443
38
No. 10 of 1899.
MERCHANT SHIPPING.
[3.14 contd.] of a foreign country with regard to which His Majesty in Council has under section 445 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, directed that ships of that country shall not be liable to detention, fine or penalty on proof that such ship has complied with the laws and regulations of that country.
Restrictions
on carriage
of dangerous
goods.
•
Ordinance No. 1 of 1873.
[cf. No. 17 of 1928, s. 7.1
Penalty for misdescrip-
tion of dangerous goods.
Power to re-
fuse to carry suspected goods.
Ship carry- ing dan.
gerous goods and more than 20 passengers.
or,
Dangerous goods.
15. (1) Every person who sends or attempts to send by, not being the owner or master of the ship, carries or attempts to carry in, any ship any dangerous goods as defined by the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, 1873, without distinctly marking their nature on the outside of the vessel or package containing the same and giving written notice of the nature of such goods, and of the name and address of the sender or carrier thereof, to the owner or master of the ship, at or before the time of sending the same to be shipped or taking the same on board the ship, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars: Provided that if such person shows that he was merely an agent in the shipment of any such goods and was not aware, and did not suspect, and had no reason to suspect that the goods shipped by him were dangerous goods, the fine to which he shall be liable shall not exceed fifty dollars.
(2) Every person who knowingly sends or attempts to send by, or carries or attempts to carry in, any ship any such dangerous goods under a false description, or falsely describes the sender or carrier thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand and five hundred dollars.
(3) The owner or master of any ship may refuse to take on board any package or vessel which he suspects to contain such dangerous goods and may require it to be opened to ascertain the fact.
(4) It shall be lawful for the Harbour Master to refuse a port clearance to any ship carrying more than twenty passengers, if there are on board any such dangerous goods unless they are inclosed in a substantial compartment exclusively appropriated to the stowage of dangerous goods, or otherwise secured from contact with or damage from any other article or substance carried on board the ship, and so placed and surrounded that they are inaccessible to either the passengers or the crew, except
* As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1937.
:
MERCHANT SHIPPING.
No. 10 of 1899.
39
with the consent of the master. And the master of any such [s.15 contd.] ship who leaves or attempts to leave the waters of the Colony without having the said dangerous goods inclosed, secured, placed and surrounded as in this sub-section provided, or with- out having obtained a clearance, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
throw
(5) Where any such dangerous goods have been sent or Power to brought on board any ship, without being marked as aforesaid overboard or without such notice having been given as aforesaid, the owner dangerous or master may cause such goods to be thrown overboard, together goods. with any vessel or package in which they are contained; and neither the owner nor the master shall, in respect of such throw- ing overboard, be subject to any liability, civil or criminal.
carried.
(6) Where any such dangerous goods have been sent or Forfeiture of danger- carried, or attempted to be sent or carried, on board any ship, ous goods without being marked as aforesaid or without such notice having improperly been given as aforesaid, and where any such goods have been sent or sent or carried, or attempted to be sent or carried, under a false description, or the sender or carrier thereof has been falsely described, it shall be lawful for a magistrate to declare such goods, and any package or receptacle in which they are con- tained, to be, and they shall thereupon be, forfeited, and shall be disposed of as the magistrate may direct.
(7) The magistrate shall have and may exercise the afore- Magistrate said powers of forfeiture and disposal, notwithstanding that the may
proceed in owner of the goods may not have committed any offence under absence of the provisions of this section relating to dangerous goods, and owner of
goods. may not be before the magistrate, and may not have notice of the proceedings, and notwithstanding that there may be no evidence of the ownership of the goods; nevertheless the magis- trate may require such notice to be given to the owner or shipper of the goods before the same are forfeited.
(8) The provisions of this section relating to the carriage Saving of of dangerous goods shall be deemed to be in addition to, and enactments relating to not in substitution for or in restraint of, any other enactment dangerous for the like object, so, nevertheless, that nothing in the said goods. provisions shall be deemed to authorize that any person be sued or prosecuted twice in the same matter.
444