SHIP-SOURCE POLLUTION REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 226.01

SHIP-SOURCE POLLUTION REGULATIONS

13th May, 2008

LEGAL NOTICE 130 of 2008, as amended by Legal Notice 112 of 2011.

Part I

General Provisions

The title of these regulations is the Ship-Source Pollution

Regulations.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"the Act" means the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act;

"Annex I" means Annex I to the MARPOL Convention,

including the appendices thereto;

"Annex II" means Annex II to the MARPOL Convention,

including the appendices thereto;

"harmful substances" 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 by the MARPOL Convention;

"internal waters" means all waters landward of the baselines

from which the territorial waters are measured and includes any

port;

"Maltese waters" means the internal waters and the territorial

waters;

"maritime enforcement officer" shall have the same meaning as

is assigned to it in the Act;

"MARPOL Convention" means the International Convention for

the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, signed in London on 2

November 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating

thereto signed in London on 17 February 1978;

"port" means any port declared under the Ports and Shipping

Act;

"Pollution Regulations" means the Merchant Shipping

(Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Regulations;

"relevant vessel or craft" shall have the same meaning as is

assigned to it in the Act;

"ship" means any seagoing vessel of any type whatsoever

operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats,

air-cushion vehicles, submersibles and floating craft;

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

it in the Act.

(2) Unless otherwise defined in these regulations or unless the

context requires, words and expressions used in these regulations

shall have the same meaning assigned to them in the MARPOL

Convention.

These regulations implement Directive 2005/35/EC of the

European Parliament and of the Council of the 7 September 2005,

as sub seq uentl y am ended by D irect ive 2 009/ 123/ EC of the

European Parliament and of the Council of the 21 October 2009, on

ship -source p ollut ion an d on the int rodu ction of p en al ties,

including criminal penalties, for polluting offences.

(1)

These regulations shall apply to

(a) any ship in Maltese waters;

(b) any ship on the high seas;

Provided that these regulations shall only apply to a

ship on the high seas if the discharge of any harmful

substance from any such ship results or may be

reasonably expected to result in major harmful

consequences in Maltese waters or to the coastline of

Malta or related interests, including fishing.

(2) These regulations shall not apply to any warship, naval

auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, for

the time being, only on government non-commercial service.

Part II

Offences and exceptions

(1) It shall be a criminal offence to discharge with intent,

recklessly or by serious negligence any harmful substance in

contravention of the provisions of the Pollution Regulations from

(a) any ship in Maltese waters; or

(b) any ship on the high seas, in so far as the conditions

laid down in the proviso to regulation 4(1) are

satisfied.

(2) Whosoever shall aid, abet or incite the commission of an

offence referred to in the immediately preceding provision shall be

guilty of an offence.

(1) A discharge of any harmful substance shall not

constitute an offence under these regulations if it satisfies the

conditions set out in Annex I, regulations 15, 34, 4.1 or 4.3 or in

Annex II, regulations 13, 3.1.1 or 3.1.3 of the MARPOL

Convention.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the immediately

preceding provision a discharge of any harmful substance from any

ship on the high seas shall not constitute an offence under these

regulations when committed by the owner of a ship or by the master

o r o t h e r m e m b e r o f t h e c r e w a c t i n g u n d e r t h e m a s t e r ’s

responsibility if it satisfies the conditions set out in Annex I,

regulation 4.2 or in Annex II, regulation 3.1.2 of the MARPOL

Convention.

Part III

Enforcement, penalties and jurisdiction

A maritime enforcement officer, whether on board a

relevant vessel or craft or otherwise, may take appropriate action

with respect to any person or to any ship within Maltese waters or,

in so far as the conditions laid down in the proviso to regulation

4(1) are satisfied, on the high seas who is reasonably suspected of

having committed or of being about to commit an offence under

these regulations.

