Merchant Shipping Act

"alteration" includes deterioration ;

''animal'' means any animate thing of every kind except human beings ;

"bankruptcy" includes insolvency ;

"British ship" has the same meaning as in the Merchant

Shipping Acts .

19

i 6 <rr 0~~

3

.nls~t

s. 30/1984

s. 23/1986

Short title and com-mencement

Interpre-tation

20

Cap. 144

Merchant Shipping

"Brunei ship" means a ship owned wholly by Bruneis or by bodies corporate established under, and subject to, the law of Brunei and having their principal place of business in

Brunei ;

"Brunei licensed ship" means a ship licensed under Part IV ;

"collision regulations" means regulations from time to time in force under the provisions of section 103 ;

"consular officer" means in relation to a foreign country the officer recognised by His Majesty as a consular officer of that country ;

"court" in relation to any proceedings includes any court, judge or magistrate having jurisdiction in the matter to which the proceeding relates ;

"court of survey" means a court of survey appointed by His

Majesty under section 133 (l) ;

"crew agreement" means the agreement referred to in sec-tion 72 ;

"deck passenger" means a passenger for whom no accom-modation in any cabin, state-room or saloon is reserved ;

"Director" means the officer for the time being appointed to be the Director of Marine under the Ports Act or continued in office under that Act, and includes the Deputy Director of Marine appointed or continued in office under that Act ;

''functions'' includes powers and duties ;

''government surveyor'' means a surveyor appointed under section 209 ;

"hovercraft" means a vessel which is an air cushioned vehicle ;

Merchant Shipping

"inspector" means an inspector appointed under section 212;

"Load Lines Convention" means the International

Convention on Load Lines signed in London on 5th April 1966 and the regulations annexed there-to, and includes any amendment thereof and any international agreement from time to time super-seding the said Convention or regulations;

"master" includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of any ship;

"Merchant Shipping Acts" means the Merchant

Shipping Acts from time to time in force in the

United Kingdom;

"Minister" means the Minister of Communica-tions;

"officer" includes a master, mate, engineer, gun-ner, helmsman and engine driver;

"officers of the Marine Department" means the officers for the time being appointed to be officers of the Marine Department under the Ports Act or cap.

continued in office under that Act;

"passenger" means every person carried in a ship other than-

the master and crew or other persons em-ployed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship on the business of a ship; and

any reference to failure to do any act or thing shall include a reference to refusal to do that act or thing; and

any reference to this Act or any Part or sec-tion shall be deemed to include a reference to any regulation, rule or other instrument made under 23

24

Application of Act

Application of Act to hovercraft and to certain structures, etc.

Merchant Shipping this Act or under the Part or section, as the case may be.

This Act shall not, except where otherwise spe-cially provided and subject to the provisions of subsection (2), apply to vessels belonging to or for the time being in the service of His Majesty or of the Government or to vessels of war of any country.

The Minister with the approval of His Majesty may by regulations direct that any provision of this Act shall apply to any such vessels referred to in subsection (1) as may be specified in the regulations.

Without prejudice to any other powers conferred by Qr under this Act, the Minister with the approval of His

Majesty may, if he thinks fit, and subject to such conditions as he may think fit to impose, exempt any vessel or any class of vessels from all or any of the requirements contained in or prescribed under this Act or dispense with the observ-ance of any such requirement in the case of any vessel or class of vessels.

The Minister with the approval of His Majesty may by regulations provide that, in their application to hovercraft or to persons, things and places connected with hovercraft, any of the provisions of this Act shall apply with such modifications as may seem to the Minister with the approval of His Majesty to be appropriate.

The Minister with the approval of His Majesty may by regulations provide that a thing designed or adapted for use at sea and described in the regulations is or is not be treated as a ship for the purposes of any provision specified in the regulations of this Act or any subsidiary legislation made thereunder; and such regulations may -

any ship not exceeding 15 tons burden

(ascertained in accordance with section 65) em-ployed solely in navigation on the waters of

Brunei; and

any Brunei licensed ship:

26

Registrar of

Brunei ships

Register book

Merchant Shipping

Provided that His Majesty may, subject to such terms and conditions as he thinks fit to impose, exempt any ship or class of ships from registry.

Notice of every exemption under this section shall be published in the Government Gazette.

The Director shall be the Registrar of Brunei ships.

The Registrar of Brunei ships (hereinafter refer-red to as "the Registrar") shall not be liable to damages or otherwise for any loss accruing to any person by reason of any act done or default made by him in his character of

Registrar unless the same has happened through his neglect or wilful act.

At every port in Brunei the Registrar shall keep a book, register and entries in the book shall be made in accordance with the following provisions -

In this Part, unless the context otherwise re-quires, "register book" means, in relation to a Brunei ship, the register book kept by the Registrar under subsection (1)

at the port in Brunei where such ship is registered or in-tended to be registered under this Part.

Every Brunei ship shall before registry be Markingof marked permanently and conspicuously to the satisfaction ship of the Registrar as follows -

If the scale of feet showing the ship's draught of water is in any respect inaccurate, so as to be likely to mislead, the owner of the ship shall be guilty of an offence:

Penalty, a fine of $2,000.

( 4) The marks required by this section shall be per-manently continued, and no alteration shall be made there-in, except in the event of any of the particulars thereby denoted being altered in the manner provided by this Part.

( 5) If an owner or master of a Brunei ship neglects to cause his ship to be marked as required by this section, or to keep her so marked, or if any person conceals, removes, alters, defaces or obliterates or suffers any person under his control to conceal, remove, alter, deface or obliterate any of the said marks, except in the event aforesaid, or except for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy, that owner, master or person shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000; and on a certificate from a government surveyor that a ship is insufficiently or inaccurately marked the ship may be detained until the insufficiency or inaccuracy has been remedied.

-

a statement of his qualification to own a

Brunei ship, or in the case of a corporation, of such circumstances of the constitution and business thereof as prove it to be qualified to own a Brunei ship;

a statement of the time when and the place where the ship was built, or, if the time and place of the building are unknown, a statement that the declarant does not know the time and place of her building; and, in addition thereto, in the case of a foreign ship, a statement of her foreign name, or in the case of a ship condemned, a statement of the time, place and court at and by which she was condemned;

a statement of the name of the master;

a statement of the number of shares in the ship of which he or the corporation, as the case may be, is entitled to be registered as owner; and 29

Application for registry

Declaration of ownership on registry

30

Evidence on first registry

Merchant Shipping

a declaration that, to the best of his know-ledge and belief, no unqualified person or body of persons is entitled as owner to any legal or bene-ficial interest in the ship or any share therein.

On the first registry of a ship the following evi-dence shall be produced in addition to the declaration of ownership-

If the person granting a builder's certificate under this section wilfully makes a false statement in that certificate he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of

$2,000.

Merchant Shipping

the name of the ship and the name of the port in Brunei to which she belongs;

the details comprised in the government sur-veyor's certificate;

the particulars respecting her origin stated in the declaration of ownership; and

the name and description of her registered owner or owners, and if there are more owners than one, the proportions in which they are In-terested in her.

