Part 2Pollution by oil

Part 2—Pollution by oil 7—Interpretation Except insofar as the contrary intention appears, an expression that is used in this Part and in Annex 1 to the Convention (whether or not a particular meaning is assigned to it by that Annex) has, in this Part, the same meaning as in that Annex. 8—Prohibition of discharge of oil or oily mixtures into State waters (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), if any discharge of oil or of an oily mixture occurs from a ship into State waters, the master and the owner of the ship are each guilty of an offence. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the discharge of oil or of an oily mixture from a ship— (a) for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea; or (b) if the oil or oily mixture, as the case may be, escaped from the ship in consequence of damage, other than intentional, reckless or negligent 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 minimising the escape of oil or oily mixture, as the case may be; or (c) in the case of an oily mixture, if the discharge was for the purpose of combating specific pollution incidents in order to minimise the damage from pollution and was approved by a prescribed officer. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), damage to a ship or to its equipment will be taken to be— (a) intentional damage if the damage arose in circumstances in which the master or owner of the ship, or an employee or agent of the master or owner, acted with intent to cause the damage; (b) reckless damage if the damage arose in circumstances in which the master or owner of the ship, or an employee or agent of the master or owner, acted recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result; (c) negligent damage if the damage arose from a negligent act or omission on the part of the master or owner of the ship or an employee or agent of the master or owner. (4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2) but subject to subsection (5), subsection (1) does not apply to— (a) the discharge from an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture, not being oil or an oily mixture of the kind referred to in paragraph (c), if the following conditions are satisfied— (i) the oil tanker is not within a special area and is more than 50 nautical miles from the nearest land; (ii) the oil tanker is proceeding en route; (iii) the instantaneous rate of discharge of oil content does not exceed 30 litres per nautical mile; (iv) the total quantity of oil discharged into the sea does not exceed— (A) in the case of an oil tanker that is an existing tanker—one part in 15 000 parts of the total quantity of the cargo of oil of which oil discharged formed a part; or (B) in the case of an oil tanker that is a new tanker—one part in 30 000 parts of the total quantity of the cargo of oil of which oil discharged formed a part; (v) the oil tanker has in operation an oil discharge monitoring and control system and a slop tank arrangement as required by regulations made by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act, 1912; or (b) the discharge from a ship that is not an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture if the following conditions are satisfied— (ii) the ship is proceeding en route; (iii) the oil content of the effluent is less than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts; (iv) the ship has in operation equipment as required by regulations made by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act, 1912; or (c) the discharge from an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture, being oil or an oily mixture that is from the machinery space bilges (other than the cargo pump room bilges) of the oil tanker and does not include oil cargo residue, if the conditions specified in paragraph (b) are satisfied in relation to the discharge; or (d) the discharge from an oil tanker, or another ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more, of an unprocessed oily mixture, not being an oily mixture that originated from the cargo pump room bilges of the ship or includes oil cargo residue, if the following conditions are satisfied; or (ii) the oil content of the unprocessed oily mixture without dilution is not more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts; or (e) subject to subsection (4a), the discharge of oil or an oily mixture from a machinery space bilge of a ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more if— (i) the ship was delivered before 6 July 1993; and (ii) the oil or oily mixture did not originate from a cargo pump-room bilge; and (iii) the oil or oily mixture is not mixed with oil cargo residues; and (iv) the ship is not within a special area; and (v) the ship is more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land; and (vi) the ship is proceeding en route; and (vii) the oil content of the effluent is less than 100 parts per 1 000 000 parts; and (viii) the ship has in operation oily-water separating equipment as required by regulations made by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act, 1912; or (g) the discharge within a special area from an oil tanker, or another ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more, of processed bilge water from machinery spaces, not being bilge water that originated from the cargo pump room bilges of the ship or includes oil cargo residue, if the following conditions are satisfied— (i) the ship is proceeding en route; (ii) the oil content of the effluent without dilution is not more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts; (iii) the ship has in operation oil filtering equipment as required by regulations made by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act, 1912; (iv) the oil filtering equipment is equipped with a stopping device that automatically prevents any discharge of effluent when the oil content of the effluent without dilution is more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts; or (h) the discharge, within a special area from a ship that has a gross tonnage of less than 400 and is not an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture, if the oil content of the effluent without dilution is less than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts; or (j) the discharge from a ship of clean or segregated ballast. (4a) Subsection (4)(e) does not apply after— (a) 6 July 1998; or (b) the date on which the ship is fitted with equipment of a kind described in Regulation 16 of the amendments to the Annex of the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 set out in Schedule 3 of the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 of the Commonwealth, whichever is the earlier. (5) A reference to an oily mixture in subsection (4) shall be read as not including a reference to an oily mixture that contains— (a) chemicals or other substances in quantities or concentrations that are hazardous to the marine environment; or (b) chemicals or other substances that have been introduced for the purpose of attempting to prevent the application of subsection (1) to the discharge of an oily mixture from a ship. (6) In proceedings for an offence against subsection (1) in relation to a ship, it is sufficient for the prosecution to allege and prove that a discharge of oil or of an oily mixture occurred from the ship into State waters, but it is a defence if it is proved that, by virtue of subsection (2) or (4), subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the discharge. 