Inland Waters Shipping Act, 1995

This section gives the Act its short title: the Inland Waters Shipping Act.

This section defines terms used in the Act.

This section says when the Act applies: to Malawi vessels anywhere, to other vessels in ports or inland waters, and to certain structures and their managers in inland waters.

This Part applies to certain inland-water vessels, but several vessels are exempt.

A person must not use, or allow the use of, a vessel on inland waters unless it has been surveyed and registered and has a valid certificate of registration.

A vessel registration application must be made to the Chief Surveyor by the owner(s) or, for a Malawi-incorporated body corporate, its duly authorized agent, and the application must include the prescribed fees.

A vessel registration application must be accompanied by a declaration, and that declaration must be made before the Chief Surveyor or an authorized officer.

An applicant registering a vessel for the first time must attach specified documents to the declaration.

Vessels must be permanently and conspicuously marked before registration, and vessel names generally cannot be changed without the Chief Surveyor’s approval.

A vessel must be surveyed before registration, and the owner must apply for the survey. The Minister appoints a surveyor, the surveyor inspects the vessel, may require defect correction, and issues a certificate if satisfied.

The Minister must appoint a registrar to keep the vessel register, and the owner must give and update address details. The registrar must retain certain registration documents and cannot register an imported vessel from outside Malawi unless customs compliance is shown.

The Minister must designate ports of registry by Gazette notice and appoint a registrar for each port. Each registrar must keep the vessel register for the port they serve.

If two or more people are registered as owners of a vessel, each is jointly and severally responsible for liabilities under this Act.

The registrar may issue a certificate of registration for a vessel if the Act has been complied with and the prescribed fees have been paid. A certificate issued under this section must be in a form approved by the Chief Surveyor, and using a certificate issued outside this section for navigation is an offence.

A registration certificate may only be used for lawful navigation, cannot be detained for claims against the vessel, and must be delivered on demand to the entitled custodian, the Chief Surveyor, or an authorized officer.

If a vessel’s registration certificate is lost, mislaid, or destroyed, the registrar may issue a new certificate and an authorized officer may issue a provisional one.

If a vessel’s registration certificate is cancelled or suspended, the registrar must notify the master in writing, and the master must hand in the certificate within 7 days and must not take the vessel out on inland waters.

A vessel owner must apply to renew a certificate of registration no earlier than one month before expiry, using the prescribed form and manner, and include a valid surveyor’s certificate.

If a vessel is wrecked, abandoned, captured, burnt, broken up, or ceases to be a vessel, the owner must notify the registrar in writing within 7 days of learning of the event.

If a vessel’s registration details change, the owner must submit the certificate to the registrar within 21 days and explain why; the registrar then updates the certificate and register, with extra survey requirements for certain changes or transfers.

If a vessel has been wrecked or abandoned, the registrar may register it on the owner’s application if the vessel has been surveyed and certified seaworthy.

The Minister may set vessel classes and crew competency standards, and vessels in prescribed classes cannot be used on inland waters unless under a competent master.

A transfer of a vessel must be in writing, in a form approved by the Chief Surveyor, with the vessel described as in its registration certificate and the instrument executed by the transferee before two witnesses.

After a vessel transfer, the instrument must be produced to the Chief Surveyor within 21 days, and the registrar must record the transferee as owner and note that entry on the instrument.

If vessel ownership passes to someone who can own it, that person must make a sworn declaration. If it passes to someone who cannot own it, that person must sell the vessel within six months, or the Administrator General becomes owner and must sell it.

A vessel may be mortgaged under the law governing mortgages and liens in Malawi.

If a vessel is altered so its register details no longer match, the owner must tell the registrar within 30 days and provide a surveyor’s certificate. The registrar must then register the alteration or register the vessel anew.

When a vessel alteration is registered, the certificate of registration must be produced to the registrar, who must keep it, issue a new certificate, endorse the existing certificate with the alterations, and enter the alteration details in the register.

