MERCHANT SHIPPING (WRECK REMOVAL CONVENTION) REGULATIONS (wreckremovalconvention)

MERCHANT SHIPPING

[ S.234.53

(WRECK REMOVAL CONVENTION)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 234.53

MERCHANT SHIPPING (WRECK REMOVAL

CONVENTION) REGULATIONS

14th April, 2015 *

LEGAL NOTICE 83 of 2015.

(1) The title of these regulations is the Merchant Shipping

(Wreck Removal Convention) Regulations.

(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.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

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 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

m a y b e d e t e r m i n e d f r o m t i m e t o t i m e b y t h e M i n i s t e r, i n

accordance with international law;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for shipping and

includes any person acting under his authority;

*see regulation 1(3) of these regulations, as originally promulgated.

MERCHANT SHIPPING

(WRECK REMOVAL CONVENTION)

"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 -

(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

MERCHANT SHIPPING

[ S.234.53

(WRECK REMOVAL CONVENTION)

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

Convention.

(1) This regulation shall apply if the competent authority

has given a registered owner a wreck removal notice.

(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

(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 three years beginning with the date on

which a wreck removal notice was given in respect of

the wreck; and

(b) the period of six 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

MERCHANT SHIPPING

(WRECK REMOVAL CONVENTION)

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

o t h er f i n a n c i a l s e c u r i t y sa t i s f y i n g t h e r eq u i r e m e n t s o f t h e

Convention, the competent authority may issue such certificate.

(1) The fee to be charged for issuing the certificate

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

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

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.