Oil in Navigable Waters Act 1955
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1955 c. 25 |
| Year | 1955 |
Oil in Navigable Waters Act , 1955
(3 & 4 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 25
An Act to enable effect to be given to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954, and otherwise to make new provision for preventing the pollution of navigable waters by oil.
Whereas a Convention entitled ‘The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954’ (in this Act referred to as ‘the Convention of 1954’) was signed on behalf of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in London on the twelfth day of May, nineteen hundred and fifty-four:
And whereas it is expedient to enable effect to be given to that Convention, and otherwise to make new provision for preventing the pollution of navigable waters by oil:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Discharge of certain oils into prohibited sea areas.
(1) If any oil to which this section applies is discharged from a British ship registered in the United Kingdom into a part of the sea which, in relation to that ship, is a prohibited sea area, or if any mixture containing oil to which this section applies is discharged from such a ship into such a part of the sea with the consequence that the oil in the mixture fouls the surface of the sea, the owner or master of the ship shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be guilty of an offence under this section.
(2) This section applies—
(a ) to crude oil, fuel oil and lubricating oil, and
(b ) to heavy diesel oil, as defined by regulations made under this section by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (in this Act referred to as ‘the Minister’),
and shall also apply to any other description of oil which may be prescribed by the Minister, having regard to the provisions of any subsequent Convention in so far as it relates to the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil, or having regard to the persistent character of oil of that description and the likelihood that it would cause pollution if discharged from a ship into a prohibited sea area.
(3) Regulations made under this section by the Minister may make exceptions from the operation of subsection (1) of this section, either absolutely or subject to any prescribed conditions, and either generally or as respects particular classes of ships, or in relation to particular descriptions of oil or mixtures containing oil or to the discharge of oil or mixtures in prescribed circumstances, or in relation to particular areas of the sea.
(4) For the purposes of any proceedings for an offence under this section in respect of the discharge of a mixture containing oil to which this section applies,—
(a ) if it is proved that there were not less than one hundred parts of the oil in a million parts of the mixture, it shall be conclusively presumed that the oil in the mixture fouled the surface of the sea;
(b ) if it is proved that there were less than one hundred parts of the oil in a million parts of the mixture, it shall be conclusively presumed that the oil in the mixture did not foul the surface of the sea.
(5) In this Act ‘subsequent Convention’ means any Convention subsequent to the Convention of 1954, being a Convention accepted by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.
2 Designation of prohibited sea areas.
(1) For the purposes of this Act the areas of the sea designated by or in accordance with this section shall be prohibited sea areas in relation to tankers, and to vessels other than tankers, respectively.
(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section,—
(a ) the areas specified in Part I of the Schedule to this Act shall, as from the coming into operation of this paragraph, be prohibited sea areas in relation to tankers;
(b ) the areas specified in Part II of that Schedule shall, as from the coming into operation of this paragraph, be prohibited sea areas in relation to vessels other than tankers.
(3) As from the coming into operation of this subsection, the areas specified in Part III of the Schedule to this Act, and any other area designated by order of the Minister for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Convention of 1954 which relate to Australia, shall (subject to the following provisions of this section) be prohibited sea areas in relation to tankers, in addition to the areas specified in Part I of that Schedule.
(4) As from the coming into operation of this subsection, the areas specified in Part IV of the Schedule to this Act shall (subject to the following provisions of this section) be prohibited sea areas in relation to vessels other than tankers, in addition to the areas specified in Part II of that Schedule.
(5) The Minister, if he considers it necessary to do so for the purpose of protecting the coasts and territorial waters of the United Kingdom against pollution by oil, may by order—
(a ) designate any area of the sea, outside the territorial waters of the United Kingdom and outside the areas specified in Part I of the Schedule to this Act, as a prohibited sea area in relation to tankers;
(b ) designate any area of the sea, outside the territorial waters of the United Kingdom and outside the areas specified in Part II of that Schedule, as a prohibited sea area in relation to vessels other than tankers.
(6) The powers conferred by paragraphs (a ) and (b ) of the last preceding subsection shall be exercisable either before or after the coming into operation of subsection (3) or (as the case may be) subsection (4) of this section; and any area designated by an order under paragraph (a ) of the last preceding subsection before the coming into operation of subsection (3) of this section, or designated by an order under paragraph (b ) of the last preceding subsection before the coming into operation of subsection (4) of this section, shall continue thereafter to be a prohibited sea area by virtue of the order, in so far as it is not a prohibited sea area by virtue of being included in Part III or (as the case may be) Part IV of the Schedule to this Act.
(7) For the purpose of giving effect to any variation of the prohibited zones referred to in the Convention of 1954, in accordance with the provisions of that Convention or of any subsequent Convention, the Minister may by order vary any of the areas specified in any Part of the Schedule to this Act, or declare that any area specified in a Part of that Schedule shall cease to be included therein.
(8) For the purpose of giving effect to any subsequent Convention, the Minister may by order designate, as a prohibited sea area in relation to tankers, or to vessels other than tankers, any area of the sea, outside the territorial waters of the United Kingdom, which apart from the order is not a prohibited sea area in relation to tankers, or to vessels other than tankers, as the case may be.
3 Discharge of oil into United Kingdom waters.
(1) If any oil or mixture containing oil is discharged into waters to which this section applies from any vessel, or from any place on land, or from any apparatus used for transferring oil from or to any vessel (whether to or from a place on land or to or from another vessel), then subject to the provisions of this Act—
(a ) if the discharge is from a vessel, the owner or master of the vessel, or
(b ) if the discharge is from a place on land, the occupier of that place, or
(c ) if the discharge is from apparatus used for transferring oil from or to a vessel, the person in charge of the apparatus,
shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(2) This section applies to the following waters, that is to say,—
(a ) the whole of the sea within the seaward limits of the territorial waters of the United Kingdom, and
(b ) all other waters (including inland waters) which are within those limits and are navigable by sea-going ships.
(3) A harbour authority may appoint a place within their jurisdiction where the ballast water of vessels in which a cargo of petroleum-spirit has been carried may be discharged into the waters of the harbour, at such times, and subject to such conditions, as the authority may determine; and, where a place is so appointed, the discharge of ballast water from such a vessel shall not constitute an offence under this section, if the ballast water is discharged at that place, and at a time and in accordance with the conditions so determined, and the ballast water contains no oil other than petroleum-spirit.
In this subsection ‘petroleum-spirit’ has the same meaning as in the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act, 1928.
(4) In this Act ‘place on land’ includes anything resting on the bed or shore of the sea, or of any other waters to which this section applies, and also includes anything afloat (other than a vessel) if it is anchored or attached to the bed or shore of the sea or of any such waters; and ‘occupier’, in relation to any such thing as is mentioned in the preceding provisions of this subsection, if it has no occupier, means the owner thereof, and, in relation to a railway wagon or road vehicle, means the person in charge of the wagon or vehicle and not the occupier of the land on which the wagon or vehicle stands.
(5) In this Act—
‘harbour authority’ means a person or body of persons empowered by an enactment to make charges in respect of vessels entering a harbour in the United Kingdom or using facilities therein;
‘harbour in the United Kingdom’ means a port, estuary, haven, dock, or other place which fulfils the following conditions, that is to say,—
(a ) that it contains waters to...
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