OIL POLLUTION OF THE SEA (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1965

AN ACT TO GIVE EFFECT TO CERTAIN AMENDMENTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PREVENTION OF POLLUTION OF THE SEA BY OIL 1954, AND FOR THAT AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE OIL POLLUTION OF THE SEA ACT, 1956. [2nd March, 1965.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Commencement.

1.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister shall by order appoint and different days may be appointed for the purposes of different provisions.

2 Principal Act.

2.—In this Act “the Principal Act” means the Oil Pollution of the Sea Act, 1956.

3 Discharge of oil anywhere at sea.

3.—(1) The owner and also the master of any ship registered in the State (being a ship of twenty thousand tons gross tonnage or more for which the building contract was entered into after the commencement of this section) which discharges oil or oily mixture anywhere at sea shall be guilty of an offence under the Principal Act.

• (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in relation to—

• (a) the discharge of oil or oily mixture from a ship outside the prohibited zones where special circumstances exist that, in the opinion of the master of the ship, make it neither reasonable nor practicable to retain the oil or oily mixture in the ship,

• (b) the discharge of oil or oily mixture from a ship for the purpose of securing the safety of any ship, preventing damage to any ship or cargo, or saving life, if such discharge was necessary and reasonable in the circumstances, or

• (c) the escape of oil or oily mixture from a ship, resulting from damage to the vessel or from any leakage, not due to any want of reasonable care, if all reasonable precautions have been taken after the occurrence of the damage or discovery of the leakage for the purpose of preventing or minimising the escape.

• (3) For the purpose of giving effect to any variation of the Convention of 1954 or to any subsequent convention, the Minister may by order apply the foregoing provisions of this section to ships of such classes as may be specified in the order.

• (4) Subsection (5) of section 10 of the Principal Act shall apply in relation to subsection (1) of this section.

• (5) In this section—

“oil” means oil to which section 10 of the Principal Act applies;

“oily mixture” means any mixture containing not less than one hundred parts of oil to which the said section 10 applies in a million parts of the mixture.

4 Prohibited zones for ships registered in the State.

4.—The sea areas which at the commencement of this section are prohibited zones for tankers shall be prohibited zones for all ships registered in the State.

5 Facilities at oil refineries and ship yards for discharge of oil and oily residue from ships.

5.—(1) Whenever the Minister is of opinion that facilities for the discharge and reception of oil and oily residue from ships and arrangements for their disposal are necessary at any premises occupied by an oil refinery, shipbuilding or ship repairing yard or that the existing facilities at such premises are inadequate, he may, after consultation with the owner of the refinery or yard, require the owner to make such provision and within such time as he may consider necessary and may extend the time for complying with any such requirement.

• (2) If the owner of an oil refinery or shipbuilding or ship repairing yard fails to comply with the terms of a requirement under this section in relation to the refinery or yard, he shall be guilty of an offence under the Principal Act.

6 Amendment of section 10 of Principal Act.

6.—Section 10 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the deletion of subsections (3) and (4) and the insertion of the following subsection:

• “(3) The owner and also the master of any ship registered in the State which discharges into a prohibited zone for that ship any oil to which this section applies or any mixture containing not less than one hundred parts of oil to which this section applies in a million parts of the mixture shall be guilty of an offence.”

7 Discharge of oil from ship for safety of other ships.

7.—Sections 10 and 11 of the Principal Act shall not apply to the discharge of oil or oily mixture from a ship for the purpose of securing the safety of any other ship or preventing damage to any other ship or cargo.

8 Extension of section 17 of Principal Act.

8.—The provisions of section 17 of the Principal Act relating to the keeping of records of the discharge of oil and oily mixture shall apply to—

• (a) the discharge of oil or oily mixture from a ship outside the prohibited zones where special circumstances exist which, in the opinion of the master of the ship, make it neither reasonable nor practicable to retain the oil or oily mixture in the ship, and

• (b) the discharge of oil or oily mixture from a ship for the purpose of securing the safety of any other ship or preventing damage to any other ship or cargo.

9 Short title, construction and collective citation.

9.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Oil Pollution of the Sea (Amendment) Act, 1965.

• (2) The Principal Act and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

• (3) The Principal Act and this Act may be cited together as the Oil Pollution of the Sea Acts, 1956 and 1965.