Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act, 1993
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Disposal of unclaimed wreck. |
49.—(1) Where no owner establishes a claim to any wreck found in or brought into the State and in the possession of a receiver within one year after it came into the receiver's possession, the receiver shall notify the Director of the National Museum (in this section referred to as “the Director”) that the wreck is unclaimed and the Director shall, within 30 days, decide whether or not the wreck or any part thereof is of historical, archaeological or artistic importance and shall notify the receiver of the decision. | |
(2) If the Director decides that the wreck or any part thereof is of historical, archaeological or artistic importance, the receiver shall deliver the wreck or that part to the Director who, as soon as may be after such delivery, shall— | ||
(a) retain it on behalf of the State, and | ||
(b) pay— | ||
(i) to the receiver, any expenses incurred by the receiver, and the receiver's fees, in relation to the wreck or that part, and | ||
(ii) to any salvors of the wreck or that part, such amount of salvage as appears to the Director to be reasonable in all the circumstances. | ||
(3) (a) A wreck which the Director decides under subsection (2) is or is in part of historical, archaeological or artistic importance shall not in whole or in part be removed or caused to be removed by any person without the approval of the Director. | ||
(b) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(4) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to show that the act constituting the offence was done by the person— | ||
(a) in the course of any action taken by the person for the sole purpose of dealing with an emergency of any description, or | ||
(b) out of necessity due to stress of weather or navigational hazards. | ||
(5) If the Director decides that the wreck is not of historical, archaeological or artistic importance the receiver shall sell the wreck and shall pay the proceeds of the sale (after deducting therefrom the expenses of the sale, and any other expenses, including fees, incurred by the receiver, in relation to the wreck and paying to any salvors of the wreck such amount of salvage as appears to the Minister to be reasonable in all the circumstances) into the Exchequer. | ||
(6) This section shall not apply to a wreck within the meaning of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1987 , and to which section 3 of that Act relates. |