If a vessel has been altered outside Malawi so its register details no longer match, the owner must apply to an authorized officer for provisional endorsement.

The Minister may appoint one or more public officers as the licensing authority by notice in the Gazette.

A person may not use a vessel on inland waters to carry goods or passengers for hire, or goods for trade or business, unless covered by a licence under the Act.

A person who uses a vessel in breach of section 31 commits an offence and can be fined K500.

Licences normally last one year from when they take effect, unless revoked; in some pending-application cases, the existing licence continues until the application is decided. A short-term licence may be granted for up to three months.

A licence cannot be transferred unless the licensing authority gives written consent endorsed on the licence.

A licence must be in the prescribed form, and each vessel must have a separate licence.

A person applying for a licence to use a vessel for passengers or goods must apply in writing to the licensing authority and include specified vessel and service details.

A licensing authority must publish notice of each licence application in the Gazette and state when and how objections can be made.

The licensing authority may, in its discretion, grant or refuse a licence application, or issue a licence with conditions.

Every licence under this Act must include basic vessel-safety and compliance conditions, and the licensing authority may add or change licence conditions.

The licensing authority may revoke or suspend a licence if its conditions have not been complied with.

A person aggrieved by certain licensing decisions may appeal to the Minister, whose decision is final.

The Minister may, by Gazette notice, declare waters or ports to be inland waters, designate harbours, and make regulations about management, safety, fees, and marine pollution control.

The Minister may make agreements with neighboring countries about inland waters, vessels, safety, access, and related matters, and those agreements must be published in the Gazette.

The Minister may suspend the operation of an Act provision for vessels of a country if applying it would conflict with Malawi’s treaty obligations to that country.

The Minister may make regulations to give effect to international safety or tonnage conventions that Malawi has joined.

Specified officers may inspect and survey vessels, and they may also do other assignments if the Chief Surveyor directs them to.

Surveys and inspections may cover specified vessel safety and cargo-related matters.

Surveyors, boat examiners, and authorized officers may board and inspect vessels, ask accident-related questions, and require machinery checks; they can also ask the Chief Surveyor to detain an unsafe or non-compliant vessel.

Surveyors, boat examiners, and authorized officers must keep a record of each inspection they make.

Every passenger vessel must be surveyed before entering service, at least once every calendar year, and whenever the Chief Surveyor requires.

Before a passenger vessel enters service, it must undergo an initial survey that fully inspects the hull, machinery, and equipment.

A periodic survey under this section must make sure the listed equipment is in satisfactory condition, fit for its intended service, and compliant with applicable conventions and regulations, and that the vessel’s light, sound, and distress signals work properly.

The Chief Surveyor may require an additional survey after certain vessel incidents or repairs, and the survey must confirm repairs, workmanship, and safety compliance.

Cargo vessels and fishing vessels must be surveyed before being put into service, and then at least every four years unless the Chief Surveyor orders shorter intervals.

Life-saving and fire-fighting equipment on cargo and fishing vessels must be surveyed before service and then at least every two years, or sooner if the Chief Surveyor directs.

Certain radio installations on specified vessels and survival craft must be surveyed no less than once a year.

This section says the Act applies to passenger vessels, yachts and pleasure crafts, and oil tankers unless otherwise stated, and the Minister may make special or additional regulations for those vessels.

After every survey, the surveyor, boat examiner, or other authorized officer must send a report of the survey to the Chief Surveyor.

The Chief Surveyor must issue an appropriate safety convention certificate and an inspection certificate for certain vessels once the required survey report and compliance findings are in place.

The Minister may make regulations on safety requirements and local safety certificates for certain vessels.

The vessel’s owner or master must post an inspection, local, or convention certificate in a conspicuous place on board after receiving it.

An owner or master of a vessel commits an offence if, without reasonable cause, they do or allow something to be done to the vessel that makes an issued certificate no longer applicable.

The Minister may ask a foreign government to issue certain safety convention certificates for a Malawian vessel.

