Merchant Shipping Act 1979

17 In section 4 of the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act 1967 (of which subsection (2) provides that if any ship is loaded in contravention of subsection (1) of that section the owner or master shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400 and to an additional fine not exceeding an amount calculated in accordance with subsection (3) of that section in terms of £400 for each inch or part of an inch by which the load line is or would have been submerged)—

(a) in subsection (2) for the words “on summary conviction—

(a) to a fine not exceeding £400, and”

there shall be substituted the words “—

(a) on conviction on indictment to a fine ;" and at the beginning of paragraph (b) there shall be inserted the words " on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 and”; and

(b) in subsection (3) for the words from " £400 " to " complete inches" there shall be substituted the words " £1,000 for each complete centimetre " and the words following paragraph (b) shall be omitted.