Interpretation of this Part
Open ↗23.—(1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires —“discharge or escape”, in relation to pollution damage, means the discharge or escape of oil from the ship;
“Fund Convention country” means a country in respect of which the Fund Convention is in force;
“incident” means any occurrence, or series of occurrences having the same origin, resulting in a discharge or escape of oil from a ship or in a relevant threat of contamination;
“pollution damage” means —(a)
damage caused outside a ship by contamination resulting from a discharge or escape of oil from the ship;
(b)
the cost of preventive measures; and
(c)
further damage caused by preventive measures,
but does not include any damage attributable to any impairment of the environment except to the extent that any such damage consists of —
(d)
any loss of profits; or
(e)
the cost of any reasonable measures of reinstatement actually taken or to be taken;
“preventive measures” means any reasonable measures taken by any person to prevent or minimise pollution damage, being measures taken —(a)
after an incident has occurred; or
(b)
in the case of an incident consisting of a series of occurrences, after the first of those occurrences;
“the Fund Convention” means the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992;
“the Fund” means the International Fund established by the Fund Convention.
(2) If the Minister, by order in the Gazette, declares that any State specified in the order is a party to the Fund Convention in respect of any country so specified, the order is, while in force, conclusive evidence that that State is a party to that Convention in respect of that country.
Legal capacity of Fund
Open ↗24.—(1) For the purposes of the rights and obligations of this Part, the Fund has the capacity, rights and obligations of an actual person and, in particular, may sue and be sued.
(2) Any proceedings by or against the Fund may either be instituted by or against the Fund in its own name or be instituted by or against the Director of the Fund as the Fund’s representative.
(3) Evidence of any instrument issued by any organ of the Fund or of any document in the custody of the Fund, or any entry in or extract from such a document, may be given in any legal proceedings by production of a copy certified as a true copy by an official of the Fund, and any document purporting to be such a copy shall, in any such proceedings, be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person signing the certificate.
Contributions by importers of oil and others
Open ↗25.—(1) Contributions are payable to the Fund in respect of oil carried by sea to ports or terminal installations in Singapore otherwise than on a voyage only within its territorial sea.
(2) Subsection (1) applies whether or not the oil is being imported, and applies even if contributions are payable in respect of carriage of the same oil on a previous voyage.
(3) Contributions are also payable to the Fund in respect of oil when first received in any installation in Singapore after having been carried by sea and discharged in a port or terminal installation in a country which is not a Fund Convention country.
(4) The person liable to pay contributions is —(a)
in the case of oil which is being imported into Singapore — the importer; and
(b)
in any other case — the person by whom the oil is received.
(5) A person shall not be liable to make contributions in respect of the oil imported or received by the person in any year if the oil so imported or received in the year does not exceed 150,000 tonnes.
(6) For the purpose of subsection (5) —(a)
all the members of a group of companies are treated as a single person; and
(b)
any 2 or more companies which have been amalgamated into a single company are treated as the same person as that single company.
(7) The contributions payable by a person for any year —(a)
must be of such amount as the Director of the Fund may determine under Article 12 of the Fund Convention and notified to the person by the Fund;
(b)
are payable in such instalments, becoming due at such times, as may be so notified to the person,
and if any amount due from the person remains unpaid after the date on which it became due, it bears from then on interest, at a rate the Assembly of the Fund determines from time to time, until it is paid.
(8) The Authority may, by regulations made with the approval of the Minister, impose on persons who are or may be liable to pay contributions under this section obligations to give security for payment to the Authority or the Fund.
(9) Regulations made under subsection (8) may —(a)
contain such supplemental or incidental provisions that appear expedient to the Authority; and
(b)
provide that any contravention of the regulations shall be punishable with a fine not exceeding $20,000 or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or with both.
(10) In this section and in section 26, unless the context otherwise requires —“company” means a body incorporated under the law of Singapore, or of any other country;
“group”, in relation to companies, means a holding company and its subsidiaries as defined in section 5 of the Companies Act 1967 subject, in the case of a company incorporated outside Singapore, to any necessary modifications of those definitions;
“importer” means the person by whom or on whose behalf the oil in question is entered for customs or excise purposes on importation, and “import” is to be construed accordingly;
“oil” means crude oil and fuel oil, and —(a)
“crude oil” means any liquid hydrocarbon mixture occurring naturally in the earth whether or not treated to render it suitable for transportation, and includes —(i)
crude oils from which distillate fractions have been removed; and
(ii)
crude oils to which distillate fractions have been added; and
(b)
“fuel oil” means heavy distillates or residues from crude oil or blends of such materials intended for use as a fuel for the production of heat or power of a quality equivalent to the “American Society for Testing and Materials’ Specification for Number Four Fuel Oil (Designation D396‑69)”, or heavier;
“terminal installation” means any site for the storage of oil in bulk which is capable of receiving oil from waterborne transportation, including any facility situated offshore and linked to any such site.