If any person, whether interested in the ship or not, refuses on request to deliver up the certificate of reg-istry when in his possession or under his control to the per-son entitled to the custody thereof for the purposes of the lawful nagivation of the ship, or to the Registrar, an officer of customs, or any other person entitled by law to require such delivery, any Magistrate may summon the person so refusing to appear before him, and to be examined touching such refusal, and unless it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that there was reasonable cause for such refusal, the offender shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of

$2,000, but if it is shown to the court that the certificate is lost, the person summoned shall be discharged, and the court shall certify that the certificate of registry is lost.

If the person so refusing is proved to have absconded, or if he persists in not delivering up the certi-ficate, the court shall certify the fact, and the same proceed-ings may then be taken as in the case of a certificate mislaid, lost or destroyed, or as near thereto as circumstances per-mit.

If the master fails to deliver to the Registrar the certificate of registry as required by this section he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000.

In the event of a registered Brunei ship being either actually or constructively lost, taken by the enemy, burnt or broken up, or ceasing by reason of a transfer to persons not qualified to be owners of Brunei ships, or other-wise, to be a Brunei ship, every owner of the ship or any share in the ship shall, immediately on obtaining knowledge of the event, if no notice thereof has already been given to the Registrar, give notice thereof to the Registrar, who shall make an entry thereof in the register book and the registry of the ship in that book shall be considered as closed except so far as relates to an unsatisfied mortgages or existing certi-ficates of mortgage entered therein.

Delivery up of certificate of ship lost, etc.

34

Temporary passes in lieu of certificates of registry

Provisional certificate for ship which in a foreign country be-comes Brunei owned

Merchant Shipping

In any such case, except where the ship's certi-ficate of registry is lost or destroyed, the master of the ship shall, if the event occurs in a port or place in Brunei im-mediately, but if it occurs elsewhere then within 10 days after his arrival in a port or place in Brunei, forward the certificate to the Registrar.

If any such owner or master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000.

If, at a port in a country other than Brunei where there is for the time being an authorised officer, a ship becomes the property of persons qualified to own a reg-istered Brunei ship, and if some one or more of those per-sons declare to the authorised officer at that port an intent to apply to have the ship registered in Brunei, or if the master of the ship makes such a declaration and declares therein that he is authorised by some one or more of the owners of the ship to make the declaration, the authorised officer may grant to the master of the ship, on application by him, a provisional certificate, stating-

A provisional certificate granted in accordance with subsection (1) shall be deemed to be a certificate of registry until the expiry of 6 months from the date on which it was granted, or until the arrival of the ship in Brunei, whichever earlier date, and shall thereafter have no effect.

The master of every ship in respect of which a provisional certificate is granted under this section shall, within 10 days of the ship's first arrival thereafter in Brunei deliver the certificate to the Registrar; and, if any master fails to comply with this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000.

( 4) In this section "authorised officer" means, in re-lation to any port in a country other than Brunei, such person, if any, as the Director may, in his absolute discre-tion, authorise in writing, to perform for the time being the functions of an authorised person under subsection (1) in that port.

Transfers and Transmissions 27.

A registered Brunei ship or a share therein (when disposed of to a person qualified to own a Brunei ship) shall be transferred by a bill of sale.

The bill of sale shall be in the prescribed form or as near thereto as circumstances permit and shall contain such description of the ship as is contained in the govern-ment surveyor's certificate, or some other description suf-ficient to identify the ship to the satisfaction of the Reg-istrar, and shall be executed by the transferor in the pre-sence of, and he attested by, a witness or witnesses.

35

Transfer of ships or shares

36

Declaration of transfer

Registry of transfer

Transmission of property in ship on bank-ruptcy or death, etc.

Merchant Shipping 28.

Where a registered Brunei ship or a share therein is transferred the transferee shall not be entitled to be reg-istered as owner thereof until he, or, in the case of a cor-poration, the person authorised by this Part to make dec-larations on behalf of the corporation, has made and signed a declaration (hereinafter in this Part referred to as "a dec-laration of transfer") referring to the ship, and contain-tog-

Every bill of sale for the transfer of a registered

Brunei ship or of a share therein, when duly executed, shall be produced to the Registrar, with the declaration of trans-fer, and the Registrar shall thereupon enter in the register book the name of the transferee as owner of the ship or share, and shall endorse on the bill of sale the fact of that entry having been made, with the day and hour thereof.

Bills of sale of a ship or of a share therein shall be entered in the register book in the order of their production to the Registrar.

Where the property in a registered Brunei ship or share therein is transmitted to a person qualified to own a

Brunei ship on the bankruptcy or death of any registered owner, or by any lawful means other than by a transfer under this Part -

-

-

Merchant Shipping

The Registrar, on receipt of the declaration of transmission so accompanied, shall enter in the register book the name of the person entitled under the transmission as owner of the ship or share the property in which has been transmitted, and. where there is more than one such person, shall enter the names of all those persons, but those per-sons. however numerous, shall for the purpose of the provi-sions of this Part with respect to the number of persons entitled to be registered as owners, be considered as one person.

37 31.

( 1) Where the property in a registered Brunei ship or Order for h h

·

·

·

d b k d h sale on trans-S are t eretn ts transmttte on an ruptcy or eat or mission to otherwise to a person not qualified to own a Brunei ship, the ~~~~~ified

High Court may, on application by or on behalf of the un-qualified person, order a sale of the property so transmitted, and direct that the proceeds of the sale, after deducting the

38

Transfer of ship or sale by order of court

Power of court to pro-hibit transfer

Merchant Shipping expenses thereof, be paid to the person entitled under such transmission or otherwise as the court may direct.

The court may require any evidence in support of the application it thinks requisite, and may make the order on any terms and conditions it thinks just, or may refuse to make the order, and generally may act in the case as the justice of the case requires.

Every such application for sale shall be made within 4 weeks after the occurrence of the event on which the transmission has taken place, or within such further time

(not exceeding in the whole one year from the date of the occurrence) as the court may allow.

( 4) If such an application is not made within the time aforesaid, or if the court refuses an order for sale, the ship or share transmitted shall thereupon be subject to forfeiture under this Part.

A registered Brunei ship or a share therein may be made a security for a loan or other valuable considera-tion, and the instrument creating the security (hereinafter in this Part referred to as "a mortgage") shall be in the pre-scribed form, or as near thereto as circumstances permit, and on the production of such instrument the Registrar shall record it in the register book.

Mortgages shall be recorded by the Registrar in the order in time in which they are produced to him for that purpose, and he shall endorse and sign a memorandum on each mortgage stating the date and time of that record.

Where the interest of a mortgage in a registered

Brunei ship or any share therein is transmitted on the bank-ruptcy or death of the mortgagee, or by any lawful means other than by a transfer under this Act, the transmission shall be authenticated by a declaration of the person to whom the interest is transmitted.

