Prevention of Pollution ofthe Sea Act 1990

Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act 1990 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to give effect to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified and added to by the Protocol of 1978, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004, and to other international agreements relating to the protection of the marine environment and to the prevention, reduction and control of pollution of the sea and pollution from ships; to make provisions generally for the protection of the marine environment and for the prevention, reduction and control of pollution of the sea and pollution from ships, and for matters related thereto. [26/2017] [1 February 1991] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act 1990. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “appointed authority” means the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore established under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996 and any person appointed by the Minister for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made under this Act; “Authority” means the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore established under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996; “ballast tank” means any tank, hold or space used for the carriage of ballast water; “ballast water” means water with its suspended matter taken on board a ship to control trim, list, draught, stability or stresses of the ship; “ballast water management” means mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological processes, either singularly or in combination, to remove, render harmless, or avoid the uptake or discharge of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens within ballast water and sediments; “Ballast Water Management Convention” means the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004; “ballast water management system” — (a) means any system which processes ballast water such that it meets or exceeds the ballast water performance standard in the Ballast Water Management Convention; and (b) includes ballast water treatment equipment, all associated control equipment, piping arrangements specified by the manufacturer of the ballast water management system as forming part of the ballast water management system, control and monitoring equipment and sampling facilities; but (c) does not include any of the ship’s ballast water fittings, such as piping, valves and pumps, that would be required to be fitted even if the ballast water management system was not fitted; “Convention” means the Convention of 1973 as modified and added to by the Protocol of 1978; “Convention of 1973” means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (including its protocols, annexes and appendices) which constitutes attachment 1 to the final act of the International Conference on Marine Pollution signed in London on 2 November 1973; “Director” means the Director of Marine appointed under section 4 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and includes the Deputy Director of Marine appointed under that section; “discharge”, in relation to harmful substances or effluents containing such substances, means any release howsoever caused from a ship, place or thing and includes any escape, disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting or emptying but does not include — (a) release of harmful substances directly arising from the exploration, exploitation and associated off‑shore processing of seabed mineral resources; or (b) release of harmful substances for purposes of legitimate scientific research into pollution abatement or control; “garbage” means all kinds of victual, domestic and operational waste excluding fresh fish and parts thereof, generated during the normal operation of the ship and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically except sewage originating from ships; “harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens” means aquatic organisms or pathogens which, if introduced into the sea including estuaries, or into fresh water courses, may create hazards to the environment, human health, property or resources, impair biological diversity or interfere with other legitimate uses of such areas; “harmful substance” means any substance which, if introduced into the sea, is liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, and includes any substance subject to control under this Act; “inspector” means a person who — (a) is a surveyor of ships; or (b) is appointed in writing by the Director to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made under this Act; “in packaged form” means in an individual package or receptacle including a freight container or a portable tank or tank container or tank vehicle or shipborne barge or other cargo unit containing harmful substances for shipment; “marine pollutant” means a substance which is identified as a marine pollutant in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time; “MARPOL” refers to the Convention; “MARPOL surveyor” means a surveyor appointed or registered by the Director or by or on behalf of the government of a state party to the Convention; “master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of any ship; “noxious liquid substance” means any substance which is prescribed by regulations as being a noxious liquid substance and which is subject to the provisions of Annex II of the Convention; “occupier”, in relation to any place on land if it has no actual occupier, means the owner thereof and, in relation to a railway wagon or road vehicle, means the person in charge of the wagon or vehicle and not the occupier of the land on which the wagon or vehicle stands; “oil” means petroleum in any form including crude oil, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and refined products (other than petrochemicals which are prescribed by regulations as being subject to the provisions of Annex II of the Convention) and, without limiting the foregoing, includes the substances prescribed by regulations as being listed in Appendix I of Annex I of the Convention; “oily mixture” means a mixture with an oil content of 15 parts or more in 1 million parts of the mixture; “oil residues” means any waste material consisting of, or arising from, oil or oily mixture; “oil terminal” means any place having permanent means of loading or discharging oil, whether in bulk or package, into or from any ship; “owner”, in relation to a ship, means the person registered as the owner of the ship or, in the absence of registration, the person owning the ship or the bareboat charterer of the ship; and, in the case of a ship owned by a state and operated by a company which in that state is registered as the ship’s operator, “owner” includes that state; “place on land” includes anything resting on the bed or shore of the sea, or of Singapore waters, and also includes anything afloat (other than a ship) if it is anchored or attached to the bed or shore of the sea or of Singapore waters; “plastics” includes, but is not limited to, synthetic ropes, synthetic fishing nets and plastic garbage bags; “port” has the meaning given by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996; “Port Master” means the Port Master appointed under section 15 of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996 and includes any Deputy Port Master appointed under that section; “Protocol of 1978” means the Protocol relating to the Convention of 1973 which constitutes attachment 2 to the final act of the International Conference on Tanker Safety and Pollution Prevention signed in London on 17 February 1978; “reception facilities” means facilities which enable ships to — (a) discharge or deposit residues and mixtures, which residues and mixtures contain oil or noxious liquid substances; or (b) discharge sediments; “sediments” means matter settled out of ballast water within a ship; “ship” means a vessel of any type operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats, air‑cushion vehicles, submersibles, floating craft and fixed or floating platforms; “Singapore ship” means a ship registered under Part 2 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; “Singapore waters” means the following waters: (a) the whole of the sea within the seaward limits of the territorial waters of Singapore; (b) all other waters (including inland waters) which are within these limits and are subject to the ebb and flow of the ordinary tides; “surveyor of ships” means a surveyor of ships appointed under section 5 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; “tank” means an enclosed space which is formed by the permanent structure of a ship and which is designed for the carriage of liquid in bulk; “terminal” means any terminal (including an oil terminal), jetty, pier or monobuoy and a yard or dry dock (including the precincts of the terminal) in which — (a) vessels are constructed, reconstructed, repaired, refitted, finished or broken up; or (b) ballast tanks of vessels are cleaned or repaired; “terminal operator” means a person or body of persons having the management of a terminal in Singapore; “trade effluent” means the solid or liquid waste of any trade, business or manufacture. [26/2017] (2) For the purpose of any provision of this Act relating to the discharge of oil, oily mixture, refuse, garbage, waste matter, plastics, marine pollutant in packaged form, noxious liquid substance, trade effluent, ballast water or sediments from a ship, any floating craft other than a ship which is attached to a ship is to be treated as part of the ship. [26/2017] (3) Unless the context otherwise requires — (a) a reference in this Act to the discharge of any oil, oily mixture, noxious liquid substance, ballast water or sediments from a ship is a reference to the discharge of the oil, oily mixture, noxious liquid substance, ballast water or sediments from the ship at any place in or outside Singapore; and (b) a reference in this Act to the discharge of any oil, oily mixture, noxious liquid substance or sediments from a place on land is a reference to the discharge of the oil, oily mixture, noxious liquid substance or sediments from the place at any place in or outside Singapore. [26/2017] (4) Any reference in this Act to the Convention, the Ballast Water Management Convention or any other international agreement is to be construed as including a reference to its protocols, annexes, appendices and other attachments. [26/2017]