The Minister may issue certain certificates for a foreign vessel if the foreign government requests it and the Minister is satisfied the certificate can properly be issued.

The Minister may make regulations about certificated officers, the classes of vessels that must have them, certificates of competency, and related incidental matters.

The Chief Surveyor must appoint examiners, who must hold examinations and give certificates to successful candidates; the Chief Surveyor may also recognize foreign certificates, direct equivalent grades or licences, and regulate engine-room attendant certificates with ministerial approval.

If a certificated officer proves to the Chief Surveyor that a certificate of competency or licence has been lost, the Chief Surveyor may issue a certified copy on payment of the prescribed fee.

A person serving on a Malawi vessel who has a certificate of competency or licence must produce it to the Chief Surveyor or a representative when asked.

The Chief Surveyor must keep a register of matters about certificates of competency and licences, including their issue, cancellation, suspension, or amendment.

The master of a Malawi registered vessel outside Malawi must notify the Chief Surveyor within seven days when a certificated officer is engaged or when that officer stops being employed.

A Malawi vessel must not sail without the officers required by regulations; if it does, the owner and master each commit an offence, and the Chief Surveyor may suspend, cancel, or detain the vessel until it is properly manned.

Apprenticeship contracts for Malawi vessels must be signed in the Chief Surveyor’s presence, and the Chief Surveyor must attest them only if the apprentice meets the stated consent, age, and medical-fitness conditions.

Every vessel must be staffed with a crew that is sufficient and efficient to ensure safety of life for any intended voyage, and must remain so staffed.

Every vessel must carry written stability information; the Chief Surveyor may approve the form of that information; sailing in breach of the section is an offence.

Vessels over 50 GRT may not sail outside Malawi inland waters unless they have an efficient signalling lamp.

Vessel masters must report certain navigation dangers, and transmission-station operators must pause sending messages when a hazard notice is being relayed.

Masters of vessels must assist vessels, aircraft, survival craft, and persons in distress, and record reasons if they cannot help.

A person in a vessel must not give certain steering signals while the vessel is going ahead unless the person intends the vessel’s head to move in the indicated direction.

The Minister may make collision regulations for inland waters, including rules about lights, signals, and steering and sailing. Owners or masters of vessels, seaplanes, or other craft who do not comply commit an offence.

If property damage results from not following the collision regulations, the damage is presumed to have been caused by the wilful default of the person in charge of the vessel, seaplane, or other craft.

After a vessel collision, each vessel’s master or person in charge must help the other vessel, stay by it until no further help is needed, and share vessel details, unless doing so would endanger their own vessel, crew, or passengers.

If a vessel has an accident causing death, serious injury, or damage affecting seaworthiness or efficiency, the owner or master must send a written report to the Chief Surveyor within 24 hours or as soon as possible after. The report must also be signed and include key vessel and accident details.

The Minister may make Gazette-published regulations about load lines and related vessel matters.

This section defines which vessels count as load line vessels and when a vessel is treated as loaded beyond the limits in its load line certificate.

A master may not take a load line vessel on Malawi inland waters unless the vessel has been surveyed, meets free-board conditions, is properly marked, and has a load line certificate from the Chief Surveyor.

The Chief Surveyor must issue a load line certificate to any vessel that complies with the Act’s load line requirements. The Minister may ask a contracting country’s government to issue a load line certificate for a Malawian load line vessel.

A vessel’s load line certificate must be renewed at intervals set by the Chief Surveyor if the vessel is surveyed under the load line regulations, and it stops being valid when the vessel is transferred to another state’s flag unless the Minister endorses it.

The Chief Surveyor may cancel or suspend a load line certificate if there are reasons to believe it was based on fraud, error, false information, or unsafe vessel alterations or maintenance failures.

If a load line certificate has expired, been cancelled, or suspended, the Chief Surveyor can require the vessel’s owner or master to surrender it. Failure to comply without reasonable cause is an offence.

A load line vessel must not sail unless its master produces a valid load line certificate to the Chief Surveyor when requested.