Merchant Shipping

A declaration made under this section shall con-tain a statement of the manner in which, and the person to whom, the property has been transmitted, and shall be accompanied by the like evidence as is by this Act required in the case of a corresponding transmission of the ownership of a registered Brunei ship or share therein.

The Registrar on receipt of the declaration and the production of the evidence aforesaid, shall enter the name of the person entitled under the transmission in the register book as mortgagee of the ship or share.

Name of Ship 42.

A registered Brunei ship shall not be described by any name other than that by which she is for the time being registered ..

The Minister with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations, not inconsistent with subsection (3), enabling the Registrar to refuse, on such grounds as may be specified in the regulations, the registry of any ship by the name by which it is proposed to register that ship.

The Registrar may refuse to register any ship by the name by which it is proposed to register that ship if it is already the name of a ship which is registered in Brunei, or if the name by which it is proposed to register that ship is so similar to the name of such a Brunei ship as to be calculated to deceive. In the case of ships to which subsection (10) or

applies, the Registrar may require the name of such a ship to be changed immediately the ship has been reg-istered.

( 4) A change shall not be made in the name of a

Brunei ship without the previous written permission of the

Registrar.

41

Rules as to name of ship

Nl

42

Merchant Shipping

Application for that permission shall be in writ-ing, and if the Registrar is of opinion that the application is reasonable he may entertain it, and thereupon require notice thereof to be published in such form and manner as he thinks fit.

( 6) Any person who wishes to lodge an objection to the proposed change of name may do so in writing addres-sed to the Registrar to reach him not later than 7 days from the date of the publication of the notice.

If the Registrar receives no objections to the proposed change of name or having received an objection does not uphold the objection, he may on payment of the prescribed fee approve the change of name.

On permission being granted to change the name, the ship's name shall forthwith be altered in the regis-ter book, in the ship's certificate of registry, and on her bows and stern.

If it is shown to the satisfaction of the Registrar that the name of any Brunei registered ship has been changed without his permission he shall direct that her name be altered into that which she bore before the change, and the name shall be altered in the register book, in the ship's certificate of registry, and on her bows and stern according-ly.

Where a ship having once been registered has ceased to be so registered no person unless ignorant of the previous registry (proof whereof shall lie on him) shall apply to register, and the Registrar shall not knowingly register the ship, except by the name by which she was previously registered, unless with the previous written permission of the Minister.

Where any ship, not having at any previous time been registered as a Brunei ship, becomes a Brunei ship, no person shall apply to register, and the Registrar

·-

Merchant Shipping shall not knowingly register the ship, except by the name which she bore immediately before becoming a Brunei ship, unless with the previous written permission of the Minister.

If any person acts, or suffers any person under his control to act, in contravention of this section, or omits to do, or suffers any person under his control to omit to do, anything required by this section, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000, and (except in the case of an application being made under this section with respect to a ship which, not having at any previous time been reg-istered as a Brunei ship, has become a Brunei ship) the ship may be detained until the provisions of this section are com-plied with.

The Registrar shall, on receipt of the application and on the production of a certificate from a surveyor stat-ing the particulars of the alteration, proceed as in the case of first registry and on the delivery up to him of the existing certificate of registry and on the other requisites as to reg-istry being complied with, shall make such registry anew and grant a new certificate of registry containing a description of the ship as altered.

If default is made in registering anew a Brunei ship so altered as aforesaid, the owner of the ship shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000 and, in addi-tion, a fine of $100 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.

The registry of any registered Brunei ship may be transferred from one port in Brunei to another on the ap-plication to the Registrar made by declaration in writing of all persons appearing on the register book to be interested 43

Alteration of ship

Transfer of registry

44

Restrictions on re-registration of abandoned ships

Provisions for cases of in-fancy or other in-capacity

Merchant Shipping therein as owners or mortgagees, but that transfer shall not in any way affect the right of those persons (hereinafter referred to as "the interested persons") or any of them, and those rights shall in all respects continue in the same manner as if no such transfer had been effected.

On the receipt of the aforesaid declaration by the

Registrar and the delivery up to him of the ship's certificate of registry the Registrar shall enter in the register book of the ship's intended port of registry in Brunei all particulars relating to the ship and the names of all the interested per-sons, and grant a fresh certificate of registry in Brunei, and thenceforth such ship shall be considered as registered at the new port of registry, and the nan1e of the ship's new port of registry shall be substituted for the name of her former port of registry on the ship's stern.

No notice of any trust, express, implied or con-structive, shall be entered in the register book or be receiv-able by the Registrar, and, subject to any rights and powers appearing by the register book to be vested in any other person, the registered owner of a ship or of a share therein shall have power absolutely to dispose in the manner in this

Part provided of the ship or share, and to give effectual receipts for any money paid or advanced by way of consid-eration.

Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection

and section 38, and without prejudice to the provisions of this Part relating to the exclusion of unqualified persons from the ownership of Brunei ships, interests arising under contract or other equitable interests may be enforced by or against owners and mortgagees of ships in respect of their interest therein in the same manner as in respect of any other personal property.

Liability of Beneficial Owner 45

Where any person is beneficially interested, Liability of otherwise than by way of mortgage, in any ship or share in a owners ship registered in the name of some other person as owner, the person so interested shall, as well as the registered own-er, be subject to all pecuniary penalties imposed by this Act or any other written law on the owners of ships or shares therein, so nevertheless that proceedings may be taken for the enforcement of any such penalties against both or either of the aforesaid parties, with or without joining the other of them.

In this Part "beneficial interest" includes, in rela-tion to Brunei ships, interests arising under contract and other equitable interests.

46

Ship's man-aging owner or manager to be reg-istered

Power of

Registrar to dispense with declarations and other evi-dence

Mode of making dec-larations

Merchant Shipping

Managing Owner 49.

The Registrar shall record in the register book the name and address of the managing owner for the time being of every registered Brunei ship.

Where there is not a managing owner there shall be so registered the name of the ship's husband or other person to whom the management of the ship is entrusted by or on behalf of the owner; and any person whose name is so registered shall, for the purposes of this Act, be under the same obligations, and subject to the same liabilities as if he was the managing owner.

If default is made in complying with the provi-sions of this section the owner, or if there are more owners than one each owner, shall be guilty of an offence each time the ship leaves any port or place in Brunei: Penalty, a fine of

$1,000 or, if there are more owners than one, a proportion of such fine corresponding to the proportion of each owner's interest in the ship.

Declarations required by this Part shall be made before the Registrar or a Magistrate.

Declarations required by this Part may be made on behalf of a corporation by the secretary or any other

-

Merchant Shipping officer of the corporation authorised by the corporation for the purpose.

any register book under this Part on its pro-duction from the custody of the Registrar or other person having the lawful custody thereof;

a certificate of registry under this Part pur-porting to be signed by the Registrar or other proper officer;

an endorsement on a certificate of registry purporting to be signed by the Registrar or other proper officer;

every declaration made in pursuance of this

Part in respect of a Brunei ship.

ficate of reg-istry, and other docu-ments

wilfully makes, or assists in making, or pro-cures to be made any false statement concerning the title to or ownership of, or the interest existing in any ship, or any share in a ship; or

utters, produces, or makes use of any dec-laration or document containing any such false statement knowing the same to be false, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000 and imprisonment for one year.

