110Removal of hazards to navigation

1. The Director may cause to be removed any ship or aircraft referred to in section 100A, or any derelict ship, or any floating or submerged or stranded object, (the hazard), if—

2. the owner of the hazard has not made arrangements under that section to secure and remove the hazard; and
3. no regional council has jurisdiction over the waters or place where the hazard is located; and
4. the Director considers the hazard is a hazard to navigation; and
5. the action taken to remove the hazard is not inconsistent with the Resource Management Act 1991.

6. The Director may, by notice in writing given to the owner or master or person in command of the hazard, or to any agent of the owner, require that person to remove the whole or any part of that hazard in a manner satisfactory to, and within a time to be specified by, the Director.

7. If a person fails to comply with the notice, or if a person to whom the notice can be given cannot be found, the Director or a person authorised by the Director may—

8. take possession of and remove or destroy the whole or any part of the hazard; and
9. sell, in such manner as he or she thinks fit, the hazard or any part of it that is so removed, and also any property recovered from it, in the exercise of his or her powers under this section; and, out of the proceeds of any such sale, without any reference to the articles from the sale of which those proceeds arise, recover the whole of the expenses of removal; and
10. if the proceeds of the sale are insufficient to pay the whole of the expenses of removal, recover the balance from the owner or master or person in command of the hazard, or from the owner of any ship or aircraft or from any other person if the sinking, stranding, or abandonment occurred through the fault or negligence of that ship, aircraft, or person.

11. The Director or a person authorised by the Director must hold the surplus (if any) of the proceeds of any sale under this section and dispose of the surplus to the owner of the hazard or any other persons entitled to receive the surplus.

12. This section applies to every article belonging to or forming part of a ship or aircraft, as it applies to a ship or aircraft; and the proceeds of the sale under this section of any ship or aircraft or any part of it or other property recovered from it must be regarded as a common fund.

13. In this section, owner, in relation to any hazard, includes not only the owner or owners at the time of the sinking, stranding, abandonment, or other event, but also any subsequent purchaser of the hazard or of any article belonging to it or forming part of it, as long as the hazard remains a hazard to navigation.