Section 14Part 2 — REGISTRATION OF SHIPS
Marking of ship
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14. (1) Every ship, other than a pleasure vessel, which is under twenty-four metres in length shall, before registration, be marked permanently and conspicuously to the satisfaction of the Chief Executive Officer as follows —
that is —
the name of the ship shall be marked on each of its bows; and marked on its stern, and in both cases in letters of a contrasting colour so as to be clearly visible, and the letters shall be of a length of not less than one decimetre, and of proportionate breadth;
the name of the ship and the name of its port of registry shall be
the ship’s official number, any IMO Number assigned to the ship and net tonnage shall be permanently marked in a suitable location on the ship’s permanent structure that is readily visible and accessible in such manner as may be specified by a surveyor of ships;
subject to paragraph (e), in the case of every ship built before the 1st May, 1988 —
a scale of feet denoting its draught of water shall be marked on each side of the stem and of the stern post in Roman capital numerals or in figures of not less than six inches in length; line denoted thereby; and in contrasting colours so as to be clearly visible, or in such other way as the Chief Executive Officer may approve;
the lower line of such letters or figures to coincide with the draught
those letters and figures shall be marked by being cut in and painted
in the case of every ship built after the 1st May, 1988, a scale of decimetres, or of metres and decimetres, denoting a draught of water shall be marked on each side of its stem and its stern post in figures at two-decimetre intervals and at intervening two decimetre intervals and, if the scale is in metres and decimetres —
the capital letter “M” shall be placed after each metre figure; it marks a full metre interval) the decimetre figure; the draught line denoted thereby; Section 14 Merchant Shipping Act, 2024 Page 32 Act 1 of 2024 c and being marked by being cut in and painted in a contrasting colour so as to be clearly visible, or in such other way as the Chief Executive Officer may approve; and
the top figure of the scale showing both the metre and (except where
the lower line of the figures, or figures and letters shall coincide with
the figures and letters shall be not less than one decimetre in length
every ship built before the 1st May, 1988 may comply with the requirements of paragraph (d).
Unless in special circumstances the Chief Executive Officer directs otherwise, a pleasure vessel of twenty-four metres in length or over, shall be deemed to be in compliance with subsection (1)(a) if its name and the name of its port of registry is marked on its stern in the manner provided in that subsection.
If the scale showing the ship’s draught of water is in any respect inaccurate, so as to be likely to mislead, the owner of the ship commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of three thousand dollars.
The marks required by this section shall be permanently continued, and no alteration shall be made in the marks, except in the event of any of the particulars denoted by the marks are altered in the manner provided by this Act.
If —
an owner or master of a registered ship neglects to keep the ship marked as required by this section; or
if —
a person conceals, removes, alters, defaces or obliterates; or deface or obliterate, any of the marks, except in the event referred to in subsection (4), that owner, master or person commits an offence, and for each such offence is liable to a fine of three thousand dollars and, if a ship is insufficiently or inaccurately marked, the ship may be detained until the insufficiency or inaccuracy has been remedied.
suffers a person under that person’s control to conceal, remove, alter,
It is a defence for an owner, master or other person referred to in subsection (5) to prove —
that he or she took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence; or
that the commission of the offence was for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy.
Where a ship proceeds to sea without being marked in accordance with this section, the owner commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of ten thousand dollars.
The Chief Executive Officer may exempt a class of ships from all or any of the requirements of this section. Merchant Shipping Act, 2024 Section 15 c Act 1 of 2024 Page 33