If any person wilfully makes a false declaration touching the qualification of himself or of any other person or of any corporation to own a Brunei ship or any share therein, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of

$2,000 and imprisonment for one year; and that ship or share shall be subject to forfeiture under this Part, to the extent of the interest therein of the declarant, and also, unless it is proved that the declaration was made without authority, of any person or corporation on behalf of whom the declaration is made.

National Character and Flag 57.

The Minister with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations requiring registered Brunei ships, to which this section applies to maintain on their crew lists such percentage of officers and such percentage of seamen who are Bruneians as may be specified in the regulations.

-

Merchant Shipping

Regulations under this section shall specify the ships or description of ships to which this section is to apply and may make different provisions for different descriptions of ship or for ships of the same description in different circumstances.

If a person uses the Brunei flag and assumes the

Brunei national character on board a ship owned in whole or in part by any person not qualified to own a Brunei ship, for the purpose of making the ship appear to be a Brunei ship, the ship shall be subject to forfeiture under this Part, unless the assumption has been made for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy or by a foreign ship of war in the exercise of some belligerent right.

In any proceeding for enforcing any such forfei-ture the burden of proving a title to use the Brunei flag and assume the Brunei national character shall lie upon the per-son using and assuming the same.

His Majesty may prescribe an ensign, which shall be the proper national colours for a registered Brunei ship.

If any distinctive national colours other than the said ensign are hoisted on board any such ship without con-sent from His Majesty, the master of the ship or the owner thereof if on board the same, and every other person hoist-ing the colours shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $1,000.

A Brunei ship shall hoist the proper national col-ours on entering or leaving any Brunei or foreign port.

If default is made on board any such ship in com-plying with the provisions of this section, the master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $1,000.

Forfeiture of Ship 64.

Where any ship has either wholly or as to any share therein become subject to forfeiture under this Part, the Director may seize and detain the ship, and bring her for adjudication before the High Court, and the court may thereupon adjudge the ship with her tackle, apparel and furniture to be forfeited and made such order in the case as to the court seems just, and may award to the officer bring-ing in the ship for adjudication such portion of the proceeds of the sale of the ship, or any share therein, as the court thinks fit.

-

Merchant Shipping

The Director shall not be responsible either civil-ly or criminally to any person whomsoever in respect of any such seizure or detention as aforesaid, notwithstanding that the ship has not been brought in for adjudication, or if so brought in is declared not liable to forfeiture, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the court before which any trial relating to such ship or such seizure or detention is held that there were reasonable grounds for such seizure or detention; but if no such grounds are shown the court may award costs and damages to any party aggrieved, and make such other order in the premises as the court thinks just.

Measurement of Ships and Tonnage

O"f l'OmrtJUnx'ca.+iN')S.

51 65.

The Minister,Cwith the approval of His Majesty Ascertain- .

may make regulations for ascertaining the tonnage of ships :~;~ ~~~~~~~

to be registered under this Part.

Regulations under this section -

Regulations under this section may make provi-sion for assigning to a ship, either instead of or as an alterna-tive to the tonnage ascertained in accordance with the other provisions of the regulations, a lower tonnage applicable where the ship is not loaded to the full depth to which it can be safely loaded, and for indicating on the ship, by such mark as may be specified in the regulations, that such a

52

Tonnage once ascer-tained and registered to be the ton-nage of a ship

Merchant Shipping lower tonnage has been assigned to it and, where it has been assigned to it as an alternative, the depth to which the ship may be loaded for the lower tonnage to be applicable.

( 4) Regulations under this section may provide for the measurement and survey of ships to be undertaken, in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations and notwithstanding section 9, by persons appointed by such organisations as m~ be authorised in that behalf by the Minister{~itll't'hef\J~pp~oval of His Majesty; and such regulations may make provision for the payment to persons appointed in pursuance of this subsection .of. such fees as

Cf 1'~(1'10 u o•('Qrtlf)fl (

may be determined by the Minister.(witn tlie approval of His

Majesty.

( 5) Regulations under this section may make provi-sion for the alteration (notwithstanding section 66) of the particulars relating to the registered tonnage of a ship.

( 6) Regulations under this section may provide for the issue by the Director or by persons appointed by such organisations as. m~ be authorised in that behalf by the

Minister(wifhffiero;pproval of His Majesty of certificates of the registered tonnage of any ship or of the tonnage which is to be taken for any purpose specified in the regulations as the tonnage of a ship not registered in Brunei, and for the cancellation and delivery up of such certificates in such cir-cumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations.

Except in so far as provision is made under this section, the rules from time to time in force in the United

Kingdom for ascertaining the tonnage of British ships shall apply in Brunei so far as the circumstances may render necessary.

For the purposes of this Act, the tonnage of a foreign ship, other than a British ship or a ship to which subsection (2) applies, shall be ascertained as nearly as shall be practicable in accordance with this Part as though such ship were a Brunei ship requiring to be registered.

61

rrn"'m~101 cc,.\i('ln ~

Whenever the Minister,(with the approval of His

Majesty shall, by notification in the Government Gazette, declare that for the purposes of this subsection the rules of any foreign country for the measurement of the tonnage of ships of that country (other than the tonnage regulations of the Merchant Shipping Acts) appear to the Minister with the approval of His Majesty to be not materially different from the rules under this Part for the ascertainment of the register tonnage of Brunei ships, then, until such declara-tion is cancelled or the time limit for its operation expires, this subsection shall apply to any ship of that country.

Any British ship and any ship to which subsection (2) applies shall, without being re-measured in

Brunei, be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in her certificate of registry or other national papers, in the same manner, to the same extent, and for the same purposes as the tonnage denoted in the certificate of registry of a Brunei ship is deemed to be the tonnage of that ship and any place shown by the certificate of registry or other national papers of any such ship as deducted from the tonnage shall, where a similar deduction in the case of a Brunei ship depends on compliance with any conditions or on the compliance being evidenced in any manner, be deemed to comply with those conditions and be so evidenced, unless a government sur-veyor certifies to the Director that the construction and the equipment of the ship as respects that space do not come up to the standards which would be required if the ship were a

Brunei ship registered under this Part.

53

Tonnage of ships of fore-ign countries

B.L.R.O.J/1984

54

Manning

Merchant Shipping

'i

~",;n'r · . .,r~··ro,

1 :"'~f''·

I

The Ministerlwith the approval of His Majesty may limit the time during which a declaration under subsection (2) is to remain in operation, and make the dec-laration subject to such conditions and qualifications (if any)

as he may deem expedient, and the operation of the declara-tion shall be limited and modified accordingly.

The Minister,~with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations -

This section applies to every registered Brunei ship and also to such other ships or description of ships as may be specified in regulations made under subsection ( 1).

_Regulations under this section may make diffe-rent provision for different descriptions of ship or for ships of the same description in different circumstances.

