PROTECTION OF THE SEA (PREVENTION OF POLLUTION FROM SHIPS) ACT 1983 - SECT 3 Interpretation

PROTECTION OF THE SEA (PREVENTION OF POLLUTION FROM SHIPS) ACT 1983 - SECT 3

  (1)   In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

"Annex VI approved equivalent" : see section   26FEKA.

"Antarctic Area" means the sea area south of 60º south latitude.

"Antarctic Protocol" means the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

"approved form" means a form approved by the Authority under section   3A.

"areas of ice concentration exceeding 1/10" has the same meaning as in the Polar Code.

"Australia" includes the external Territories.

"Australian ship" means:

  (a)   a ship registered in Australia; or

  (b)   an unregistered ship having Australian nationality.

"Authority" means the Australian Maritime Safety Authority established by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990 .

"category A ship" has the same meaning as in the Polar Code.

"category B ship" has the same meaning as in the Polar Code.

"engage in conduct" has the same meaning as in the Criminal Code .

"exclusive economic zone" means the exclusive economic zone, within the meaning of the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 , adjacent to the coast of Australia or the coast of an external Territory.

"fast ice" has the same meaning as in the Polar Code.

"foreign ship" means a ship that is not an Australian ship.

"heavy grade oil" means:

  (a)   crude oil having a density at 15°C higher than 900 kg/m 3 ; or

  (b)   oil, other than crude oil, having a density at 15°C higher than 900 kg/m 3 or a kinematic viscosity at 50°C higher than 180 mm 2 /s; or

  (c)   bitumen, tar and their emulsions.

"ice-shelf" has the same meaning as in the Polar Code.

"inspector" means a person who:

  (a)   is an inspector within the meaning of the Navigation Act 2012 ; or

  (aa)   is a member or a special member of the Australian Federal Police; or

  (b)   is appointed by the Authority, in writing, to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act.

"Law of the Sea Convention" means the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea done at Montego Bay on 10   December 1982.

"Marine Order" has the meaning given by section   34.

"Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law" has the meaning given by section   17 of the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012 .

"master" , in relation to a ship, means the person having command or charge of the ship.

"outer territorial sea" : see subsection   (1D).

"overseas voyage" : a ship's voyage is an overseas voyage if in the course of the voyage the ship is present (except because of stress of weather, saving life at sea or other unavoidable cause) in waters outside the outer limits of the exclusive economic zone of Australia. However, the voyage is not an overseas voyage if:

  (a)   the voyage commences from a port in Queensland and ends at the same port or another port in Queensland; and

  (b)   as an incidental part of its voyage, the ship is present in waters that are outside the outer limits of the exclusive economic zone of Australia but within the Protected Zone; and

  (c)   the ship is not otherwise present in waters that are outside the outer limits of the exclusive economic zone of Australia.

"Polar Code" means the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters:

  (a)   adopted by:

  (i)   the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization on 21   November 2014; and

  (ii)   the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization on 15   May 2015; and

  (b)   as amended and in force for Australia from time to time.

Note:   The Polar Code could in 2016 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).

"prescribed officer" : see subsection   (2).

"Protected Zone" means the zone that is:

  (a)   established under Article 10 of the Treaty between Australia and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea concerning Sovereignty and Maritime Boundaries in the area between the two Countries, including the area known as Torres Strait, and Related Matters, done at Sydney on 18   December 1978, as amended and in force for Australia from time to time; and

  (b)   the area bounded by the line described in Annex   9 to that Treaty.

Note:   The text of the Treaty is set out in Australian Treaty Series 1985 No.   4 ([1985] ATS 4). In 2012, the text of a Treaty in the Australian Treaty Series was accessible through the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (www.austlii.edu.au).

"regulated Australian vessel" : a ship is a regulated Australian vessel if it is a regulated Australian vessel for the purposes of the Navigation Act 2012 .

"sea near" :

  (a)   for a State--see subsection   (1A); or

  (b)   for the Jervis Bay Territory--see subsection   (1B); or

  (c)   for an external Territory--see subsection   (1C).

"ship with fuel tank protection" means either of the following:

  (a)   a ship with an aggregate oil fuel capacity of 600   m 3 or above which is delivered on or after 1   August 2010 (as defined in regulation   1.28.9 of Annex I to the Convention);

  (b)   a category A ship, or category B ship, constructed on or after 1   January 2017 with an aggregate oil fuel capacity of less than 600   m 3 .

"ship without fuel tank protection" means a ship other than a ship with fuel tank protection.

"State" includes the Northern Territory.

"territorial sea" means the territorial sea of Australia.

"the Convention" means the 1973 Convention as modified and added to by the 1978 Protocol.

"the 1973 Convention" means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as corrected by the Procès - Verbal of Rectification dated 13   June 1978, and as affected by any amendments (other than an amendment that has not entered force for Australia) made under Article 16 of the Convention.

"the 1978 Protocol" means the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, being the Protocol as affected by any amendments (other than an amendment that has not entered force for Australia) made under Article VI of the Protocol.

"the regulations" , except in sections   33 and 34 or to the extent that the regulations provide otherwise, includes Marine Orders.

"this Act" includes the regulations and Marine Orders.

"Tonnage Measurement Convention" means the Tonnage Convention within the meaning of the Navigation Act 2012 .

  (1A)   For the purposes of this Act, the sea near a State is:

  (a)   the part or parts of the territorial sea that are:

  (i)   within 3 nautical miles of the baseline of the territorial sea; and

  (ii)   adjacent to the State; and

  (b)   the waters of the sea that are on the landward side of that part or those parts of the territorial sea (including any waters of the sea that are within the limits of the State).

  (1B)   For the purposes of this Act, the sea near the Jervis Bay Territory is the sea in that Territory.

  (1C)   For the purposes of this Act, the sea near an external Territory is:

  (a)   the part or parts of the territorial sea that are:

  (i)   within 3 nautical miles of the baseline of the territorial sea; and

  (ii)   adjacent to the Territory; and

  (b)   the waters of the sea that are on the landward side of that part or those parts of the territorial sea (including waters of the sea that are within the limits of the Territory).

  (1D)   For the purposes of this Act, the outer territorial sea is the territorial sea other than the part or parts of the territorial sea that are:

  (a)   within 3 nautical miles of the baseline of the territorial sea; and

  (b)   adjacent to a State or an external Territory.

  (1E)   For the purposes of this Act, the laws of the Jervis Bay Territory are taken to include laws, other than this Act, in force in that Territory.

  (2)   A reference in a section of this Act to a prescribed officer is a reference to the Authority or such person, or the holder of such office in the Authority, as is prescribed for the purposes of that section.

  (3)   Except in so far as the contrary intention appears, an expression that is used in this Act and in the Convention, otherwise than in an annex   to the Convention, (whether or not a particular meaning is assigned to it by the Convention) has, in this Act, the same meaning as in the Convention.

  (4)   Where, at any time, the gross tonnage applicable to a ship has been determined otherwise than in accordance with the Tonnage Measurement Convention, then, in the application of this Act to the ship at that time, a reference in this Act to the gross tonnage of a ship not expressed in tons shall be taken to be a reference to the gross tonnage of the ship expressed in tons.