Merchant Shipping (Civil Liability Convention) Act, 2013 (Act No. 25 of 2013)Part 3 : Insurance Certificates11. Insurance certificates to be carried on certain ships |
| (1) | If a ship enters or leaves, or attempts to enter or to leave, a port in the Republic, or arrives at or leaves, or attempts to arrive at or to leave, a terminal in the territorial waters of the Republic, without having on board the ship the relevant insurance certificate that is in force in respect of that ship, the master and the owner of the ship are both guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R250 000. |
| (2) | If a ship that is registered in the Republic enters or leaves, or attempts to enter or to leave, a port in a state other than the Republic, or arrives at or leaves, or attempts to arrive at or to leave, a terminal in the territorial sea of such a state, without having on board the ship the relevant insurance certificate that is in force in respect of that ship, the master and the owner of the ship are both guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R250 000. |
| (3) | If, otherwise than in circumstances to which subsection (1) applies or, in the case of a ship registered in the Republic, to which subsection (2) applies, at any time a relevant insurance certificate is in force in respect of a ship to which this Part applies and that insurance certificate is not on board that ship, the master and the owner of the ship are both guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R20 000. |
| (4) | An officer may require the master or other person in charge of a ship to produce the relevant insurance certificate that is in force in respect of that ship and, if the master or other person refuses or fails to produce that insurance certificate to the officer, he or she is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R20 000. |
| (5) | If the Authority has reasonable grounds to believe that the master or other person in charge of a ship is attempting to take the ship out of a port in the Republic at a time when the ship does not have on board the relevant insurance certificate that is in force in respect of that ship, the Authority may detain the ship until such insurance certificate is obtained or produced to the Authority, as the case may be. |
| (6) | If a ship detained at a port in terms of subsection (5) leaves the port before it has been released from detention, the master and the owner of that ship are both guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R500 000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, or to both such fine and to such imprisonment. |
| (7) | For the purposes of this section, a relevant insurance certificate in respect of a ship is— |
| (a) | if the ship is registered in the Republic and is not a Government ship, a certificate issued in terms of section 12; |
| (b) | if the ship is registered in a Contracting State and is not a Government ship, a certificate issued in respect of that ship under a law of the Contracting State in question giving effect to Article VII of the 1992 Liability Convention; |
| (c) | if the ship is registered in a state that is not a Contracting State and the ship is not a Government ship, a certificate issued in terms of section 12 or a certificate that must be regarded as a relevant insurance certificate for the ship for the purposes of this paragraph in terms of the regulations; |
| (d) | if the ship is owned by the Government of the Republic, a certificate issued in terms of section 14; |
| (e) | if the ship is owned by the government of a Contracting State, a certificate issued in respect of that ship under a law of the Contracting State in question giving effect to Article VII of the 1992 Liability Convention or a certificate of the kind referred to in section 14(1) issued by the government of that Contracting State; or |
| (f) | if the ship is owned by the government of a state that is not a Contracting State, a certificate of the kind referred to in section 14(1) issued by the government of the state in question or a certificate that must be regarded as a relevant insurance certificate for the ship for the purposes of this paragraph prescribed in terms of the regulations. |
| (8) | In this section, "officer" means a person who— |
| (a) | is an officer of customs within the meaning of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 (Act No. 91 of 1964); |
| (b) | is a surveyor for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951); or |
| (c) | is appointed by the Authority, in writing, to be an officer for the purposes of this section. |