-

Merchant Shipping

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection ( 1) (b). the conditions prescribed or specified under that paragraph may include conditions as to national-ity. and regulations made for the purposes of that paragraph may make provisions, or enable the Director to make provi-sions. for-

If a ship to which this section applies goes to sea or attempts to go to sea without carrying such officers, sea-men and other persons as it is required to carry under this section the owner or master shall be guilty of an offence:

Penalty, a fine of $2,000 and the ship, if Brunei, may be detained.

55

56

Special certi-ficates of competency

Any person who-persons going to sea as qualified officers or seamen

Production of certificates and other documents of qualification

Crew Agree-ments

In this section "qualified" means qualified for the purposes of section 68 or holding a valid certificate of com-petency under section 69.

Except as provided under subsection (5), an agreement in writing shall be made between each person employed as a seaman in a registered Brunei ship and the

-

Merchant Shipping persons employing him and shall be signed both by him and by or on behalf of them.

The agreements made under this section with the several persons employed in a ship shall be contained in one document (hereinafter referred to as a "crew agreement")

except in such cases as the Director may approve.

The provisions and form of a crew agreement shall be of a kind approved by the Director; and different provisions and forms may be so approved for different cir-cumstances.

( 4) Subject to the following provisions of this sec-tion, a crew agreement shall be carried in the ship to which it relates whenever the ship goes to sea.

The Minister f~it~'~h~;,~~;~oval of His Majesty s o~/r~

may make regulations providing for exemptions from the requirements of this section

Where, but for an exemption granted under subsection (5), a crew agreement would be required to be

58

Regulations relating to crew agree-ments

Merchant Shipping carried in a ship or a crew agreement carried in a ship would be required to contain an agreement with a person em-ployed in the ship, the ship shall carry such document evidencing the exemption as the Director may direct.

If a ship goes to sea or attempts to go to sea in contravention of the requirements of this section the master and the person employing the crew shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $500 and the ship, if in Brunei, may be detained.

J '!

requiring such notice as may be specified in the regulations to be given to the Director or such other person as may be specified in the regulations, except in such circumstances as may be so spe-cified, before a crew agreement is made or an agreement with any person is added to those con-tained in a crew agreement;

requiring crew agreements to be made in the presence of such person and in such place as may be specified in the regulations;

providing for the delivery to the Director or such other person as may be specified in the reg-ulations of crew agreements and agreements added to those contained in a crew agreement and of copies of crew agreements and of agreements so added;

requiring the posting in ships of copies of or extracts from crew agreements;

requiring copies of or extracts from crew agreements to be supplied to members of the crew demanding them and requiring copies of or ex-

·-

Merchant Shipping tracts from documents referred to in crew agree-ments to be made available, in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations, for inspec-tion by members of the crew;

requiring any documents carried in a ship in pursuance of section 72 to be produced on demand to such persons as may be specified in the regula-tions; and

requiring any change in the crew of a ship which takes place after an agreement has been signed and before the ship leaves Brunei to be reported to the Director.

Regulations under this section may make diffe-rent provisions in respect of different voyages, different ships of descriptions of seamen.

bl

(riY.ntHllrt!,li rr.!

The Minister iwith the approval of His Majesty may make regulations-

59

Restriction on employ-ment of young per-sons on board

Regulations made for the purposes of this section may make different provision for different employments and different descriptions of ship and any other different circumstances.

tf

'rr,;ro~;

(lt) r 75.

The MinisterAwith the approval of His Majesty may make regulations prescribing the procedure to be fol-lowed in connection with the discharge of seamen from reg-istered Brunei ships and for the discharge in Brunei of sea-men from ships other than registered Brunei ships.

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may make provision-

Subject to the following provisions of this sec-tion,-

The Minister.(with the approval of His Majesty 5

';)~) r2

may make regulations which may -

62

Merchant Shipping

Any dispute relating to the amount payable to a seaman employed under a crew agreement may be submit-ted by the parties to the Director, or to such other person as the Director may in writing appoint, for decision; but the

Director or such other person shall not be bound to accept the submission or, if he has accepted it, to decide the dis-pute, if he is of opinion that the dispute, whether by reason of the amount involved or for any other reason, ought not to be decided by him.

The decision of the Director or such other person on a dispute submitted to him under this section shall be final and shall not be subject to appeal to or review in any court.

Property of deceased seamen 63

Power of

Director and others to de-cide disputes about wages 80.

