Merchant Shipping (Wreck Removal Convention) Regulations, 2015

Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta, Nru. 19,394, 17 ta’ Marzu, 2015

L.N. 83 of 2015

MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT

(CAP. 234)

Merchant Shipping (Wreck Removal Convention) Regulations, 2015

In exercise of the powers conferred by articles 374 and 375 of

the Merchant Shipping Act, the Minister for Transport and

Infrastructure has made the following regulations

(1)

The title of these regulations is the Merchant Citation,

applicability and

Shipping (Wreck Removal Convention) Regulations, 2015.

commencement.

(2) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, the

Convention and any amendments thereto, shall, unless otherwise

provided in these regulations and notwithstanding the provisions of

any other law, form part of the Laws of Malta and shall apply to all

Maltese ships wherever they may be and to all other ships while they

are in Maltese waters as determined by the Convention.

(3) These regulations shall come into force on the 14th April

2015.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise Interpretation.

requires –

"the Act" means the Merchant Shipping Act;

"competent authority" means the Authority for Transport in

Malta established by article 5 of the Authority for Transport in Malta Cap. 499.

Act and in relation to other State parties means the national maritime

administration maintained by those States;

"Convention" means the Nairobi International Convention on

the Removal of Wrecks, signed in Nairobi on 18 May 2007, including

any amendment or Protocol related thereto as may from time to time

be ratified, acceded to or accepted by the Government of Malta and

other instruments, standards and specifications of a mandatory nature

related thereto adopted or developed by the International Maritime

Organization;

"Convention area" means the exclusive economic zone of a

State Party, established in accordance with international law or, if a

State Party has not established such a zone, an area beyond and

adjacent to the territorial sea of that State determined by that State in

accordance with international law and extending not more than 200

nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of its

territorial sea is measured

Provided that, in respect to Malta shall mean an area

extending to twenty-five nautical miles from the baselines from

which the territorial waters are measured in accordance with the

Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act, or any other area as may

be determined from time to time by the Minister, in accordance with

international law;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for shipping and

includes any person acting under his authority;

"operator of the ship" means the owner of the ship or any other

organisation or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer,

who has assumed responsibility for operation of the ship from the

owner of the ship and who, on assuming such responsibility, has

agreed to take over all duties and responsibilities established under

the International Safety Management Code, as amended.

"registered owner" means the person or persons registered as the

owner of the ship or, in the absence of registration, the person or

persons owning the ship at the time of the maritime casualty

Provided that, in the case of a ship owned by a State and

operated by a company which in that State is registered as the

operator of the ship, registered owner shall mean such company;

"Registrar-General" means the Registrar General of Shipping

and Seamen appointed under article 363 of the Act and includes any

person acting under his authority;

"territorial waters" shall have the same meaning as is assigned

to it in the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act.

(2) Unless otherwise defined in the Act or in these regulations,

or unless the context so requires, words and expressions used in these

regulations shall have the same meaning assigned to them in the

Convention.

(3) Any reference in these regulations to an International

Convention or its related protocol or code shall include reference to

any amendments to such convention, protocol or code accepted by the

Government of Malta.

(1)

Where an accident results in a wreck in a

Convention area, the operator of any ship involved in the accident

must report the wreck without delay to the competent authority.

(2)

A report under sub-regulation (1) must include the

information mentioned in paragraph (2) of Article 5 of the

Convention.

(1)

This regulation shall apply where -

Removal by

registered

owner.

(a)

a ship has been involved in an accident as a result

of which it or anything from it has become a wreck in the

Convention area; and

(b)

the competent authority has determined that the

wreck poses a hazard.

(2) The competent authority must take all reasonable steps to

give a notice (a ‘wreck removal notice’) requiring the registered

owner to comply with the obligations imposed on registered owners

by paragraph 2 and 3 of Article 9 of the Convention.

(3)

The notice must be in writing and must -

(a)

specify the deadline set under paragraph 6(a) of

article 9 of the Convention for the removal of the wreck; and

(b)

inform the registered owner of the other matters

set out in paragraph 6(b) and 6(c) of Article 9 of the

Convention.

(1)

This regulation shall apply if the competent Imposition of

conditions about

authority has given a registered owner a wreck removal notice.

removal.

(2) The competent authority may impose conditions as to the

removal of the wreck in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 9 of

the Convention.

(1)

This regulation shall apply if

Liability for

costs.

(a)

a ship has been involved in an accident as a result

of which it or anything from it has become a wreck in the

Convention area; and

(b)

costs have been incurred by the competent

authority.

(2) The person who incurred the costs is entitled to recover

them from the ship’s registered owner unless the owner proves that an

exception set out in paragraph 1(a), (b) or (c) of Article 10 of the

Convention applies.

(3) The registered owner is not liable for costs under these

regulations if or to the extent that liability would conflict with -

(a)

a convention listed in paragraph 1 of Article 11 of

the Convention;

(b)

an enactment implementing such a convention; or

(c)

any other provision specified by order made by the

competent authority.

(4) Where the registered owner of each of two or more ships is

liable for costs under this regulation, but the costs for which each is

liable cannot reasonably be separated, the registered owners shall be

jointly liable for the total costs.

(5) This regulation does not prevent the exercise of the right

(if any) to limit liability.

An action to recover costs under regulation 6 may not be

brought after the end of whichever of the following ends earlier -

(a)

the period of 3 years beginning with the date on

which a wreck removal notice was given in respect of the

wreck; and

(b)

the period of 6 years beginning with the date of the

accident which resulted in the wreck.

A ship of a gross tonnage of 300 or more shall not enter or

leave a port in Malta, and neither shall any Maltese ship enter any

port of any State unless such ship is in possession of an insurance

cover evidenced by the certificate referred to under regulation 9.

The competent authority for the purpose of issuing the

certificate attesting that an insurance cover or other financial security

is in force, as referred to in the Convention, in respect of ships

registered in Malta shall be the Registrar-General who shall

determine the conditions of issue and validity of such certificate, and,

in respect of ships registered in a State not party to the Convention

shall be the said Registrar-General who shall have such powers as

aforesaid, or the appropriate authority of a State Party to the

Convention.

Where the competent authority is satisfied on the

application for such a certificate as is mentioned in regulation 9 in

respect of a Maltese ship or a ship registered in any country that is not

a State party that there will be in force throughout the period for

which the certificate is to be issued a contract of insurance or other

financial security satisfying the requirements of the Convention, the

competent authority may issue such certificate.

(1)

The fee to be charged for issuing the certificate Fees.

referred to in regulation 9, shall be one hundred euro (€100), in

respect of a ship registered in Malta.

(2) The fee to be charged for issuing the certificate referred to

in regulation 9, shall be two hundred and fifty euro (€250), in respect

of a ship not registered in Malta.

It shall be the duty of the registered owner of the ship to Duty to ensure

ensure that the ship is in compliance with the provisions of these compliance.

regulations. Any person who fails to observe the provisions of these

regulations, shall be liable to the penalties provided for in the Act,

and if no such penalty is provided, such person shall, for each

offence, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding 10,000 units.

€0.27