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Maritime Transport Act 1994

Plans and responses to protect marine environment from marine oil spills - Marine oil spill responses

299: Duty to notify if unable to contain and clean up marine oil spills

You could also call this:

"Tell someone if you can't clean up an oil spill in the sea"

Illustration for Maritime Transport Act 1994

You have a duty to notify someone if you cannot contain and clean up a marine oil spill. If you are in charge of a ship and it spills oil into New Zealand waters, you must tell the Director or your local regional council if you cannot clean it up. You must do this right away. If you are in charge of an offshore installation or an oil transfer site and it spills oil, you must also tell someone if you cannot clean it up. You must tell your local regional council or the Director, depending on where the spill is. You must do this right away. This duty does not replace any other duties you may have to report an oil spill.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM337683.

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Part 23Plans and responses to protect marine environment from marine oil spills
Marine oil spill responses

299Duty to notify if unable to contain and clean up marine oil spills

  1. If, in the event of an oil spill into the internal waters of New Zealand or New Zealand marine waters from a ship, the master of that ship considers that the oil spill cannot be contained and cleaned up using the resources available to that person for that purpose, he or she shall forthwith notify the Director or, where the spill has occurred within the territorial sea, the Director or the regional council within whose region the spill is located, of his or her inability to contain and clean up the oil spill.

  2. If, in the event of an oil spill into the internal waters of New Zealand or New Zealand marine waters from an offshore installation or an oil transfer site in respect of which there is required to be a site marine oil spill contingency plan under the marine protection rules, the person responsible for implementing the marine oil spill contingency plan in respect of that installation or site considers that the oil spill cannot be contained and cleaned up by the resources available to that person for that purpose, he or she shall forthwith notify—

  3. the regional council within whose region the oil spill is located; or
    1. the Director, if the spill is not located within the region of a regional council.

      1. Nothing in this section shall derogate from any other duty under this Act, or any other enactment, or any marine protection rules, to give notice to the Director or any other person of an oil spill into New Zealand marine waters.