9—Oil residues (1) Subject to subsection (2), if any oil residues that cannot be discharged from a ship into State waters without the commission of an offence against section 8(1) are not retained on board the ship while the ship is in State waters, the master and the owner of the ship are each guilty of an offence. (2) Oil residues may be discharged from a ship to a reception facility provided in accordance with Regulation 12 of Annex I to the Convention. 10A—Shipboard oil pollution emergency plan that— (d) is an oil tanker with a gross tonnage of 150 or more; or (e) has a gross tonnage of 400 or more and is not an oil tanker. (2) In this section— prescribed incident, in relation to a ship, means— (a) a discharge from the ship of oil or an oily mixture, not being a discharge to which section 8(4) applies; or (b) an incident involving the probability of a discharge from the ship of oil or an oily mixture, not being a discharge to which section 8(4) would apply. (3) There must be kept on board a ship to which this section applies a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan written in the working language of the master of, and the officers on board, the ship. (4) A shipboard oil pollution emergency plan must be in accordance with the prescribed form and set out the following particulars: (a) the procedure to be followed, in accordance with this Act, by the master, or any other person having charge, of the ship in notifying a prescribed incident in relation to the ship; (b) a list of the authorities or persons that are to be notified by persons on the ship if a prescribed incident occurs in relation to the ship; (c) a detailed description of the action to be taken, immediately after a prescribed incident, by persons on board the ship to reduce or control any discharge from the ship resulting from the incident; (d) the procedures to be followed for co-ordinating with the authorities or persons that have been contacted (whether in Australia or in a country near to the place where the incident occurred) any action taken in combating the pollution caused by the incident and, in particular, the person on board the ship through whom all communications are to be made. (6) Subsection (4) does not prevent other relevant particulars from being included in the shipboard oil pollution emergency plan. (7) If a ship to which this section applies does not have on board a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan, the master of the ship and the owner of the ship are each guilty of an offence. 11—Oil record book that— (d) is an oil tanker; or (e) has a gross tonnage of 400 or more and is not an oil tanker. (2) Every ship to which this section applies shall carry such oil record books as are required by the regulations to be carried on the ship. (3) An oil record book shall be in accordance with the appropriate prescribed form with provision made for a signature, in accordance with subsection (6), in relation to each entry made in it and for a signature, in accordance with subsection (7), in relation to each page of it. (4) Where a ship to which this section applies does not carry an oil record book as required by this section, the master and the owner of the ship are each guilty of an offence. (5) Whenever a prescribed operation or prescribed occurrence is carried out or occurs in, or in relation to, a ship to which this section applies, the master of the ship shall make, without delay, appropriate entries in, or cause appropriate entries to be made, without delay, in the ship's oil record book, being entries in accordance with subsection (6). (6) An entry in a ship's oil record book— (a) must be made in the English language; and (b) must be signed by the master of the ship and, in the case of an entry made in relation to a prescribed operation, by the officer or other person in charge of the operation. (7) Where a page of a ship's oil record book is completed, the master of the ship shall, without delay, sign the page. 12—False entries in oil record book A person shall not make, in an oil record book of a ship to which section 11 applies, an entry that is false or misleading in a material particular. 13—Oil record book to be retained (1) The owner of a ship to which section 11 applies shall cause each of the ship's oil record books to be retained— (a) in the ship; or (b) at the registered office in the State of the owner, until the expiration of the period of three years after the day on which the last entry was made in the book and to be readily available for inspection at all reasonable times. (2) Where an oil record book of a ship is not retained in accordance with subsection (1), the owner of the ship is guilty of an offence. (3) The owner of a ship to which section 11 applies who resides in the State, or has an office or agent in the State, may from time to time furnish to a prescribed officer notice, in writing, of an address, being the address of— (a) the place in the State at which the person so resides; or (b) the office of the person in the State, or if the person has more than one office in the State, the principal office in the State; or (c) the office or place of residence in the State of an agent or, if the agent has more than one office in the State, the principal office in the State of the agent, and the place or office of which an address is furnished for the time being under this subsection is the registered office in the State of the owner of the ship for the purposes of subsection (1). (4) Where the owner of a ship to which section 11 applies does not reside in the State and does not have an office or agent in the State, the owner may deposit an oil record book of the ship with a prescribed officer and, while the book is so deposited, the book is, for the purposes of subsection (1), deemed to be retained at the registered office in the State of the owner.