MPA Singapore issued a Marine Notice, focusing on the procedure of reporting any marine casualty, incident, injury, disease or security related incident involving Singapore-registered ships.
According to the circular, these incidents may include an event, or a sequence of events, which resulted in any of the following occurrences directly in connection with the operation of a ship:
- the death of, onset of a disease or injury to, a person.
- any occupational accident, injury or disease affecting a seafarer.
- the loss of a person from a ship.
- the loss, presumed loss or abandonment of a ship.
- material damage to a ship.
- the stranding or disabling of a ship, or the involvement of a ship in a collision.
- material damage to marine infrastructure external to a ship, that could seriously endanger the safety of the ship, another ship or an individual.
- severe damage to the environment, or the potential for severe damage to the environment, brought about by the damage of a ship or ships.
Initial Immediate Reporting
The general principle in any incident is that urgent steps on the ground, in accordance with ships’ and companies’ approved plans, must first be taken by the shipboard personnel and companies to prevent further deterioration of the situation with regard to the safety of lives at sea and protection of the marine environment.
Once this is ensured, the owner, manager or Master of the affected Singapore-registered ship shall alert MPA of the incident immediately or at the latest, within 2 hours. Alerting MPA of the incident in a timely manner is paramount for Singapore as the Flag Administration of Singapore-registered ships for information sharing with other agencies.
…as MPA Singapore added.
This initial reporting to alert MPA on an immediate basis may take place before completing the detailed incident reporting form attached as Annex A of this Shipping Circular. As explained, the initial report should be in the following format:
Detailed reporting of incidents after initial alert
-Reporting of a Marine Casualty or Incident, Injury or Disease
Owners, managers and Masters of Singapore-registered ships are also required to report a marine casualty or incident using the form attached as Annex A to the Director of Marine within 24 hours, in accordance with the provisions of Section 1071 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap 179).
Failure to comply with this section without reasonable cause is an offence which carries a maximum fine of S$10,000. The form attached as Annex A will assist the owners and Masters in providing the relevant information required for MPA to determine the cause of the incident and to conduct follow up investigations, if required.
In relation to the detailed reporting requirement, owners, managers and Masters may like to note that MPA may, for the purpose of conducting post-accident investigations:
- board and inspect the ship;
- require books, certificates and documents to be produced;
- muster the crew and passengers and require them to answer questions; and
- require the ship to be taken into a dock for hull surveys in accordance with the provisions of Section 2052 of the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap 179)