The Minister\with the approval of His Majesty Custodyand may make regulations -

~~~;:~~o~f deceased sea-

( a) providing for the custody of and dealing men with-

Subject to any regulations under subsection (1), the master of a registered Brunei ship having on board any property of a deceased seaman shall take charge of such property and, as soon as practicable, shall deliver such prop-erty to the Director and pay to the Director any money due to the deceased seaman in respect of unpaid wages or account for the same.

Where any property of a deceased seaman comes into the hands of the Director, the Director, after deducting any expenses incurred in respect of that seaman or his prop-erty, shall deal with the residue as follows -

In this section "seaman" includes the master of a

Provisions, Health and Accommodation 61

Gnul/ ttntrc1 {/ o~s 81.

The Minister~with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations

Subject to any regulations made under subsection (1), every registered Brunei ship shall, on com-mencing a voyage, have on board such provisions and quantity of water as, having regard to the nature of the voyage and the needs of the crew, is adequate and reason-able.

If a person empowered under this Act to inspect the provisions, water or medical stores carried in a ship is not satisfied that the ship carries the provisions, water or medical stores which it is required to carry by this section or any regulations made thereunder, the ship, if in Brunei, may be detained.

Medical 82.

Where a registered Brunei ship does not carry a

~~::d:hi~on medical practitioner among the crew employed in it the master shall make arrangements for securing that any medical attention on board the ship is given either by him or under his supervision by a person appointed by him for the purpose.

Expenses of medical treat-ment etc.

during voyage

The Minister with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations with respect to crew accommodation to be provided in registered Brunei ships.

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations made under subsection (1) may, in particular -

In this section "crew accommodation" includes sleeping rooms, mess rooms, sanitary accommodation, hos-

67

Regulations as to crew accommoda-tion

68

Provisions as to discipline

Merchant Shipping pital accommodation, store rooms and catering accom-modation.

Any master or seaman employed in a registered

. Brunei ship who by wilful breach of duty or by neglect of duty or by reason of drunkenness or being under the influence of drugs -

Any seamen employed tn a registered Brunei ship who-

In proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence to prove that at the time of the act or omission alleged· against the defendant he was under the influence of a drug taken by him for medical purposes and either that he took it on medical advice or that he had no reason to believe that the drug might have the influence it had.

''t

(~, 'iJ' 1tt n. r rnl't ;,·vu

( 4) The Ministerlwith the approval of His Majesty may direct, by notification in the Government Gazette, that subsections (1) and (2) or any part or parts thereof shall apply in the case of such ships other than registered Brunei ships and in such circumstances as may be specified in such direction.

69

70

Arrest and detention of seamen who desert, etc.

Unauthorised presence on board ship

Merchant Shipping

( 5) A seaman imprisoned under this section may by direction of a magistrate be sent on board his ship.

For the purpose of maintaini~g ~~sc;Af?ll1lS,l)·,~H board registered Brunei ships the Ministe~with the ~pproval of His Majesty may make regulations specifying any miscon-duct on board as a disciplinary offence and -

belonging to the crew of a registered Brunei ship who desert therefrom or absent themselves from their duty;

belonging to the crew of a ship other than a registered Brunei ship who desert therefrom or ab-sent themselves from their duty while such ship is in the waters of Brunei.

When any ship is in a port in Brunei or within the waters of Brunei and a person not authorised by law to do so-

If a seaman while on board a registered Brunei ship states to the master of the ship his desire to make a complaint to the Director or a magistrate against the master or any of the crew, the master shall, so soon as the service of the ship will permit, allow the complainant to go ashore or send him in proper custody so that he may be enabled to make his complaint.

Any master of a ship who fails without reason-able cause to comply with this section shall be guilty of offence: Penalty, a fine of $200.

Master's power of arrest 71

Facilities for making com-plaint

72

Official log books

Merchant Shipping

Documentation .

err 1'7?1

'

'""/1}

The Minister;with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations -

Any person who wilfully destroys, mutilates or renders illegible any entry in an official log book, or wilfully makes or procures to be n1ade or assists in making a false or fraudulent entry in or omission from an official log book, shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $2,000 and imprisonment for 2 years.

o-r

Cr:rnmuni ('O''' ;~,~ J

The Minister/with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations -

The Director shall, by means of any documents transmitted to him in pursuance of this Act and by any other means in his power, keep at his office a register of all per-sons who serve in registered Brunei ships.

uj·

fC I

The Minister/with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations requiring the master of any registered

Brunei ship to record in his official log book or otherwise such particulars as may be specified of any birth or death occurring in the ship, or any death wherever occurring out-side Brunei of any person en1ployed in the ship, and to notify any such birth or death to such person, in such man-ner and within such times as may be specified.

For the purpose of this section a person dying in a ship's boat or being lost from a ship or ship's boat shall be deemed to die in the ship.

No ship shall trade in or from the waters of

Brunei unless it is provided with -

Every register, certificate or licence authorised or required by this section may be proved either by the production of the original or by a copy thereof purporting to be a certified copy under the hand of the Director or any foreign registrar or other officer who may happen to have charge of the original.

Every document when so proved shall, until the contrary is proved, be received as evidence of all matters th,erein recited, stated or appearing.

The master, owner and agent of every ship con-travening subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence: Penal-ty, a fine of $2,000 and the ship shall be liable to be de-tained.

')f 1_itY' 1\ > 1 1 ll ;~"'tr ,..:.; :"!t':

·95.

The Minister/with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations prescribing what ships used in the waters of Brunei shall be eligible to be licensed under this

Part.

-

Merchant Shipping

Until provision is made under subsection· (1), any ship not exceeding 100 tons gross tonnage used in the waters of Brunei shall be eligible to be licensed under this

Part.

Any qualified owner of a ship desirous of having such ship licensed in Brunei for the conveyance of passen-gers or cargo, for towing, or for fishing or for any other trade or business shall apply to the Director, who shall cause the ship to be examined and, if he is satisfied that it is eligible to be licensed under this Part and that it is sea-worthy and proper for the intended use, may cause the ship to be licensed for any of the aforesaid purposes, and grant a licence accordingly subject to such conditions as to -

For the purpose of subsection (1), a person shall be deemed to be a qualified owner if he is the owner of the ship in respect of which he is applying for a licence and regulations made under section 102 (j) permit him to be the owner of a licensed ship.

The Director shall assign a permanent number to every Brunei licensed ship and shall keep a register of li-cences.

( 4) The Director may by endorsement on the licence of a cargo ship license the ship to carry such number of passengers as he may think fit and in that case it shall not be necessary for such cargo ship to be separately licensed as a ship for the conveyance of passengers.

Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), sepa-rate registers shall be kept for licences for each of the pur-poses mentioned in subsection (1).

( 6) Unless regulations under section 102 otherwise provide, the following particulars shall be entered on the register of licences -

The grant of a licence under this section in re-spect of any ship for the purpose of fishing shall not autho-rise any person to use such ship for fishing or for carrying fish or fishing materials or appliances or contravention of the Fisheries Act, or any regulations made thereunder.

Every licence shall, unless the contrary is stated in regulations made under section 102 or in the licence, determine on the 31st day of December of the year in re-spect of which it is issued.

Every change of owner and of master and of any other particulars in the licence shall be reported to the

Director who shall note the change on the register and amend the licence accordingly.

{3) Any owner or master who fails to report such change shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $100.

prescribing the form and duration of li-cences;

prescribing fees for licences and providing for collection of such fees;

for the management and working of Brunei licensed ships;

for controlling the hire of such ships and the fees charged for such hire;

as to the seaworthiness of such ships;

as to the number of deck or other passen-gers, and quantity of cargo to be allowed;

Merchant Shipping

as to the number of men in such ships as crew and the managers or persons to be in charge of ships;

as to articles left in such ships;

as to reports of accidents;

