20Expenses etc. incurred by Authority debt due to Commonwealth

20 Expenses etc. incurred by Authority debt due to Commonwealth

(1) Subject to this section, where the Authority incurs any expense or other liability in, or by reason of, the exercise of the Authority’s powers under section 8, 9 or 10 of the Protection of the Sea (Powers of Intervention) Act 1981 in respect of an incident, the amount of that expense or other liability is: (a) if that expense or other liability was incurred in, or by reason of, the exercise of those powers in relation to a single ship—a debt due to the Commonwealth by the owner of that ship; or (b) if that expense or other liability was incurred in, or by reason of, the exercise of those powers in relation to 2 or more ships—a debt due to the Commonwealth jointly and severally by the owners of those ships. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the owner of a ship in respect of an incident referred to in that subsection where the owner proves that the incident: (a) resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war, insurrection or a natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character; (b) was wholly caused by an act or omission done by a third party with intent to cause damage; or (c) was wholly caused by the negligence or other wrongful act of any government, or other authority, responsible for the maintenance of lights or other navigational aids in the exercise of its functions in relation to those lights or aids. (3) Subject to subsection (6), where an incident referred to in subsection (1) did not occur as a result of the actual fault or privity of the owner of a ship, the liability of the owner of the ship under subsection (1) in respect of the incident shall not exceed the limit of any liability in respect of the incident that applies to the incident under the provisions of one or more international conventions, being provisions in force in relation to Australia. (4) A debt due to the Commonwealth by a person by virtue of this section may be recovered from the person in any court of competent jurisdiction. (5) This section does not apply in relation to pollution damage within the meaning of the Convention. (7) In this section:

incident means an occurrence, or a series of occurrences having the same origin.

owner, in relation to a ship in respect of an incident, means the owner of the ship at the time of the incident or, if the incident consists of a series of occurrences having the same origin, at the time of the first of the occurrences.

third party, in relation to a ship, means any person other than:

(a) the owner of the ship;
(b) a servant or agent of the owner of the ship; or
(c) the master, an officer or any other member of the crew of the ship or of any other ship also owned by the owner of the ship.