The owner or master of a vessel must post the load line certificate on board and make required log-book entries; the master must also post a notice before departure, unless exempted for a class of vessel by the Chief Surveyor.

The Minister may issue an appropriate load line certificate for a foreign vessel if requested by the government of the contracting country and satisfied the certificate may properly be issued.

A surveyor may board and inspect vessels in Malawi for load line compliance, and may inspect a foreign vessel more broadly if no valid certificate is produced.

A vessel owner on inland waters must make a written crew agreement with each seaman engaged as crew, and the agreement must be dated when first signed.

A crew agreement must include specified details about the seaman, the voyage, wages, leave, conduct rules, and pension contributions. It may also include other agreed terms.

The master of a vessel must post a legible specimen of the crew agreement on the ship at the start of every voyage, where the crew can access it.

A young person must not work on a vessel unless the parent or guardian gives written consent, and must not work in a vessel’s engine room unless they are an apprentice working under supervision.

The Chief Surveyor must issue a Continuous Discharge Book to each seaman engaged on a vessel, and the master must record discharge details, sign the entry, avoid including wages or work quality, and return a retained certificate of competency when the officer is discharged.

When a seaman is discharged from a vessel, the vessel owner may give the seaman a character report, and the master must report on the seaman’s conduct, character, and qualifications.

The owner or master of a vessel must pay each seaman’s wages within the stated time limit, and final wages may be paid to the Chief Surveyor with the seaman’s consent.

The owner of a vessel must give a seaman a full and true account of wages before discharge.

The master of a vessel must give a seaman a full and true account of wages before discharge, keep a book of deductions during the voyage, and the vessel owner must produce that book when required at wage payment or a related complaint hearing.

A discharged seaman must endorse the discharge on a crew agreement and sign a release of claims once wages are settled, and the vessel’s master must give the Chief Surveyor a signed, attested copy of that release.

If a seaman’s wages are paid in a different currency from the one agreed, the payment must be made at the official exchange rate at the place and day of payment.

A crew agreement may allow advance payment to or for a seaman, if the seaman starts work under the agreement, but the amount cannot exceed two weeks’ wages.

A crew agreement may provide for part of a seaman’s wages to be allotted to a named person while the seaman is absent from Malawi, but the amount cannot exceed 50% of the seaman’s monthly wages.

A seaman’s right to wages and provisions starts when work begins, or earlier if the agreement says so.

Agreements that make a seaman give up wage-related privileges, remedies, wage rights, or salvage rights are null and void.

A seaman whose service ends early in the stated circumstances is entitled to wages, either for time already served or, if the vessel is lost or foundering, for each day unemployed for up to two months at the agreement rate.

A seaman is entitled to wages during sickness, including while on board a vessel or on shore sick leave, but not if the sickness was caused by the seaman’s own wilful act or default or was wilfully concealed at engagement.

A seaman discharged improperly may be entitled to earned wages plus compensation equal to one month’s wages.

After 12 months of continuous service, a person is entitled to paid annual leave; if service is under 12 months, the seaman gets leave proportional to time served.

If a seaman dies during a voyage, the vessel’s master must take charge of the deceased seaman’s personal effects and money, and record details in the official log-book.

The vessel owner must deliver a deceased seaman’s property to the Chief Surveyor, with a limited right to deduct proper expenses. Claims must be made within five years of death.

If four or more crew members think the ship’s provisions or water are substandard or too little, they may complain first to the owner, and then to the Chief Surveyor or an authorized officer if nothing improves.

If a seaman’s food allowance on a vessel is short or substandard during the voyage, the seaman is entitled to compensation.

The master of a vessel that supplies provisions to the crew must keep proper weights and measures on board.

Vessels of 50 GRT or more must carry a qualified crew cook and a qualified passenger cook when they provide food to passengers and crew.

Vessel owners and masters must carry medicines, medical stores, and appliances as required by regulations. If an authorized officer finds them deficient or improperly stored, the officer must notify the owner or master in writing and report to the Chief Surveyor. The Chief Surveyor may then suspend registration and detain the vessel until the default is remedied.

