Marine Pollution (Control and Civil Liability) Act, 1981 (Act No. 6 of 1981) 1. Definitions

 

(1)        In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates—

 

"area of the Republic"

includes the internal waters and the territorial waters;

[Definition substituted by section 27(a) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"Authority"

means the South African Maritime Safety Authority established by section 2 of the South African Maritime Safety Authority Act 1998 (Act No. 5 of 1998);

[Definition inserted by section 2(2) (item 55 Sch) of Act No. 5 of 1998]

 

"certificate"

means a certificate contemplated in section 13;

 

"Convention"

means the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, signed in Brussels on 29 November 1969 and published for general information under General Notice 58 of 1978 in Government Gazette 5867 of 27 January 1978, and includes any amendments thereof and additions thereto signed, ratified or acceded to by the Republic of South Africa;

 

"Convention State"

means a state which is a party to the Convention;

 

"Director-General"

means the Director-General: Transport;

 

"discharge"

in relation to a harmful substance, means any release, howsoever caused, from a ship, a tanker or an offshore installation into a part of the sea which is a prohibited area, and includes any escaping, disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting or emptying; and "discharge", when used as a verb, has a corresponding meaning;

[Definition substituted by section 27(b) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"exclusive economic zone"

means the exclusive economic zone referred to in section 7 of the Maritime Zones Act, 1994  (Act No. 15 of 1994);

[Definition inserted by section 27(c) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"harmful substance"

means any substance which, if introduced into the sea, is likely to create a hazard to human health, harm living resources and marine life, damage amenities or interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, and includes oil and any other substance subject to control by MARPOL 1973/78, and mixtures of such substances and water or any other substance;

[Definition inserted by section 27(c) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"Fund"

[Definition deleted by section 1(a) of Act No. 9 of 1990]

 

"high-water mark"

means the highest line reached by the water of the sea during ordinary storms occurring during the most stormy period of the year, excluding exceptional or abnormal floods;

 

"incident"

means any occurrence, or series of occurrences having the same origin, which causes a discharge of oil from any ship, tanker or offshore installation or which creates the likelihood of such a discharge;

 

"internal waters"

includes the land between the high-water and low-water marks;

[Definition inserted by section 27(d) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"low-water mark"

means the low-water line as defined in section 1 of the Maritime Zones Act 1994 (Act No. 15 of 1994);

[Definition substituted by section 27(e) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"Marine Pollution Acts"

means the Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1986 (Act No. 2 of 1986), including any instrument made thereunder, and this Act;

[Definition inserted by section 27(f) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"MARPOL 1973/78"

means the convention contained in the Schedule to the Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1986 (Act No. 2 of 1986);

[Definition inserted by section 27(f) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"master"

in relation to a ship or a tanker, means any person (other than a pilot) having charge or command of such ship or tanker and, in relation to an offshore installation, means the person in charge thereof;

 

"Minister"

means the Minister of Transport;

[Definition substituted by section 27(g) of Act 23 of 1997]

 

"National Revenue Fund"

means the National Revenue Fund established by section 213 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996);

[Definition inserted by section 27(h) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"natural oil"

[Definition deleted by section 27(i) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"nautical mile"

means the international nautical mile of 1 852 metres;

 

"offshore installation"

means a facility situated wholly or partly within the prohibited area and which is used for the transfer of harmful substances from a ship or a tanker to a point on land or from a point on land to a ship or tanker or from a bunkering vessel to a ship or a tanker, and includes any exploration or production platform situated within the prohibited area and used in prospecting for or the mining of natural oil;

[Definition substituted by section 27(j) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"oil"

in relation to a discharge of oil from—

but in relation to loss or damage caused as contemplated in section 9(1)(a) where the discharge in question took place from a tanker, and for the purposes of section 13(1), means oil as defined in paragraph 5 of Article 1 of the Convention;

 

"owner"

in relation to a ship or a tanker, means the person or persons registered as the owner of such ship or tanker or, in the absence of registration, the person or persons to whom such ship or tanker belongs, but, in relation to a ship or tanker belonging to a state which is operated by a person registered as the ship's or tanker's operator, "owner" means the person so registered;

[Definition substituted by section 27(l) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"prescribed"

means prescribed by regulation;

 

"principal officer"

means the officer in charge of the office of the Authority at any port;

 

"prohibited area"

means the internal waters, the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone and, in relation to an offshore installation, includes the sea within the limits of the continental shelf;

[Definition substituted by section 27(m) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"sea"

means the water and the bed of the sea and includes the land between the high- and low-water marks as well as any tidal lagoon or tidal river as defined in section 1 of the Sea-shore Act 1935 (Act No. 21 of 1935);

 

"ship"

means any kind of vessel or other sea-borne object from which oil can be discharged, excluding a tanker, whether or not such vessel or object has been lost or abandoned, has stranded, is in distress, disabled or damaged, has been wrecked, has broken up or has sunk;

 

"State Revenue Fund"

[Definition deleted by section 27(n) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"tanker"

means any seagoing vessel of any type whatsoever, actually carrying oil in bulk as cargo and in respect of which the provisions of the Convention are applicable;

 

"territorial waters of the Republic"

[Definition deleted by section 27(o) of Act No. 23 of 1997]

 

"this Act"

includes any regulation made thereunder.