Harbours Act, 1996

Harbour charges.

13.—(1) A company may impose charges (in this Act referred to as “harbour charges”) at such rates as are from time to time determined by it on—

(a) the owner or master of a ship which—

(i) enters within its harbour,

(ii) uses any quay, anchorage or mooring in its harbour, or

(iii) plies within its harbour,

(b) the owner, consignor, consignee or carrier of goods shipped, transhipped, unshipped or stored within its harbour,

(c) the owner or master of a ship which carries passengers to or from a place within its harbour,

(d) a person for whom any service or facility is performed or provided by it or to whom it hires any equipment.

(2) (a) For the purpose of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) the master of a ship to which that provision applies shall furnish to the company concerned such type of certificate of tonnage in respect of the ship as is specified by the company and such other documentation in relation to the ship or goods thereon as may be specified by it.

(b) For the purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1), where passengers are to be carried, or goods are to be shipped, transhipped or unshipped, within a harbour the master of the ship on which the passengers or goods are to be carried or are carried, or, in the case of goods which are to be transhipped, the ship from which the goods are to be transferred, shall furnish to the company concerned a statement of the number of those passengers and their classes as such passengers or, as the case may be, a true account of such goods, in such form as may be specified by the company.

(c) A master of a ship who refuses or fails to furnish to a company any certificate, documentation, statement or account referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) when requested by the company to do so shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Different rates of harbour charges may be imposed by a company in different circumstances.

(4) Harbour charges may, in relation to any thing referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1), be imposed by a company on two or more of the appropriate persons referred to in the said paragraph (a), (b) or (c), as the case may be, and where harbour charges are so imposed the liability of the persons concerned for the harbour charges shall be joint and several.

(5) (a) Without prejudice to section 14 , harbour charges shall be recoverable by a company from the person or persons on whom they have been imposed as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) The reference in paragraph (a) to harbour charges includes a reference to any balance of an amount of harbour charges remaining due to a company after it has sold a ship, goods, equipment or stores under section 14 to satisfy those charges or has received any payment on foot of any bond or other security concerned referred to in subsection (7).

(6) A person liable to pay harbour charges to a company who evades or attempts to evade payment of the charges shall, without prejudice to any proceedings or steps taken or to be taken for the purpose of recovering the charges under subsection (5) or section 14 , be guilty of an offence.

(7) (a) A company may require—

(i) where the condition specified in paragraph (a) (i) or (b) of subsection (8) is satisfied, the owner or master of a ship, or

(ii) where the condition specified in paragraph (a) (ii) of subsection (8) is satisfied, the agent for a ship,

being in either case a ship the navigation of which or the fact of its carrying goods or passengers or of any other circumstances referred to in subsection (1) that involve the ship will result, or results, in harbour charges being imposed by the company (whether on one or more than one occasion), to give to the company a bond, or such other type of security as the company specifies, for the payment of those charges.

(b) The amount of the bond or other security that a company may require to be given under this subsection (other than in relation to harbour charges imposed in respect of a ship referred to in subsection (8) (b)) shall not exceed 25 per cent. of—

(i) if the company has imposed harbour charges on the owner, master or agent concerned (“the person concerned”) in each of two or more years prior to the making of the requirement, the average of the amount of harbour charges imposed by it on that person in such a year,

(ii) if the company has imposed harbour charges on the person concerned in only one such year, the amount of harbour charges imposed by it on that person in that year,

(iii) in any other case, the amount of harbour charges the company estimates it will impose on the person concerned in the period of 12 months commencing on the making of the requirement.

(8) The conditions referred to in subsection (7) are—

(a) that, before the making of the requirement referred to in that subsection—

(i) the owner or master concerned has failed to pay harbour charges imposed by the company or, on 2 or more occasions, has paid harbour charges imposed by the company to the company after the latest date stipulated by it for their payment, or

(ii) in the case of the agent concerned, he or she has failed to pay moneys to the company which he or she has received from a person on account of harbour charges imposed on that person by the company or, on 2 or more occasions, has paid moneys so received by him or her to the company after the latest date stipulated by it for the payment of the harbour charges concerned,

(b) that—

(i) the ship concerned has not entered the company's harbour on any previous occasion and the company does not regard it as likely that it will enter its harbour again in the period of 12 months commencing on the entry concerned, and

(ii) the owner or master of the said ship has not retained an agent to act on his or her behalf for the purpose of paying any harbour charges that may be imposed by the company in the circumstances concerned.

(9) If by reason of the situation of any harbour it is necessary for a ship proceeding to such a harbour to enter or anchor within the harbour of another company, then where a ship enters or anchors within the harbour of such a company for the purpose, and the purpose only, of proceeding to the first-mentioned harbour, the said company may not impose any harbour charges in respect of such entry or anchoring by that ship:

Provided that this subsection shall not prevent the said company from imposing harbour charges of an amount that, having regard to all the circumstances, is fair and equitable in respect of any service it performs, facility it provides or equipment it hires in relation to a ship aforesaid whilst the ship is in its harbour.

(10) If the company established pursuant to section 7 in respect of the first-mentioned harbour in subsection (9) considers that the amount of any harbour charges referred to in the proviso to the said subsection that have been imposed is not, having regard to all the circumstances, fair and equitable, it may request the company which imposed the charges to cancel the imposition of the said charges and impose harbour charges of another amount or, as appropriate, reimburse the payer of the said charges a portion of the said charges, and, if the said company fails or refuses to comply with such a request, either company may refer the matter to a person nominated by the Minister for his or her determination and the determination of that person in the matter shall be final.