Section 11
Master’s power of delivery
of Maritime Offences (Ships and Fixed Platforms) Act
(1)
If the master of a ship, wherever that ship may be, and whatever the state (if any) in which it may be registered, has reasonable grounds to believe that any person on board the ship has —
(a)
committed any offence under section 5, 7, 8, 9 or 10;
(b)
attempted to commit such offence; or
(c)
abetted the commission of such offence, in relation to any ship other than a warship or other ship used as a naval auxiliary or in customs or law enforcement service, he may deliver that person to an appropriate officer in Brunei Darussalam or any other
Convention State.
(2)
The master of a ship who intends to deliver any person under subsection (1) shall notify an appropriate officer —
(a)
of his intention to so deliver that person; and
(b)
of his reasons for intending to do so.
(3)
A notification under subsection (2) shall be given —
(a)
if it is reasonably practicable to do so, before the ship has entered the territorial sea of the state concerned; or
(b)
in any other case, as soon as is reasonably practicable.
(4)
When the master of a ship delivers any person under subsection (1), he shall —
(a)
make to an appropriate officer of that state such oral or written statements relating to the alleged offence as that officer may reasonably require; and
Maritime Offences
(Ships and Fixed Platforms)
B.L.R.O. 5/2024 13
(b)
deliver or make known to an appropriate officer of that state such other evidence relating to the alleged offence as is in his possession.
(5)
A master of a ship who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with subsection (2) or (4) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.
(6)
It is a defence for the master of a ship charged with an offence under subsection (5) for a contravention of subsection (2) to show that —
(a)
he believed on reasonable grounds that the giving of a notification would endanger the safety of the ship; and
(b)
except where the state concerned is Brunei Darussalam —
(i)
he had notified some other competent authority in the state concerned within the time required by subsection (3); or
(ii)
he had believed on reasonable grounds that the giving of a notification to any competent authority in that state would endanger the safety of the ship.
(7)
In this section —
“appropriate officer” means —
(a)
in relation to Brunei Darussalam, a police officer and any other person or class of person appointed by the Minister to be an appropriate officer for the purposes of this Act;
(b)
in relation to any other Convention State, an officer designated by that Convention State to carry out the relevant duty of an appropriate officer under this section;
“master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of a ship.
Maritime Offences
(Ships and Fixed Platforms)