New South Wales Consolidated Acts

MARINE POLLUTION ACT 1987 - SECT 8

8 Prohibition of discharge of oil or oily mixtures into State waters

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), if any discharge of oil or of an oily mixture occurs from a ship into State waters, the master and the owner of the ship are each guilty of an offence punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding:

(a) if the offender is a natural person-$500 000, or

(b) if the offender is a body corporate-$10 000 000.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the discharge of oil or of an oily mixture from a ship:

(a) for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea,

(b) if the oil or oily mixture, as the case may be, escaped from the ship in consequence of damage to the ship or its equipment, and all reasonable precautions were taken after the occurrence of the damage or the discovery of the discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimising the escape of oil or oily mixture, as the case may be,

(c) in the case of an oily mixture, if the discharge was for the purpose of combating specific pollution incidents in order to minimise the damage from pollution and was approved by a prescribed officer, or

(d) if the discharge was authorised by the Minister for training purposes.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) (b), "damage" to a ship or its equipment does not include the following:

(a) damage arising as a result of the master or owner of the ship, or another person acting under the direction of the master or owner of the ship:

(i) acting with intent to cause the damage, or

(ii) acting recklessly and with the knowledge that damage would probably result, or

(iii) acting negligently,

(b) damage arising from a failure to maintain the ship or equipment,

(c) damage arising through wear and tear,

(d) defects that develop during the normal operation of the ship or equipment.

(4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2) but subject to subsection (5), subsection (1) does not apply to:

(a) the discharge from an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture, not being oil or an oily mixture of the kind referred to in paragraph (c), if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) the oil tanker is not within a special area and is more than 50 nautical miles from the nearest land,

(ii) the oil tanker is proceeding en route,

(iii) the instantaneous rate of discharge of oil content does not exceed 60 litres per nautical mile,

(iv) the total quantity of oil discharged into the waters does not exceed:

(A) in the case of an oil tanker that is an existing tanker-one part in 15 000 parts of the total quantity of the cargo of oil of which oil discharged formed a part, or

(B) in the case of an oil tanker that is a new tanker-one part in 30 000 parts of the total quantity of the cargo of oil of which oil discharged formed a part,

(v) the oil tanker has in operation an oil discharge monitoring and control system and a slop tank arrangement as required by regulations made by virtue of section 35 or by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act 1912 of the Commonwealth,

(b) the discharge from a ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more and is not an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) the ship is not within a special area and is more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land,

(ii) the ship is proceeding en route,

(iii) the oil content of the effluent is less than 100 parts in 1 000 000 parts,

(iv) the ship has in operation an oil discharge monitoring and control system, oily-water separating equipment, oil filtering equipment or other installation as required by regulations made by virtue of section 35 or by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act 1912 of the Commonwealth,

(c) the discharge from an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture, being oil or an oily mixture that is from the machinery space bilges (other than the cargo pump room bilges) of the oil tanker and does not include oil cargo residue, if the conditions specified in paragraph (b) are satisfied in relation to the discharge,

(d) the discharge from an oil tanker, or another ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more, of an unprocessed oily mixture, not being an oily mixture that originated from the cargo pump room bilges of the ship or includes oil cargo residue, if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) the ship is not within a special area,

(ii) the oil content of the unprocessed oily mixture without dilution is not more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts,

(e) the discharge from a ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more and is not an oil tanker of a processed oily mixture, not being an oily mixture that originated from the cargo pump room bilges of the ship or includes oil cargo residue, if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) the ship is not within a special area,

(ii) the oil content of the effluent without dilution is not more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts,

(iii) the ship has in operation oil filtering equipment as required by regulations made by virtue of section 35 or by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act 1912 of the Commonwealth,

(f) the discharge from an oil tanker of a processed oily mixture, being a processed oily mixture that originates from the machinery space bilges (other than the cargo pump room bilges) of the oil tanker and does not include oil cargo residue, if the conditions specified in paragraph (e) are satisfied in relation to the discharge,

(g) the discharge within a special area from an oil tanker, or another ship that has a gross tonnage of 400 or more, of processed bilge water from machinery spaces, not being bilge water that originated from the cargo pump room bilges of the ship or includes oil cargo residue, if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) the ship is proceeding en route,

(ii) the oil content of the effluent without dilution is not more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts,

(iii) the ship has in operation oil filtering equipment as required by regulations made by virtue of section 35 or by virtue of section 267A of the Navigation Act 1912 of the Commonwealth,

(iv) the oil filtering equipment is equipped with a stopping device that automatically prevents any discharge of effluent when the oil content of the effluent without dilution is more than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts,

(h) the discharge within a special area from a ship that has a gross tonnage of less than 400 and is not an oil tanker of oil or an oily mixture if:

(i) the oil content of the effluent without dilution is less than 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts, or

(ii) the following conditions are satisfied:

(A) the ship is proceeding en route,

(B) the oil content of the effluent is less than 100 parts in 1 000 000,

(C) the discharge is made as far as practicable from land and is not less than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land,

(i) the discharge, not being a discharge within a special area, from a ship that has a gross tonnage of less than 400 and is not an oil tanker of an oily mixture that without dilution has an oil content not exceeding 15 parts in 1 000 000 parts, or

(j) the discharge from a ship of clean or segregated ballast.

(5) A reference to an oily mixture in subsection (4) shall be read as not including a reference to an oily mixture that contains:

(a) chemicals or other substances in quantities or concentrations that are hazardous to the marine environment, or

(b) chemicals or other substances that have been introduced for the purpose of attempting to prevent the application of subsection (1) to the discharge of an oily mixture from a ship.

(6) In proceedings for an offence against subsection (1) in relation to a ship, it is sufficient for the prosecution to allege and prove that a discharge of oil or of an oily mixture occurred from the ship into State waters, but it is a defence if it is proved that, by virtue of subsection (2) or (4), subsection (1) does not apply in relation to the discharge.