(1) Whosoever shall commit an offence under these

regulations that does not result in deterioration of the quality of the

water shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) of not more

than twelve thousand euro or to imprisonment for a term not

exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment

including the payment of any expenses disbursed to remedy the

damage incurred

Provided that if a person commits a number of repeated

offences under these regulations that do not individually result in

the deterioration of the quality of the water but in conjunction

result in any of the offences listed under sub-regulations (2) to (7),

such repeated offences shall be treated under the said sub-

regulations and shall be subject to the established punishments

thereof.

(2) Whosoever shall commit an offence under these regulations

resulting in serious deterioration of the quality of the water shall,

on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) of not less than twelve

thousand euro and not more than thirty thousand euro or to

imprisonment for a term not less than six months and not exceeding

eighteen months or to both such fine and imprisonment including

the payment of any expenses disbursed to remedy the damage

incurred.

(3) Whosoever shall through recklessness or serious negligence

commit an offence under these regulations resulting in significant

and widespread damage to water quality, to animal or vegetable

species or to parts thereof shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine

(multa) of not less than twenty three thousand euro and not more

than two hundred fifty thousand euro or to imprisonment for a term

of not less than six months and not exceeding two years or to both

such fine and imprisonment including the payment of any expenses

disbursed to remedy the damage incurred.

(4) Whosoever shall through recklessness or serious negligence

commit an offence under these regulations resulting in significant

and widespread damage to water quality, to animal or vegetable

species or to parts thereof and the death or serious injury of persons

shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term of not

less than two years and not exceeding twelve years for serious

injuries and for a term of not less than four years and not exceeding

twenty years for death, including the payment of any expenses

disbursed to remedy the damage incurred.

(5) Whosoever shall with intent commit an offence under

regulation 5(1)(a) resulting in significant and widespread damage

to water quality, to animal or vegetable species or to parts thereof

shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term of not

less than two years and not exceeding five years including the

payment of any expenses disbursed to remedy the damage incurred.

(6) Whosoever shall with intent commit an offence under

regulation 5(1)(b) resulting in significant and widespread damage

to water quality, to animal or vegetable species or to parts thereof

shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term of not

less than six months and not exceeding four years including the

payment of any expenses disbursed to remedy the damage incurred.

(7) Whosoever shall with intent commit an offence under

regulation 5(1) resulting in significant and widespread damage to

water quality, to animal or vegetable species or to parts thereof and

the death or serious injury of persons shall, on conviction, be liable

to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years and not

exceeding fifteen years for serious injuries and for a term of not

less than five years and not exceeding thirty years for death,

including the payment of any expenses disbursed to remedy the

damage incurred.

(8) Any person who is guilty of an offence under regulation

5(2) shall be liable to the same penalty imposed in the preceding

provisions of this regulation in respect of the commission of the

corresponding offence under regulation 5(1).

(9) Where the person found guilty of an offence under these

regulations is the director, manager, secretary or other principal

officer of a body corporate or is a person having a power of

representation of such body corporate or having an authority to

take decisions on behalf of that body or having authority to

exercise control within that body, and the offence of which that

person is found guilty was committed for the benefit, in whole or in

part, of that body corporate, the said person shall for the purpose of

these regulations be deemed to be vested with the legal

representation of the said body corporate which shall, on

conviction, be liable to the payment of a fine (multa) of not less

than one hundred and fifty thousand euro and not more than three

h un d re d th o usan d eu r o f or any off en ce com m i tt ed t h ro ug h

recklessness or serious negligence, or through lack of supervision

or control which has made the commission of the offence possible,

and of not less than seven hundred and fifty thousand euro and not

more than one million and five hundred thousand euro for any

offence committed with intent, including the payment of any

expenses disbursed to remedy the damage incurred

Provided that the liability of the body corporate under this

sub-regulation shall be without prejudice to the liability of the

persons involved as perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the

offence under these regulations.

The Maltese courts shall, subject to the provisions of

article 5 of the Criminal Code, have jurisdiction over the offences

laid down in these regulations.