The vessel owner must pay reasonable treatment expenses for crew members treated outside Malawi, and burial or cremation expenses if a crew member dies and is buried or cremated outside Malawi or outside their place of residence.

Vessels leaving a port with 100 or more people on board must carry a medical practitioner, except vessels operating within coastal or inland water ports.

If a seaman on board tells the master he wants to complain to an authorized person, the master must let the seaman go ashore to make the complaint.

The Chief Surveyor can start disciplinary proceedings against a person with a certificate or licence, require a written explanation, cancel or suspend the certificate or licence, censure the person, and the holder must return a cancelled or suspended certificate within 7 days or commit an offence.

The Minister may, in a fit and proper case, authorize re-issue of a cancelled or suspended certificate or licence, reduce a suspension period, or issue a low-grade replacement.

Crew members of a vessel commit an offence if, through wilful breach of duty or drunkenness, they act or fail to act in a way that endangers the vessel or people on board.

Masters must keep an official log-book and make, sign, and deliver entries and the log-book within the stated time limits.

The master of every vessel must enter, or cause to be entered, specified particulars in the official log-book.

Breaking official log-book requirements is an offence.

If a vessel is lost or abandoned, the owner or master must deliver the list of persons on board to the Chief Surveyor.

When a vessel’s master gives up command during a voyage, the master must hand over the registration certificate and related ship and crew documents to the successor, and the new commander must record the delivered documents in the official log-book immediately.

If a birth or death happens on a vessel on inland waters, the master must record it in the official log-book and prepare the required memorandum or declaration.

Sections 132 to 134 apply to every vessel that engages a seaman in Malawi.

If a seaman’s agreement ends at a different port from the port of engagement, the owner or master must return the seaman to a proper return port and cover related maintenance and medical costs.

A seaman left behind or discharged because of desertion or imprisonment is not entitled to be returned at the vessel owner’s or master’s expense.

If a seaman is left behind or discharged at a port other than the port of engagement, an authorized officer may require the vessel owner to provide security or a guarantee for repatriation.

The master of a vessel must record a left-behind seaman’s effects and wages, provide account documents to an authorized officer within 48 hours after the voyage ends, supply supporting vouchers if required, and deliver the seaman’s personal effects. The master may also retain certain wages shown in a retention account.

A vessel master is exempt from liability for certain loss or damage to a seaman’s personal effects if the loss happened without the master’s fault.

If a seaman’s service ends without the seaman’s consent, the ship’s master must record it, pay the wages due, and arrange the seaman’s maintenance and return to a proper port.

If a vessel is sold, transferred, or otherwise disposed of, a seaman on that vessel may choose to be discharged or to stay on and finish the voyage.

An authorized officer must provide relief to a seaman who is outside Malawi and meets the section’s shipwreck, discharge, or abandonment conditions.

A vessel’s master or crew member must not wrongfully force a seaman ashore and leave him behind, or otherwise leave a seaman behind at any place.

If there is a dispute about which return port a seaman should be sent to, the matter may be referred to an authorized officer, and that officer’s decision binds the master and the seaman.

When grain is loaded on a Malawi vessel, or loaded in Malawi on any vessel, necessary and reasonable precautions must be taken to stop it shifting.

The Minister may make regulations about requirements for cargo carried in any uncovered space on the deck of a load line vessel.

This section defines “dangerous goods” for vessels.

People sending or carrying dangerous goods by vessel must mark the package and give written notice; knowingly using false descriptions is also an offence.

The owner or master of a vessel may order a package or parcel to be opened to check what it is, or refuse to load it if they suspect it contains dangerous goods.

If dangerous goods were shipped without the required marking or notice, the owner or master of the vessel may throw them, and their packaging or container, overboard. The master must then record the reasons in the official log-book.

The Minister may make regulations about carrying dangerous goods in vessels, by notice published in the Gazette.

