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Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Regulations

Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Regulations, 1997

Part 2 : Carriage of Packaged Dangerous Goods

9. Documentation

 

(1) No packaged dangerous goods may be offered for carriage or taken on board a ship unless a dangerous goods declaration has been furnished to the shipowner or master.

 

(2) Such declaration must indicate the correct technical name of the goods followed by the words "MARINE POLLUTANT", where appropriate, their UN number (if any) and must indicate to which of the following classes the goods belong:
Class 1 — Explosives
Class 2 — Gases compressed, liquefied or dissolved under pressure, subdivided into three categories:
2.1 Flammable gases
2.2 Non-flammable gases, being compressed, liquefied or dissolved, but neither flammable nor poisonous
2.3 Poisonous gases
Class 3 — Flammable liquids, subdivided into three categories:
3.1 Low flashpoint group of liquids having a flashpoint below -18°C, closed cup test
3.2 Intermediate flashpoint group of liquids having a flashpoint of -18°C up to but not including 23°C, closed cup test
3.3 High flashpoint group of liquids having a flashpoint of 23°C up to and including 61°C, closed cup test
Class 4.1 — Flammable solids
Class 4.2 — Substances liable to spontaneous combustion
Class 4.3 — Substances that, in contact with water, emit flammable gases
Class 5.1 — Oxidising substances (agents)
Class 5.2 — Organic peroxides
Class 6.1 — Poisonous (toxic) substances
Class 6.2 — Infectious substances
Class 7 — Radioactive materials
Class 8 — Corrosives
Class 9 — Miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles that pose a danger not covered by other classes

 

Where there is doubt as to the appropriate classification of dangerous goods such goods must be classified by an approved classification authority.

 

(3) Such declaration must include the following information, where appropriate:
(a) The number and type of packages;
(b) the total quantity of packaged dangerous goods covered by the declaration (gross mass or volume);
(c) any other information required by the IMDG Code.

 

(4) Such declaration must include a statement to the effect that the goods are packaged in accordance with these regulations.

 

(5) The shipper must furnish the shipowner or master with a declaration required by this regulation, unless he or she does not deliver the goods to the ship or its agent, in which case the shipper must furnish the forwarder with such a declaration.

 

(6) Where the shipper does not deliver the goods to the ship or its agent, the forwarder must furnish the shipowner or master with the declaration.

 

(7) If a shipper or a forwarder fails to furnish a declaration required by this regulation, or furnishes a declaration that he or she knows or  ought to know to be false or misleading in a material particular, he or she is guilty of an offence.

 

(8) If a shipowner or master accepts for carriage, or takes or receives on board any packaged dangerous goods for which a declaration required by this regulation has not been furnished, he or she is guilty of an offence.