

(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 a servant or agent of the owner or operator with intent to do damage; or
(c)	was, in the case of the discharge or escape of oil from a ship, due wholly to the negligence or wrongful act of the Government or the Authority in exercising its function of maintaining lights or other navigational aids for the maintenance of which it was responsible.

Restriction of liability for oil pollution

5. Where, as a result of any oil being discharged or escaping from a ship, offshore facility or onshore facility then, whether or not the owner or operator thereof incurs a liability under section 3, —

(a)	he shall not be liable otherwise than under that section for any such damage or cost as is mentioned therein; and
(b)	no servant or agent of the owner or the operator nor any person performing salvage or cleaning operations with the agreement of the owner or operator shall be liable for any such damage or cost.

Limitation of liability of shipowner

6.—(1) Where the owner of a ship incurs a liability under section 3 by reason of a discharge or escape which occurred without his actual fault or privity —

(a)	section 295 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 172) shall not apply in relation to that liability; but
(b)	his liability (that is to say, the aggregate of his liabilities under section 3 resulting from the discharge or escape) shall not exceed three hundred and seventy-five dollars for each ton of the ship’s tonnage nor (where that tonnage would result in a greater amount) fifty million dollars.

(2) For the purposes of this section the tonnage of a ship shall be ascertained as follows: —

(a)	if the ship is a Singapore ship or British registered ship (whether registered in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) or a ship to which an Order under section 84 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (U.K. 1894 c. 60.) applies, its tonnage shall be taken to be its registered tonnage increased, where a deduction has been made for engine room space in arriving at that tonnage, by the amount of that deduction;
(b)	if the ship is not such a ship as is mentioned in paragraph (a) and it is possible to ascertain what would be its registered tonnage if it were registered in Singapore, that paragraph shall apply (with the necessary modifications) as if the ship were so registered;
(c)	if the ship is not such a ship as is mentioned in paragraph (a) and it is not possible to ascertain its tonnage in accordance with paragraph (b), its tonnage shall be taken to be forty per cent of the weight (expressed in tons of two thousand two hundred and forty pounds) of oil which the ship is capable of carrying;
(d)	if the tonnage of the ship cannot be ascertained in accordance with paragraph (a), (b) or (c) the Surveyor-General shall, if so directed by the court, certify what, on the evidence specified in the direction, would in his opinion be the tonnage of the ship if ascertained in accordance with those paragraphs, and the tonnage stated in his certificate shall be taken to be the tonnage of the ship.

Extinguishment of claims

7. 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 three years after the claim arose nor later than six years after the occurrence or first of the occurrences resulting in the discharge or escape by reason of which the liability was incurred.

Jurisdiction of Singapore courts

8. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 3 of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act (Cap. 6) shall be construed as extending to any claim in respect of a liability incurred by the owner of a ship under this Act.

Government ships

9. The provisions of this Act shall not apply in relation to any warship or any ship for the time being used by the government of any foreign country for other than commercial purposes.

Liability for cost of preventive measures where section 3 does not apply

10.—(1) Where —

(a)	after an escape or discharge of oil from a ship, offshore facility, or onshore facility, measures are reasonably taken for the purpose of preventing or reducing damage in the area of Singapore which may be caused by contamination resulting from the discharge or escape; and
(b)	any person incurs, or might but for the measures have incurred, a liability, otherwise than under section 3, for any such damage,

then, notwithstanding that paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of that section does not apply, he shall be liable for the cost of the measures, whether or not the person taking them does so for the protection of his interests or in the performance of a duty.

(2) For the purposes of section 295 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 172), any liability incurred under this section shall be deemed to be a liability to damages in respect of such loss, damage or infringement mentioned in paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of that section.

Power of Court to consolidate claims against owners, etc.

11.—(1) Where any liability is alleged to have been incurred by the owner of a Singapore or foreign ship in respect of any occurrence in respect of which his liability is limited under section 6, and several claims are made or apprehended in respect of that liability, then the owner may apply to the High Court, and the Court may determine the amount of the owner’s liability and may distribute that amount rateably among the several claimants, and may stay any proceedings pending in any other court in relation to the same matter, and may proceed in such manner and subject to such regulations as to making persons interested parties to the proceedings, and as to the exclusion of any claimants who do not come in within a certain time, and as to requiring security from the owner, and as to payment of any costs as the Court thinks just.

(2) No lien or other right in respect of any ship or property shall affect the proportions in which any amount is distributed among several claimants under this section.

Power to detain ship

12. Where the Director or the Port Master has reasonable cause to believe that any oil has been discharged or has escaped from any ship and the owner of the ship has incurred a liability under section 3, the Director or the Port Master may detain the ship and the ship may be so detained until 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 the Port Master be adequate to meet the owner’s liability under that section.

Detained ship proceeding to sea

13.—(1) If any ship is detained under section 12 and the ship proceeds to sea before it is released by the Director or the Port Master, the master of the ship, and also the owner thereof and any person who sends the ship to sea, if that 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 fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) Any person authorised under this Act to detain a ship may, if he thinks it necessary, place a police guard on board.

Power of arrest

14.—(1) The Director, the Port Master or a police officer may arrest without warrant any person who has committed or whom he reasonably believes to have committed an offence under this Act 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.

Protection from personal liability

15. No matter or thing done by the Director, the Port Master or an officer employed in the administration of this Act or other person acting under the direction of the Director or the Port Master shall, if the matter or thing was done bona fide for the purpose of executing this Act, subject them or any of them personally to any action, liability, claim or demand whatsoever.

Prosecution

16.—(1) Proceedings for an offence under this Act may be brought only by or with the sanction of the Public Prosecutor.

(2) Any employee of the Authority or any police officer may conduct such a prosecution on behalf of the Authority.

(3) Any offence under this Act may be tried by a District Court or by a Magistrate’s Court and such court shall, notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 113) and any other written law, have jurisdiction to impose the maximum penalty provided for by this Act.

(4) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Act and the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Miscellaneous amendments

17. The Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act, 1971 (Act 3 of 1971) is hereby amended in the manner set out in the Schedule to this Act.

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