as to the nationality or other qualifications of persons permitted to own or be employed or car-ried in such ships;

as to the furnishing of photographs, docu-ments and other particulars by applicants for ship licences and by new owners on change of owner-ship;

(/) for providing for the safety of persons, anim-als and property carried in such ships and for preventing the commission of offences by persons employed in or being in such ships;

for the manner in which applications for ship licences shall be made and dealt with;

specifying the particulars to be entered on the register of licences;

( o) specifying any description of Brunei licensed ships which are not Brunei ships and directing that such of the provisions of this Act as may be specified in the regulations shall extend to ships of that description and to masters and sea-men employed in them as if such ships were Brunei ships, with such exceptions, adaptations or mod-ifications as may be so specified;

for ascertaining the tonnage of ships to be licensed under this Part; and 79

80

Collision reg-ulations

Cap. 144

Merchant Shipping

( q) generally for the purposes of the licensing of ships, and the control of licensed ships.

PARTY

SAFETY

Prevention 9f Collisions f1

t _-"'Mf't} ~(/I. ll:-1. rl.i() 11J

The Minister/with the approval of His Majesty may make regulations for preventing collisions at sea

(hereinafter referred to as the "collision regulations"), and may thereby regulate the lights to be carried and exhibited, the fog signals to be carried and used, and the steering and sailing rules to be observed by ships.

Regulations made under subsection (1) oWa¥, iH):·w·r~. ~,·0

rt..:, elude such provision as appears to the Minister/with fhe'

approval of His Majesty to be requisite for enabling Brunei to implement the Preventing Collisions at Sea Convention.

The power under subsection (1) shall include power to make regulations for the prevention of collisions at sea-

Any regulations whenever made under the au-thority of the Ports Act concerning lights and signals to be

-

-

Merchant Shipping carried, or the steps for avoiding collision to be taken by vessels navigating in the waters of a port in Brunei and the approaches thereto shall, notwithstanding anything in this

Act, have full effect.

All owners and masters of Brunei ships, where-ver they may be, shall observe the collision regulations, and shall not carry or exhibit any other lights or use any other fog signals than such as are required by those regulations.

{2) All owners and masters of ships other than

Brunei ships shall observe the collision regulations within the waters of Brunei and, in any case before a Brunei court concerning an infringement of the collision regulations aris-ing within the waters of Brunei, ships other than Brunei ships shall, so far as respects collision regulations, be treated as if they were Brunei ships.

{3) If an infringement of the collision regulations is caused by the wilful default of the master or owner of the ship that master or owner shall be guilty of an offence:

Penalty, a fine of $2,000.

( 4) If any damage to person or property arises from the non-observance by any ship of any of the collision reg-ulations, the damage shall be deemed to have been occa-sioned by the wilful default of the person in charge of the deck of the ship at the time, unless it is shown to the satisfac-tion of the court that the circumstances of the case made a departure from the regulations necessary.

Subsections {1), {2) and {3) shall apply to the owners and pilots of seaplanes on the surface of the water as they apply to the owners and masters of ships, and subsec-tion ( 4) shall apply to the pilot or other person in charge of a seaplane as it applies to the person in charge of the deck of a ship.

81

Observance of collision regulations

82

Inspection as to hghts and fog signals

If the government surveyor finds that the ship is not so provided, he shall give to the master or owner notice in writing, pointing out the deficiency, and also what is, in his opinion, requisite in order to remedy the same.

Every notice so given shall be communicated by the government surveyor to the Director, and unless the

Director otherwise directs, the ship shall be detained until a certificate under the hand of a government surveyor is pro-duced to the effect that the ship is properly provided with lights and with the means of making fog signals, in con-formity with the collision regulations.

( 4) For the purpose of an inspection under this Part a government surveyor shall have all the powers of an in-spector under this Act.

Helm orders 106.

No person on any Brunei ship shall when the ship is going ahead give a helm or steering order containing the word "starboard" or "right", or any equivalent of "star-board" or "right", unless he intends that the head of the ship shall move to the right, or give a helm or steering order containing the word "port" or "left", or any equivalent of

"port" or "left", unless he intends that the head of the ship shall move to the left.

General duty to render assistance to persons in danger at sea

Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of

$2,000.

Duty to Render Assistance 107.

The master or person in charge of a vessel shall, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own vessel, her crew and passengers (if any), render assistance to every person, even if such person be a subject of a foreign

-

Merchant Shipping state at war with His Majesty, who is found at sea in danger of being lost, and, if he fails to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $4,000 and imprisonment for 3

years.

Compliances by the master or person in charge of a vessel with the provisions of this section shall not affect his right or the right of any other person to salvage.

83 108.

In every case of collision between 2 vessels, it Dutyofves-sel to assist shall be the duty of the master or person in charge of each the other in vessel, if and so far as he can do so without danger to his caseofcolli-sion own vessel, crew and passengers (if any),

The failure of the master or person in charge of a vessel to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) shall not raise any presumption of law that the collision was caused by his wrongful act, neglect or default.

If the master or person in charge fails without reasonable cause to comply with the provisions of this sec-tion, he shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of

$4,000 and imprisonment for 3 years.

Equipment 109.

Every Brunei sea-going steamship shall have her Adjustment compasses properly adjusted from time to time.

of compasses

84

Placing un-due weight on safety valve

Regulations for life-saving appliances

Merchant Shipping

If any such steamship goes to sea from any port or place in Brunei without having her compasses adjusted in accordance with the provisions of this section, the owner, if in fault, shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of

$2,000; and the master, if in fault, shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, a fine of $1,000.

The Minister/with the approval of His Majesty may, in relation to any ships to which this section applies, make regulations (hereinafter referred to as the "regula-tions for life-saving appliances") with respect to all or any of the following matters, namely

This section applies to -

It shall be the duty of the owner and master of every ship to which this section applies to see that his ship is provided, in accordance with the regulations for life-saving appliances, with such of those appliances as, having regard to the nature of the service on which the ship is employed, and the avoidance of undue encurrtbrance of the ship's deck, are best adopted for securing the safety of her crew and passengers, and that such appliances are kept so as to be at all times fit and ready for use.

Merchant Shipping

When a Brunei ship has sustained or caused any accident occasioning loss of life or any serious injury to any person, or has received any material damage affecting the ship's seaworthiness or efficiency, the owner or master shall, as soon as possibl~ after the accident or damage, transmit to the Director by letter signed by the owner or master a report of the accident or damage and of the probable occasion thereof, stating the ship's name, her official number, the port to which she belongs, the place where the ship is and giving any other prescribed particulars.

If the owner or agent of any Brunei ship has reason, owing to non-appearance of the ship or to any other circumstances, to apprehend that ship has been wholly lost, he shall as soon as possible send to the Director notice in writing of the loss and the probable occasion thereof, stating the ship's name, her official number, the port to which she belongs and giving any other prescribed particulars.

OW

{;..,n,.nltlll.r'rctrf..'oll .. f:'

The Minister,<with the approval of His Majesty may by regulations apply the provisions of this section in such circumstances and to such ships or descriptions of ships other than Brunei ships as may be specified in the regula-tions.

Safety and Load Lines Conventions

:"'f

(('1r>lfi:U~< . .i(rdr,tJt;,_1 113.

The Minister;'with the approval of His Majesty may make such regulations with regard to ships and voyages to which the Safety Convention applies as appear to him to implement the provisions of the Safety Convention.

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection

( 1), such regulations may provide for -

Such regulations may prohibit any ship fron1 pro-ceeding on a voyage to or from any port or place in Brunei unless there is in force an appropriate Safety Convention certificate in respect of such ship.

In subsection (2) (h), "dangerous goods" has the meaning assigned to that expression under and by virtue of the Ports Act.

tf

("'JI'{}f11UIL;ttr·-ll·,':"',.~'