A person commits an offence if they send a vessel on inland waterways in an unseaworthy state that is likely to endanger life.

The vessel owner/master and certain loading or preparation agents must take reasonable steps to make the vessel seaworthy when the voyage starts and keep it seaworthy throughout the voyage.

The Chief Surveyor may detain an unfit vessel, and related notice, inspection, report, and cost-payment duties follow.

The Chief Surveyor is the Receiver of wrecks throughout Malawi, and the Receiver must supervise matters relating to wrecks and salvage.

When a vessel is wrecked, stranded, or in distress near inland waters, the Receiver must go to the scene immediately and take charge.

The Receiver may require assistance and use equipment to protect wrecked or distressed vessels, may arrest people who damage or plunder such vessels, and can require help with the arrest.

If a vessel is wrecked, stranded, or in distress in Malawi, a person may cross adjoining land to help and may deposit recovered cargo there. Landowners or occupiers must not block this and may commit an offence if they do.

When a vessel is in distress on inland waters, the Receiver must examine relevant persons on oath and may administer oaths for that purpose.

If someone takes possession of a wreck in Malawi, they must promptly tell the Receiver where the wreck is kept.

The Receiver may seek a search warrant and, with that warrant, enter premises or vessels to search for, seize, and detain wreck. A person who provides information leading to a wreck seizure may receive a salvage payment set by the Chief Surveyor.

If the receiver takes possession of a wreck, the receiver must post a description of the wreck and its distinguishing mark in the office within 48 hours.

An owner can get a wreck, or its sale proceeds, back from the Receiver if the claim is proven within six months and salvage fees, expenses, and customs duty are paid.

The Receiver may sell wrecks in his custody if certain value, damage, or warehousing conditions are met, and must hold the remaining sale proceeds after expenses for the same purposes as if the wreck had not been sold.

A person may not sell wreck, cargo, or equipment from a stranded, derelict, or distressed vessel without authority from the Receiver.

A person must not board or try to board a wrecked, stranded, or distressed vessel without the master’s leave, unless acting under the Receiver’s authority.

No person may interfere with saving or handling a stranded, distressed, or wrecked vessel, its cargo, equipment, or marks.

If no one proves ownership of a wreck within six months after the Receiver gets it, the Receiver must sell it and pay the money into the Consolidated Fund after allowed deductions.

If the receiver delivers the wreck or pays over the sale proceeds of the wreck under this Part, the receiver is discharged from liability for the wreck.

The Receiver may deal with certain dangerous or obstructing vessels in inland waters, including taking possession, marking, and selling them; notice is usually required before sale, and owners can reclaim property by paying fair market value before it is sold.

The harbour master may act when a vessel is obstructing or endangering navigation in a harbour, but cannot sell the vessel or its equipment without the Receiver’s prior approval.

A salvor who helps save life from an aircraft or vessel may claim a reasonable salvage amount and reimbursement of properly incurred expenses.

If a vessel is wrecked, stranded, run aground, or in distress in or near Malawi’s inland waters, a person who helps the vessel, its cargo or equipment, or saves a wreck is entitled to salvage payment and reimbursement of properly incurred expenses.

Section 172 says section 170 does not give anyone entitlement to salvage or a refund of expenses in four listed situations.

If salvage services are provided between vessels under the same owner, salvage is paid as though the vessels had different owners.

Disputes about salvaged property value, salvage payable, or a salvor’s expenses are decided by the competent court unless the parties agree to another method.

The Receiver may detain salvaged vessel, cargo, equipment, or wreck property until the salvor’s claim is paid, if the statutory conditions are met.

The Receiver may sell detained property if the owner knows about the detention and the salvor’s unpaid amount is undisputed and still unpaid after 21 days from a payment claim.

A salvor’s claim for salvage of life under section 170 takes priority over any other salvage claim.

This section says when a “shipping casualty” is treated as occurring for inquiry or investigation purposes.