(11) All contributions payable under this section and any interest payable thereon are debts due to the Fund and recoverable as such from the persons liable to pay the contributions in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Power to obtain information
Open ↗26.—(1) For the purpose of transmitting to the Fund the names and addresses of the persons who under section 25 are liable to make contributions to the Fund for any year, and the quantity of oil in respect of which they are so liable, the Director may by notice require any person engaged in producing, treating, distributing or transporting oil, or any other person who the Director has reason to believe has any information relevant to the purpose, to provide such information as may be specified in the notice.
(2) A notice under this section may require a company to give such information as may be required to ascertain whether its liability is affected by section 25(6).
(3) A notice under this section may specify the way in which, and the time within which, it is to be complied with.
(4) In proceedings by the Fund against any person to recover any amount due under section 25, particulars contained in any list transmitted by the Director to the Fund are, so far as those particulars are based on information obtained under this section, admissible as evidence of the facts stated in the list; and so far as particulars which are so admissible are based on information given by the person against whom the proceedings are brought, those particulars are presumed to be accurate until the contrary is proved.
(5) A person who —(a)
refuses or wilfully neglects to comply with a notice under this section; or
(b)
in providing any information in compliance with a notice under this section, makes any statement which the person knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
Liability of Fund
Open ↗27.—(1) The Fund shall be liable for pollution damage in the territory of Singapore if the person suffering the damage has been unable to obtain full compensation under section 3 —(a)
because the discharge or escape, or the relevant threat of contamination, by reason of which the damage was caused —(i)
resulted from an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible natural phenomenon;
(ii)
was due wholly to anything done or left undone by another person, not being an employee or agent of the owner, with intent to do damage; or
(iii)
was due wholly to the negligence or wrongful act of a government or other authority in exercising its function of maintaining lights or other navigational aids for the maintenance of which it was responsible,
(and because liability is accordingly wholly displaced by section 4);
(b)
because the owner or insurer liable for the damage cannot meet the owner’s or insurer’s obligations in full; or
(c)
because the damage exceeds the liability under section 3 as limited by section 6 or by section 136 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, as the case may be.
(2) Subsection (1) applies (but with the substitution of the words “a Fund Convention country” for the word “Singapore”) where the incident has caused pollution damage in the territory of Singapore and of another Fund Convention country, and proceedings under the Liability Convention for compensation for the pollution damage have been brought in a country which is not a Fund Convention country or in Singapore.
(3) Where the incident has caused pollution damage in the territory of Singapore and of another country in respect of which the Liability Convention is in force, references in this section to the provisions of Part 2 include references to the corresponding provisions of the law of any country giving effect to the Liability Convention.
(4) For the purposes of this section, an owner or insurer is to be treated as incapable of meeting the owner’s or insurer’s obligations if the obligations have not been met after all reasonable steps to pursue the legal remedies available have been taken.
(5) Expenses reasonably incurred, and sacrifices reasonably made, by the owner voluntarily to prevent or minimise pollution damage are treated as pollution damage for the purposes of this section, and accordingly the owner shall be in the same position with respect to claims against the Fund under this section as if the owner had a claim in respect of liability under section 3.
(6) The Fund incurs no obligation under this section if —(a)
it proves that the pollution damage —(i)
resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war or insurrection; or
(ii)
was caused by oil which has been discharged or escaped from a warship or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, at the time of the occurrence, only on government non‑commercial service; or
(b)
the claimant cannot prove that the damage resulted from an occurrence involving a ship identified by the claimant, or involving 2 or more ships one of which is identified by the claimant.
(7) If the Fund proves that the pollution damage resulted wholly or partly —(a)
from anything done or omitted to be done with intent to cause damage by the person who suffered the damage; or
(b)
from the negligence of that person,
the Fund may, subject to subsection (9), be exonerated wholly or partly from its obligations to pay compensation to that person.
(8) Where the liability under section 3 in respect of the pollution damage is limited to any extent by subsection (8) of that section, the Fund shall, subject to subsection (9), be exonerated to the same extent.
(9) Subsections (7) and (8) do not apply where the pollution damage consists of the costs of preventive measures or any damage caused by such measures.
Limitation of Fund’s liability under section 27
Open ↗28.—(1) The Fund’s liability under section 27 is subject to the following:(a)
subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), the aggregate amount of compensation payable by the Fund shall, in respect of any one incident, be limited, such that the total sum of that amount and the amount of compensation actually paid under section 3 for pollution damage shall not exceed 203 million special drawing rights;
(b)
subject to paragraph (c), the aggregate amount of compensation payable by the Fund for pollution damage resulting from an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible natural phenomenon shall not exceed 135 million special drawing rights;
(c)
the maximum amount of compensation mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be 300.74 million special drawing rights with respect to any incident occurring during any period when there are 3 Fund Convention countries in respect of which the combined quantity of oil imported or received by persons in the territories of such countries, during the preceding calendar year, is at least 600 million tons;
(d)
interest accrued on any payment made to the Court or to the Authority under section 7 (if any) shall not be taken into account for the computation of the maximum compensation payable by the Fund under this section.[S 486/2003]
(2) Where the amount of established claims against the Fund exceeds the aggregate amount of compensation payable under subsection (1), the amount available must be distributed in such a manner that the proportion between any established claim and the amount of compensation actually recovered by the claimant concerned under this Part is the same for all claimants.
