Oil Pollution of the Sea (Civil Liability and Compensation) Act, 1988

Calculation of tonnage of ship.

11.—For the purposes of calculating the liability of the owner of a ship by reference to the tonnage of that ship, the tonnage shall be ascertained in the following manner:

(a) if the ship is registered in the State, or is a ship to which a direction under section 95 of the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955 , applies, the tonnage of that ship shall be reckoned to be its nett tonnage increased, in any case where a deduction has been made for engine room space in calculating that tonnage, by the amount of that deduction;

(b) if the ship is not so registered, or if no such direction applies to her, and it is possible to ascertain the registered tonnage of the ship as if it were a ship registered in the State, the tonnage of the ship shall be calculated, with any necessary modifications, in accordance with paragraph (a);

(c) if the ship is not so registered, or if no such direction applies to her, and she is a ship of a class or description in relation to which no provision is for the time being made by tonnage Regulations made under the said Mercantile Marine Act, the tonnage of the ship shall be reckoned to be forty per cent. of the weight (expressed in tons of two thousand two hundred and forty pounds) of oil which the ship is capable of carrying;

(d) if the tonnage of the ship cannot be calculated in accordance with the preceding paragraphs of this section, an inspector shall, if so directed by a Court, certify the tonnage which, in his opinion and having regard to the evidence specified in the direction, would be the tonnage of the ship if such tonnage were calculated in accordance with the preceding paragraphs of this section, and the tonnage as certified in the certificate of the inspector shall be reckoned to be the tonnage of that ship.