The Ministert'with the approval of His Majesty may make such regulations with regard to ships and voyages to which the Load Lines Convention applies and for the issue of certificates in accordance with the terms of the Load

Lines Convention (hereinafter referred to as "load line certificate") as appear to him to implement the provisions of the Load Line Convention.

Merchant Shipping

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection

, such regulations may provide for-

Such regulations may -

for inspection of a ship for the purpose of seeing that the requirements of such regulations are complied with in respect of the ship;

that any certificate required by such regula-tions to be in force shall be produced to such per-son or persons as may be designated, and that a clearance may be refused, and that the ship may be detained until any such certificate is so produced;

and

for notification specifying the countries and territories to which the Safety Convention and the

Load Lines Convention respectively from time to time apply.

Application of 116.

Without prejudice to ~Within!! .f.Ontained in sections sections 113

. .

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0

fY/tlfi.J 1"4- lf'llll

.

•

to 115 to 113 to 115 the Mtntster)wtth t e approval of Hts Majesty

Brunei ships may, in relation to Brunei ships and voyages by Brunei ships, make regulations and exercise any of the powers under those sections or any of them both before, as well as

-

-

Merchant Shipping after, the accession of Brunei to the Safety Convention and the Load Lines Convention or either of them.

If

It shall be a defence in proceedings for an off-ence under subsection {1) to prove that at the time of the alleged offence -

No proceedings for an offence under subsection

{1) shall be begun except by or with the consent of the

Attorney General.

91

Offence in re-spect of dangerously unsafe ship

92

Merchant Shipping

Where a Brunei ship, being in the waters of tain unsafe ship. and pro-Brunei, is an unsafe ship, that is to say, is, by reason of the cedure for defective condition of her hull, equipment or machinery or such deten-tion by reason of under-manning or by reason of overloading or improper loading, unfit to go to sea without serious damage to human life, having regard to the nature of the service for which she is intended, such ship (hereinafter described as unsafe) may be provisionally detained for the purpose of being surveyed or for ascertaining the sufficiency of her crew and either finally detained or released as follows-

a ship detained under this section shall not be released by virtue of her Brunei register being subsequently closed.

If it appears that there was not reasonable and probable cause, by reason of the condition of the ship or the act or default of the owner, for the provisional detention of the ship under section 118 the Government shall be liable to pay to the owner of the ship his costs of and incidental to the detention and survey of the ship and compensation for any loss or damage sustained by him by reason of the detention or survey.

If a ship is finally detained under this Act or if it appears that a ship provisionally detained was at the time of 93

Liability for costs and damages

94

Merchant Shipping such detention unsafe, the owner of the ship shall be liable to pay to the Government the costs of and incidental to the detention and survey of the ship, and such costs shall with-out prejudice to any other remedy be recoverable in the same way as a fine imposed in a Court of a Magistrate.

For the purposes of this Act, the costs of and incidental to any proceeding before a court of survey and a reasonable amount in respect of remuneration of the sur-veyor appointed under section 118 (1) (b) shall be part of the costs of the detention and survey of the ship.

( 4) Any dispute as to the amount of the costs of and incidental to the detention and survey of a ship payable under subsection (2) to the Government may be referred to a Registrar, who shall, upon such reference being made to him ascertain and certify the proper amount of such costs.

A claim for any costs or compensation payable by the Government under this section may be brought against the Director by his official title as if he were a cor-poration sole.

Where a complaint is made to the Director that a

(::~~~~~~:~% Brunei ship is unsafe, he may require the complainant to complainant give security to his satisfaction for the costs and compensa-tion which he may become liable to pay under subsection (3).

Such security shall not be required where the complaint is made by one-fourth, being not less than 3, of the seamen belonging to the ship, and is not in the opinion of the director frivolous or vexatious, and the Director shall, if the complaint is made in sufficient time before the sailing of the ship, take proper steps for ascertaining whether the ship ought to be detained.

Where a ship is detained in consequence of any complaint, and the circumstances are such that the Govern-

-

Merchant Shipping ment is liable under this Act to pay to the owner of the ship any costs or compensation, the complainant shall be liable to pay to the Government all such costs and compensation as the Governn1ent incurs or is liable to pay in respect of the detention and survey of the ship.

The Director and a person authorised to survey a ship under this Part shall for that purpose have all the pow-ers of an inspector and, in addition, power to muster the crew.

Where a foreign ship (not being a Brunei licensed ship) whilst in the waters of Brunei is unsafe by reason of the defective condition of her hull, equipment or machin-ery, or by reason of undermanning or of overloading or improper loading, the provisions of this Part with respect to the detention of ships shall apply to that foreign ship as if she were a Brunei ship, with the following modifications -

Nothing in this section shall affect any such fore-ign ship not bound to Brunei which comes into the waters of

Brunei for any purpose other than that of embarking or landing passengers or taking in or discharging cargo or tak-ing in bunkers.

Nothing in this section

surveys or other inspections of ships car-rying passengers;

the issue of a certificate specifying, subject to such conditions as may be specified, the max-imum number of deck or other passengers which any such ship may carry and the voyages or class of voyages upon which such ship may ply or the limits beyond which such ship may not ply;

the provision of such shelter and accom-modation for the protection and use of deck and other passengers, if any, as having regard to the nature of the passage, the number of such passen-gers to be carried, the season of the year, the safe-ty of the ship and the circumstances of the case as may be specified; and

keeping order in ships carrying passengers.

For the purpose of inquiries and investigations Definitions under this Part a shipping casualty shall be deemed to occur-

98

Preliminary inquiry

His Majesty may app~int court ofm-vestigation

Merchant Shipping

In this Part "qualified officer" means an officer qualified for the purposes of section 68 or holding a certi-ficate of competency under section 69.

Where a shipping casualty has occurred, a pre-liminary inquiry may be held, respecting the casualty, by the

Director or any person appointed by him for the purpose.

For the purpose of any such inquiry the person holding the san1e shall have the powers of an inspector under this Act.

After hearing such inquiry, the person holding the same shall forward a report thereof to His Majesty with-out delay.

where a shipping casualty has occurred, whether there has been a preliminary inquiry or not; or

whenever His Majesty has reason to believe that any qualified officer is from incompetency or misconduct unfit to discharge his duty; or

whenever His Majesty considers that such an investigation is desirable:

Provided that a court of investigation shall not be appointed for the purpose of holding a formal investigation

-

Merchant Shipping into any shipping casualty occurring to a ship registered in a country other than Brunei, unless either the casualty occurs in the waters of Brunei or the appointment of the court is requested or consented to by the government of the country in which the ship is registered.

A court of investigation shall consist of a judge or a magistrate, with the assistance of not less than 2 nor more than 4 assessors.

The Director shall not be a member of a court when he has held a preliminary inquiry with regard to the casualty which is the subject of investigation.

( 4) Where an investigation involves or appears likely to involve any question as to the cancelling or suspension of any certificate, the court shall hold the investigation with the assistance of not less than 2 assessors having experience in the merchant service.

( 5) The court after 'hearing the case shall make a report to His Majesty containing a full statement of the case and of the opinion of the court thereon, accompanied by such report of or extracts from the evidence and such observations as the court thinks fit.

( 6) Each assessor shall either sign the report or state in . writing on the report his dissent therefrom and the reasons for that dissent.

The court may make such order as the court thinks fit respecting the costs of the investigation or any part thereof, and such order shall be enforced by the court in the same way as a fine in a Court of a Magistrate.

His Majesty may, if in any case he thinks fit so to do, order the costs of any such investigation to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund~

99

100

Power of court of in-vestigation as to certificates

Merchant Shipping

For the purposes of this section the court holding a formal investigation shall have all the powers of a Court of a Magistrate and shall also have all the powers of an inspec-tor under this Act.

Every formal investigation into a shipping casualty shall be conducted in such manner that if a charge is made against any person that person shall have an oppor-tunity of making a defence.