18Prohibition of discharge of substances into State waters

18 Prohibition of discharge of substances into State waters

S. 18(1) amended by No. 46/1991

(1) Subject to subsection (2) and subsections (4) to (12) (inclusive), if any discharge of a liquid substance, or of a mixture containing a liquid substance, being a substance or mixture carried as cargo or part cargo in bulk, occurs from a ship into State waters, the master and the owner of the ship are each guilty of an indictable offence punishable, upon conviction—

S. 18(1)(a) substituted by No. 46/1991

(a) if the offender is a natural person, by a fine not exceeding 2000 penalty units, or imprisonment for two years, or both;

S. 18(1)(b) substituted by No. 46/1991

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the discharge of a liquid substance or a mixture from a ship—

(a) for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea; or

(b) if the substance or the mixture, as the case may be, escaped from the ship in consequence of damage, other than intentional damage, to the ship or its equipment, and all reasonable precautions were taken after the occurrence of the damage or the discovery of the discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the escape of the substance or the mixture, as the case may be; or

(c) if the discharge was for the purpose of combating specific pollution incidents in order to minimize the damage from pollution and was approved by a prescribed officer.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), damage to a ship or to its equipment shall be taken to be intentional damage if, and only if, the damage arose in circumstances in which the master or owner of the ship—

(a) acted with intent to cause the damage; or

(b) acted recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.

S. 18(4) amended by No. 46/1991 s. 10(2)(b).

(4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), (5) or (12) but subject to subsection (13), where—

(a) the tank of a ship that held a substance in Category A or a mixture containing a substance in Category A has been cleaned in accordance with regulations made under section 23; and

S. 18(4)(b) amended by No. 82/1995
s. 189(3).

(b) the resulting residues in the tank have been discharged to a reception facility until the concentration of that substance in the effluent to that facility is, in the opinion of an authorised officer, at or below the residual concentration prescribed for that substance in column III of Appendix II to Annex II and until the tank is empty; and

S. 18(4)(c) amended by No. 46/1991
s. 10(2)(a).

(c) the residue then remaining in the tank has been subsequently diluted by the addition of a volume of water—