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

Regulations

Merchant Shipping  (INF Code) Regulations, 2003

9. Duty to report certain incidents involving INF cargo

 

(1) In this regulation "incident" includes any damage to, or failure or breakdown of, a ship carrying INF cargo that—
(a) affects the safety of the ship, including but not limited to, collision, grounding, fire explosion, structural failure, flooding and cargo shifting; or
(b) results in the impairment of the safety of navigation, including the failure or breakdown of steering gear, propulsion system, electrical generating system, and essential shipborne navigational aids.

 

(2) If an incident occurs in relation to a ship, the ship's master must, without delay, notify, in accordance with subregulation (4)—
(a) where the Republic is the nearest coastal State to the place where the incident occurred, the Authority; or
(b) where another country is the nearest coastal State to that place, the government of that State.

 

(3) If an incident occurs in relation to a ship and—
(a) the ship's master fails to comply with subregulation (2) (whether or not the master is able to comply with that subregulation) in relation to the incident; or
(b) the incident occurs in circumstances in which the ship is abandoned,

the ship's operator or an agent of the ship's operator must comply with subregulation (2) in relation to the incident.

 

(4)
(a) Notification of an incident pursuant to subregulation (2) must be given using the fastest available means of communication.
(b) Notification to the Authority maybe given by communicating the incident to the principal officer or duty surveyor at any of the Authority's marine survey offices in the Republic.
(c) The notification message must contain the following information:
(i) the ship's name and call sign (if any) and its flag of registry;
(ii) the day and time of the incident;
(iii) the ship’s position when the incident happened and at the time of reporting;
(iv) the ship's course and speed;
(v) whether the ship has been damaged and, if so, the extent of the damage;
(vi) the type and extent of the release;
(vii) prevailing weather conditions; and
(viii) the ship's size and type.

 

(5) A person who, pursuant to subregulation (2) or (3), has notified the Authority or a government of an incident must, if so requested by the Authority or that government, as the case may be, give a report to the Authority or that government, as the case requires, about the incident; the report must be given in the form approved by the Authority and within 24 hours of being requested.

 

(6) A person must not, in a notice given to the Authority or a government pursuant to subregulation (2) or (3), or in a report given to the Authority or a government pursuant to subregulation (5), knowingly or recklessly make a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular.