90Duty of other persons to report if ship abandoned or report cannot be obtained

90 Duty of other persons to report if ship abandoned or report cannot be obtained

90 Duty of other persons to report if ship abandoned or report cannot be obtained

(1) The owner, charterer, manager or operator of an abandoned ship in relation to which a reportable incident has occurred in State waters, and any agent of the owner, charterer, manager or operator of the ship, are each guilty of an offence if the reportable incident is not reported to the Minister, without delay, in the manner prescribed by the regulations.

Maximum penalty—

(a) in the case of an individual—$121,000, or

(b) in the case of a corporation—$2,750,000.

(2) The owner, charterer, manager or operator of a ship in relation to which a reportable incident has occurred in State waters in other circumstances in which a notification cannot be obtained from the master of the ship under Division 2, and any agent of the owner, charterer, manager or operator of the ship are each guilty of an offence if the reportable incident is not reported to the Minister, without delay, in the manner prescribed by the regulations.

Maximum penalty—

(a) in the case of an individual—$121,000, or

(b) in the case of a corporation—$2,750,000.

(3) In a prosecution of a person for an offence against this section in relation to a reportable incident, it is a defence if the person proves—

(a) that the person was not aware of the incident, or

(b) that the person neither knew nor suspected that the ship was abandoned or the circumstances that meant that a report could not be obtained.

(4) Subsection (3) does not limit any defence that would, but for that subsection, be available to a person charged with an offence under this section.

Editor’s note.

See Article I(2) of Protocol I of MARPOL.

s 90: Am 2021 No 8, Sch 1.2[87] [88].