After a shipping casualty, the Chief Surveyor may start a preliminary inquiry or have an inspector do it.

The Chief Surveyor may appoint a court of investigation for a shipping casualty, but not for a foreign vessel unless the casualty is within near shore limits of Malawi waters and the vessel’s flag state requests or agrees.

The Chief Surveyor must investigate deaths on certain vessels and record the result in the official log book.

If a passenger dies on board a Malawi-registered vessel or a foreign vessel heading to Malawi as its next port of call, section 181 applies.

If luggage loss or damage is deemed to have occurred, the luggage owner must notify the carrier to seek compensation.

If a vessel sails while an authorised officer is on board in the course of duty, the owner and master each commit an offence and may be fined.

A person commits an offence if they throw, or cause another person to be thrown, overboard.

Heavy packages loaded on a vessel in Malawi must have their approximate weight clearly and durably marked on the outside.

Unauthorised people must not go on board or stay on board a vessel in a port in Malawi without consent or after being told to leave.

Seamen commit an offence if they desert, refuse to join or sail, stay away without leave, assault crew or master, conspire to neglect duty or navigation, or damage or misappropriate vessel property.

This section sets penalties for people who commit specified offences or otherwise contravene the Act.

Depositions may be used as evidence in certain proceedings if the witness cannot be found in Malawi, but there are limits for Malawi proceedings and criminal cases.

A person in Malawi who has custody of a document needed as evidence under or connected with this Act must provide a certified copy to an interested person who applies for it.

A judge may order a foreign vessel detained in Malawi if certain damage or injury claims are shown to be probably caused by the vessel’s master or crew, and may revoke the order if adequate security is provided.

If a vessel is detained by a Judge, notices must be served and the Chief Surveyor must be informed; while a notice is in force, the vessel must not be cleared or set sail.

The Chief Surveyor or a police officer may arrest, without a warrant, a person committing an offence under the Act.

The master of a sailing Malawi vessel may arrest and detain a seaman who commits an offence on board if needed to prevent serious disorder, and must record the arrest in the official log-book soon after.

Some people charged with certain offences connected to vessels may be tried in Malawi.

If a person is charged with an offence triable in Malawi under this Act, the offender must be tried in Magistrate’s Court unless the Director of Public Prosecutions directs otherwise.

If a vessel owner convicted under this Act does not pay a fine, the fine may be recovered as a mortgage debt against the vessel; judgment debts against a vessel owner may also be recovered that way.

This section allows documents to be served by personal delivery, by leaving them at a person’s last place of abode, or by specified methods for vessels.

People acting in the performance of duties under this Act are treated as a public officer and as a public servant for two named laws.

If a foreign vessel leaves behind a non-Malawi seaman, the repatriation or deportation costs are recovered from the vessel owner, or from the owner’s agent if the owner is not in Malawi.

Masters must get port clearance before a vessel leaves a port in Malawi, and the Chief Surveyor can refuse clearance unless listed conditions are met.

The Minister may make regulations to carry out this Act.

This section says two labour laws apply to seamen, and a seaman’s daily wages are calculated by dividing monthly wages in the crew agreement by 30 when the seaman is on a Malawi vessel.

A police officer may arrest a person without a warrant and seize evidence-related vessels or objects if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe an offence against the Act was committed and the person will not attend court.

Certain authorized officers may require vessel owners or other persons to provide identifying information about people on board, and failure to comply can be an offence unless limited exceptions apply.

Do not wilfully or negligently damage, remove, alter, destroy, ride by, make fast to, or run foul of any navigation mark.

This section sets rules for evidence in proceedings about vessel offences, damages, and related investigations.

Malawi vessels must hoist the national colours when entering or leaving a port in Malawi or when signalled by a Government vessel.

This section creates offences for false statements, document misuse, obstruction, failing to produce documents, unsafe vessel conduct, and other breaches of the Act, with fines and prison terms.

This section repeals the Inland Waters Shipping Act and keeps existing subsidiary legislation in force unless it conflicts with this Act.