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Maritime Regulations Ch.04 |
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PREVENTION OF POLLUTION OF THE SEA BY
OIL
| 25. |
In this Chapter - |
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"Coastal Waters" means
all portions of the sea within the territorial jurisdiction of Vanuatu and all
navigable inland waters in which the tide ebbs and
flows; |
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"Discharge" in relation
to oil or an oily mixture means any discharge or escape, however caused; |
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"Oil" means oil of any
kind or in any form, including fuel oil, oil sludge and oil refuse; |
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"MARPOL 73/78" means
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as
modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto and subsequent Amendments and
Annexes in force; |
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"Person" means an
individual, partnership or corporation owning or operating a vessel and any
master, officer or other person employed on a
vessel; |
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"Vessel" means any ship
which uses oil as a propulsion fuel or as a lubricant or which is engaged in
transporting oil cargo. |
| 26. |
(1) |
Except in
case of emergency endangering life or property, or of collision, stranding or
unavoidable accident, and except as may by regulation be otherwise permitted, it
shall be an offence to discharge from any Vessel whether documented under the
Act or not, any oil or oily mixture into or upon
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(a) |
the coastal waters of
Vanuatu; or |
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(b) |
any other waters; |
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unless such
discharge is permitted under Annex 1 of MARPOL
73/78; |
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(2) |
Any violation
of sub-section (1)(a) shall be punishable by a penalty of not less than $5,000
or more than $100,000 to be recovered in a proceeding brought against the vessel
or her owner or operator in the Supreme Court of Vanuatu. Notice of any such
violation by a foreign vessel shall be given to the government under whose flag
the offending vessel is registered. |
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(3) |
Any violation
of sub-section (1)(b), except where punished by local authorities having and
exercising jurisdiction, shall be punishable by a penalty of not less than
$5,000 nor more than $100,000. Such penalty shall be assessed by the
Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner against a Vanuatu vessel or her owner or
operator when either the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner, as the case may
be, shall determine that such a violation has been
committed. |
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(4) |
Any person
who shall have paid a penalty assessed pursuant to sub-section (3) may, not more
than 90 days after such payment, petition the Supreme Court of Vanuatu for the
remission thereof in whole or in part. |
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(5) |
Any penalty
assessed pursuant to sub-section (2) or (3) shall constitute a maritime lien
against the vessel and until such lien has been satisfied or remitted, clearance
of such vessel from a port in Vanuatu shall be
denied. |
| 27. |
(1) |
On every oil
tanker of 150 gross tons or more or Vessel of 400 gross tons or more or any
Vessel carrying in excess of 200 cubic meters of oil, or unmanned Vessel of more
than 150 gross tons under tow, there shall be kept and maintained an oil record
book of the form specified in Annex 1 of MARPOL 73/78 which oil record book
shall be readily available for inspection at all reasonable
times. |
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(2) |
In the case
of an unmanned Vessel under tow to which this Section applies the Master of the
towing vessel shall be responsible for maintaining the oil record book which
shall be kept on board such towing vessel, provided that should there should be
a change of towing vessel the oil record book shall be forthwith placed on board
the unmanned Vessel until the next tow. |
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(3) |
The oil
record book shall remain on board each Vessel required to maintain it: |
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(a) |
until such time as
insufficient space for additional entries remains;
or |
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(b) |
for a period of at
least three years from the date of the last
entry; |
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whichever
circumstance first occurs, whereupon it shall be delivered to
the
Commissioner or a Deputy Commission or a Special Agent who shall
forthwith forward
it to a Deputy Commissioner and a book containing unused
pages shall be retained on
board. |
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(4) |
The oil
record of a vessel which is sold, or transferred from the Vanuatu Ship Registry,
shall be delivered to the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner or to a Special
Agent who shall forthwith deliver it to a Deputy
Commissioner. |
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(5) |
The competent
authorities of any country which has ratified MARPOL 73/78, may inspect on board
any Vanuatu Vessel to which this Order applies, while within a part of the
territory of such country, the oil record book required to be carried on the
Vessel in compliance with this Section, and may make a true copy of any entry in
that book and may require the Master of the Vessel to verify that the copy is a
true copy of such entry. Any copy so made, which purports to have been certified
by the Master as a true copy of an entry in the Vessel's record, shall be
admissible in any judicial proceedings as evidence of the facts stated in the
entry. |
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(6) |
Failure of
the Master of any Vessel to have on board an official oil record book and to
comply in all other respects with the requirements of this Section shall be an
offence and notwithstanding any other penalty which may be imposed against the
Vessel or its Master it shall constitute grounds for the suspension or
revocation of the license of competence of such Master by the Commissioner or a
Deputy Commissioner. |
| 28. |
(1) |
The Master
shall enter into the Vessel's deck log book prior to the vessel's departure from
her loading port or places: |
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(a) |
a statement of the load
line marks applicable to the voyage; |
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(b) |
a statement of the
position of the load line mark, port and starboard, at the time
of departure
from such port or place; and |
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(c) |
the actual drafts of
the vessel, forward and after, as nearly as the same can be
ascertained, at
the time of departing from such port or place. |
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(2) |
Loan Line
inspections of a vessel shall be conducted within three months either way of
each annual anniversary date of the issue of its Load Line Certificate. Failure
to have a Load Line inspection conducted within the period specified aforesaid
shall be a Marine Offence. |
| 29. |
(1) |
The costs of
marine investigation, nautical training and international participation shall be
defrayed by the annual payment of a fee of seven hundred and twenty five dollars
plus four cents per net ton of the Vessel's registered tonnage by the owner of
each Vessel, provided, however, as to any Vessel of less than 500 net tons the
annual fee shall be equal to that for a Vessel of 500 net tons. Payment of the
fees due under this Section shall be made at the time of first registration of a
vessel and on 1st January of each subsequent
year. |
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(2) |
The fees
collected under this Section shall be applied as
follows: |
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(a) |
to costs of Marine
Investigations which relate only to investigations which culminate in formal
proceedings or the imposition of a fine or
penalty; |
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(b) |
to the costs of
international participations which relate to assessments and dues payable under
the terms of international maritime conventions and maritime agreements to which
Vanuatu is a party, to attendance and support of delegations or representatives
of the Republic of Vanuatu at international maritime meetings and conferences,
and in support of diplomatic negotiations; |
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of 99 |
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(c) |
an amount computed at
one per cent per net ton shall be placed in a trust
fund administered by the
Authority and dedicated solely to covering the costs of nautical vocational
training for seafaring personnel in support of the Vanuatu maritime programme. |
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Document Processing Time |
Seafarer documents
| 15 Business days
| Registration documents
| Same day
| Exemptions certificates
| Same day
| | Updated November 14, 2008 |
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