Merchant Shipping Act 1988 (repealed)

32 Conduct endangering ships, structures or individuals. U.K.

The following section shall be substituted for section 27 of the M1 Merchant Shipping Act 1970—

“27 Conduct endangering ships, structures or individuals.

(1) This section applies—

(a) to the master of, or any seaman employed in, a ship registered in the United Kingdom; and

(b) to the master of, or any seaman employed in, a ship which—

(i) is registered under the law of any country outside the United Kingdom, and

(ii) is in a port in the United Kingdom or within the seaward limits of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom while proceeding to or from any such port.

(2) If a person to whom this section applies, while on board his ship or in its immediate vicinity—

(a) does any act which causes or is likely to cause—

(i) the loss or destruction of or serious damage to his ship or its machinery, navigational equipment or safety equipment, or

(ii) the loss or destruction of or serious damage to any other ship or any structure, or

(iii) the death of or serious injury to any person, or

(b) omits to do anything required—

(i) to preserve his ship or its machinery, navigational equipment or safety equipment from being lost, destroyed or seriously damaged, or

(ii) to preserve any person on board his ship from death or serious injury, or

(iii) to prevent his ship from causing the loss or destruction of or serious damage to any other ship or any structure, or the death of or serious injury to any person not on board his ship,

and either of the conditions specified in subsection (3) of this section is satisfied with respect to that act or omission, he shall (subject to subsections (6) and (7) of this section) be guilty of an offence.

(3) Those conditions are—

(a) that the act or omission was deliberate or amounted to a breach or neglect of duty;

(b) that the master or seaman in question was under the influence of drink or a drug at the time of the act or omission.

(4) If a person to whom this section applies—

(a) discharges any of his duties, or performs any other function in relation to the operation of his ship or its machinery or equipment, in such a manner as to cause, or to be likely to cause, any such loss, destruction, death or injury as is mentioned in subsection (2)(a) of this section, or

(b) fails to discharge any of his duties, or to perform any such function, properly to such an extent as to cause, or to be likely to cause, any of those things,

he shall (subject to subsections (6) and (7) of this section) be guilty of an offence.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine, or both.

(6) In proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be a defence to prove—

(a) in the case of an offence under subsection (2) of this section where the act or omission alleged against the defendant constituted a breach or neglect of duty, that the defendant took all reasonable steps to discharge that duty;

(b) in the case of an offence under subsection (4) of this section, that the defendant took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence; or

(c) in the case of an offence under either of those subsections—

(i) that he could have avoided committing the offence only by disobeying a lawful command, or

(ii) that in all the circumstances the loss, destruction, damage, death or injury in question, or (as the case may be) the likelihood of its being caused, either could not reasonably have been foreseen by the defendant or could not reasonably have been avoided by him.

(7) In the application of this section to any person falling within subsection (1)(b) of this section, subsections (2) and (4) shall have effect as if paragraphs (a)(i) and (b)(i) of subsection (2) were omitted; and no proceedings for an offence under this section shall be instituted against any such person—

(a) in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Secretary of State or the Director of Public Prosecutions;

(b) in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Secretary of State or the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

(8) In this section—

• “breach or neglect of duty”, except in relation to a master, includes any disobedience to a lawful command;

• “duty”—

(a) in relation to a master or seaman, means any duty falling to be discharged by him in his capacity as such; and

(b) in relation to a master, includes his duty with respect to the good management of his ship and his duty with respect to the safety of operation of his ship, its machinery and equipment; and

“structure” means any fixed or movable structure (of whatever description) other than a ship.”

Marginal Citations

M1 1970 c. 36.