(3) A certificate given by the Director of the Fund stating that subsection (1)(c) is applicable to any claim under section 27 is conclusive evidence for the purposes of this Part that it is so applicable.
(4) For the purpose of giving effect to subsections (1) and (2), the Court giving judgment against the Fund in proceedings under section 27 is to notify the Fund, and —(a)
no step may be taken to enforce the judgment unless and until the Court gives permission to enforce it;[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(b)
that permission is not to be given unless and until the Fund notifies the Court either that the amount of the claim is not to be reduced under subsection (1), or that it is to be reduced to a specified amount; and[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(c)
in the latter case the judgment is enforceable only for the reduced amount.
(5) Any steps taken to obtain payment of an amount or a reduced amount pursuant to a judgment mentioned in subsection (4) are steps to obtain payment in Singapore dollars, and —(a)
for the purpose of converting such an amount from special drawing rights into Singapore dollars, one special drawing right is treated as equal to such a sum in Singapore dollars as the International Monetary Fund has fixed as being the equivalent of one special drawing right for —(i)
the relevant day, namely the day on which the Assembly of the Fund decides the date for the first payment of compensation in respect of the incident; or
(ii)
if no sum has been so fixed for the relevant day, the last day before that day for which a sum has been so fixed; and
(b)
a certificate given by or on behalf of the Minister for Finance stating —(i)
that a particular sum in Singapore dollars had been so fixed for the relevant day; or
(ii)
that no sum had been so fixed for the relevant day and that a particular sum in Singapore dollars had been so fixed for a day which was the last day for which a sum had been so fixed before the relevant day,
is conclusive evidence of those matters for the purposes of this Part.
(6) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, by order make such amendments to this section as appear to the Minister to be appropriate for the purpose of giving effect to the entry into force of any amendment of the provisions set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 4 of the Fund Convention.
(7) Any document purporting to be a certificate mentioned in subsection (5)(b) shall, in any legal proceedings, be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, is deemed to be such a certificate.
Jurisdiction and effect of judgments
Open ↗29.—(1) Section 3(1)(d) of the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961 is to be construed as extending to any claim in respect of a liability falling on the Fund under this Part.
(2) Where, in accordance with Rules of Court made for the purposes of this subsection, the Fund has been given notice of proceedings brought against an owner or insurer in respect of liability under section 3, any judgment given in the proceedings becomes, after it has become final and enforceable, binding upon the Fund in the sense that the facts and evidence in the judgment may not be disputed by the Fund even if the Fund has not intervened in the proceedings.
(3) Where a person incurs a liability under the law of a Fund Convention country corresponding to this Part for damage which is partly in the territory of Singapore, subsection (2) applies (with the necessary modifications) for the purpose of proceedings under this Part, to a judgment in proceedings under that law of that country.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), Part 1 of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959 applies (whether or not it would so apply apart from this section) to any judgment given by a court in a Fund Convention country to enforce a claim in respect of liability incurred under any provision corresponding to section 27, and in its application to such a judgment that Part has effect with the omission of section 5(3) and (4) of that Act.
(5) No steps may be taken to enforce such a judgment unless and until the court in which it is registered under Part 1 of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959 gives permission to enforce it, and —(a)
that permission is not to be given unless and until the Fund notifies the court either that the amount of the claim is not to be reduced under section 28(1) or that it is to be reduced to a specified amount; and
(b)
in the latter case, the judgment is enforceable only for the reduced amount.[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
Extinguishment of claims
Open ↗30.—(1) No action to enforce a claim against the Fund under this Part shall be entertained by a court in Singapore unless —(a)
the action is commenced; or
(b)
a third party notice of an action to enforce a claim against the owner or the owner’s insurer in respect of the same damage is given to the Fund,
not later than 3 years after the claim against the Fund arose.
(2) In subsection (1), “third party notice” means a notice of the kind described in section 29(2) and (3).
(3) No action to enforce a claim against the Fund under this Part shall be entertained by a court in Singapore unless the action is commenced not later than 6 years after the occurrence, or first of the occurrences, resulting in the discharge or escape or in the relevant threat of contamination (as the case may be) by reason of which the claim against the Fund arose.
Subrogation
Open ↗31.—(1) In respect of any sum paid by the Fund as compensation for pollution damage, the Fund acquires by subrogation any rights in respect of the damage which the recipient has (or, but for the payment, would have) against any other person.
(2) In respect of any sum paid by the Authority as compensation for pollution damage, the Authority acquires by subrogation any rights which the recipient has against the Fund under this Part.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
