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Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act

(Chapter 243, Sections 7(4), 12 and 34)

Prevention of Pollution of the Sea (Oil) Regulations

Rg 1

G.N. No. S 58/1991

REVISED EDITION 2001

(31st May 2001)

[1st February 1991]

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea (Oil) Regulations.

Definitions

2. For the purposes of these Regulations —

“Annex I” means Annex I to the Convention which contains regulations for the prevention of pollution by oil and which is set out in the First Schedule;

“authorised organisation” means an organisation authorised by regulations made under section 116 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 179) for the purposes of surveying ships and issuing certificates under Part V of that Act;

“IMO” means the International Maritime Organisation;

“IOPP Certificate” means the International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate issued under regulation 5 of Annex I by the Administration of any Contracting Party to the Convention;

“SOPP Certificate” means a Singapore Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate issued by the Director or an authorised organisation under regulation 10;

“Unified Interpretation” means the Texts of the Agreed Unified Interpretation of Annex I approved by the Marine Environment Protection Committee and published by the IMO in document MEPC/Circ. 97 as amended by IMO Resolution MEPC 14 (20) and any further amendments made thereto by IMO and accepted by the Government and which is set out in the Second Schedule.

Application

3.—(1) Except for regulation 12 of Annex I, Annex I shall, subject to these Regulations, have the force of law in Singapore.

(2) A provision of Annex I interpreted or explained by a provision of these Regulations shall be read as having the same meaning attributed by that provision.

(3) For the purposes of regulation 2(1) of Annex I, reference to “all ships” in that regulation shall be read as a reference to —

(a)	Singapore ships; and
(b)	other ships while they are in Singapore waters,

and these Regulations shall apply to such ships.

Unified Interpretation

4. For the purposes of these Regulations, a regulation of Annex I, being a regulation referred to in the Unified Interpretation shall be read and applied in accordance with the Unified Interpretation.

Exemptions

5. The Director may grant exemptions from all or any of these Regulations including Annex I (as may be specified in the exemption) for classes of cases or individual cases on such terms (if any) as he may so specify and may, subject to giving reasonable notice, alter or cancel any such exemption.

Administration

6.—(1) For the purposes of regulations 2(4)(a), 2(4)(b), 3(1), 3(2), 4(1)(b), 4(2), 4(3)(a), 4(3)(b), 4(3)(c), 4(3)(d), 4(4)(b), 4(4)(c), 8(1), 8(3), 8(4), 8(5), 8(6), 8(7), 8(9)(c), 11(c), 15 (3)(a), 15(3)(b), 15(6), 16(5), 16(6), 16(7) and 25(1)(c) of Annex I, references to the Administration and to officer of the Administration shall be read as references to the Director and the surveyor of ships respectively and references to the nominated surveyor or recognised organisation shall be read as references to an authorised organisation respectively.

(2) For the purposes of regulation 5(2) of Annex I, references to the Administration shall be read as a reference to the Director and references to persons or organisations duly authorised by the Administration shall be read as references to authorised organisations respectively.

(3) For the purpose of regulations 13 (5) and (6), 13D(1)(a), 15(2)(a), 3(a) and (c) and (5), 16(3)(a), (4) and (5), 23(5), 25(3)(d) and (4)(d) and 26 of Annex I, references to the Administration or the port State authority shall be read as references to the Director or an authorised organisation, as appropriate.

Specifications and interpretation

7.—(1) For the purposes of regulations 13A (2) and 13B(2) of Annex I, the established requirements are those specified in the Resolutions A.495 (XII) and A.446 (XI) as amended by Resolution A.497 (XII) of the IMO as appropriate and as may be revised or amended by any further IMO resolution which is accepted by the Government.

(2) For the purposes of regulation 13(3) of Annex I, exceptional case includes the cases identified by paragraph 4.1.1 of the Unified Interpretation.

(3) For the purposes of regulations 13A (3), 16(6) and 16(7) of Annex I, an oil content meter, oily-water separating equipment and oil filtering equipment is of approved design if the design of such meter or equipment is in accordance with the applicable specifications in Parts II and III of the Annex to Resolution A.393 (X) of the IMO as may be revised or amended by any further IMO resolution which is accepted by the Government.

(4) For the purposes of regulation 13B(5) of Annex I, a crude oil washing system operations and equipment manual is satisfactory if it complies with Resolution MEPC.3 (XII) of the IMO as may be revised or amended by any further IMO resolution which is accepted by the Government.

(5) For the purposes of regulations 15(3)(a) and 16(5) of Annex I an oil discharge monitoring and control system is of approved design if the design of such system is in accordance with the applicable specifications in the Annex to Resolution A.496 (XII) or the Annex to Resolution A.586 (14) of the IMO as appropriate and as may be revised or amended by any further IMO resolution which is accepted by the Government.

Powers to inspect

8.—(1) A ship to which these Regulations apply shall be subject, in Singapore waters, to inspection by a surveyor of ships.

(2) Any such inspection shall be limited to verifying that there is on board in relation to that ship a valid IOPP Certificate in the form prescribed by the Convention or a valid SOPP Certificate unless there are clear grounds for believing that the condition of the ship or its equipment does not correspond substantially with the particulars of that Certificate.

(3) In that case, or if the ship does not carry a valid Certificate, the surveyor of ships shall take such steps as he may consider necessary to ensure that the ship shall not sail until it can proceed to sea without presenting an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment.

(4) The Director may in such a case permit the ship to proceed to the nearest appropriate repair yard.

(5) Upon receiving evidence that a particular ship has discharged oil or an oily mixture contrary to the provisions of these Regulations, the Director shall cause the matter to be investigated by an inspector and shall inform the State which has reported the contravention as well as IMO, of the action taken.

(6) The Director may also cause a ship other than a Singapore ship to be inspected by an inspector when it enters Singapore waters if a request for an investigation is received from any State which is a Party to the Convention together with sufficient evidence that the ship has discharged oil or an oily mixture in any place.

(7) The report of such investigation may be sent to the State requesting the investigation and the State in which the ship is registered.

Prohibition on proceeding to sea without Certificate

9.—(1) The master of every oil tanker of 150 tons gross tonnage and above and any other ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above shall produce to the Port Master, at the time a clearance for the ship is demanded for a voyage from Singapore to a port or place outside Singapore waters, the IOPP Certificate to be in force when the ship proceeds to sea.

(2) A clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until the Certificate is so produced.

SOPP Certificate

10. The Director or an authorised organisation shall, after a survey in accordance with the provisions of regulation 4 of Annex I which relates to an oil tanker of 150 tons gross tonnage and above and any other ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above which operate within Singapore waters and are not engaged in voyages to ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of other Parties to the Convention, issue in relation to that ship a Singapore Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate in such form as the Director may determine.

Penalties

11. If any ship fails to comply with any requirement of these Regulations, the owner and the master of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

Exemption in certain circumstances

12. For the purposes of section 7(4) of the Act, the ships exempted from the operation of section 7 (1) shall be such ships as are exempted from the prohibition of the discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures in accordance with the provisions of Annex I.

Fees

13. The fees specified in the Third Schedule shall be payable to the Director in respect of the services provided by the Director specified in that Schedule.