13Duty to report certain incidents involving oil or oily mixture

13 Duty to report certain incidents involving oil or oily mixture

(1)  In this section –

specified oil incident, in relation to a ship, means –

(a) an incident involving a discharge into State waters from the ship of oil, or an oily mixture, that is not a discharge to which section 12(4) applies; or

(b) an incident involving the reasonable likelihood of a discharge into State waters from the ship of oil, or an oily mixture, that is not a discharge to which section 12(4) would apply; or

(c) if the ship is 15 metres or more in length, an incident involving damage, failure or breakdown that –

(i) affects the safety of the ship (including a collision, grounding, fire, explosion, structural failure, flooding and cargo shifting); or

(ii) impairs the ability to navigate the ship (including failure or breakdown of steering gear, propulsion plant, electrical generating system and essential shipborne navigational aids).

(2)  If a specified oil incident occurs in relation to a ship, the master of the ship must notify a prescribed officer as soon as possible, and in the prescribed manner, of the incident.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 500 penalty units.

(3)  A master of a ship must, if so requested by a prescribed officer, give a report to the prescribed officer in relation to the incident, in the approved form and within the prescribed time.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 200 penalty units.

(4)  Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to a specified oil incident in relation to a ship if it is not possible, in the circumstances, for the master of the ship to notify a prescribed officer of the incident in the prescribed manner.

(5)  If a specified oil incident occurs in relation to a ship and –

(a) the master of the ship fails to comply with subsection (2) , for any reason, in relation to the incident; or

(b) the incident occurs in circumstances in which the ship is abandoned –