Dangerous goods and grain cargoes

331. Carriage of dangerous goods-- (1) The Central Government may make rules for regulating in the interests of safety the carriage of dangerous goods in ships.

[(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for the classification, packing, labelling and marking of such goods or any class of such goods, stowing of such goods (whether with or without other cargo) including plans for stowing, the fixing of the maximum quantity of any such class of goods which may be carried in different ships or classes of ships, and such other matters relating to dangerous goods as required to be provided for implementing the provisions of the Safety Convention.]

(3) The owner, master or agent of a ship carrying or intending to carry any dangerous goods as cargo and about to make a voyage from a port in India shall furnish in advance the prescribed particulars of the ship and the cargo to such authority as may be prescribed for the purpose.

(4) A surveyor may inspect the ship for the purpose of securing that any rules under this section are complied with.

(5) If any of the rules made in pursuance of this section is not complied with in relation to any ship, the ship shall be deemed for the purpose of this Part to be an unsafe ship.

(6) This section shall apply, in the same manner as it applies to Indian ships, to ships other than Indian ships while they are within any port in India or are embarking or disembarking passengers or are loading or, discharging cargo or fuel within Indian jurisdiction.

Explanation-- In this section, the expression “dangerous goods” means goods which by reason of the nature, quantity or mode of stowage are either singly or collectively liable to endanger the life or the health of persons on or near the ship or to imperil the ship, and includes all substances within the meaning of the expression “explosive” as defined in the Indian Explosive Act, 1884 (4 of 1884), and any other goods which the Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette specify as dangerous goods [but shall not include,--

(a) any fog or distress signals or other stores or equipment required to be carried by the ship under this Act or the rules or regulations there under;

(b) particular cargoes carried in ships specially built or converted as a whole for that purpose, such as tankers.]

[331A. Grain loading plan-- (1) No grain shall be loaded on board any Indian ship anywhere unless there is in force in respect of such ship a grainloading plan approved under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4).

(2) The grain-loading plan shall be in such form and contain such particulars as to the stability of the ship, circumstances of loading on departure and arrival, the main characteristics of the fittings used to prevent the shifting of cargo and such other matters as may be prescribed, having regard to the rules made under sub-section (5) of section 332.

(3) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (4), the grain-loading plan shall be submitted to the Central Government for approval and that Government may, having regard to the rules made under sub-section (5) of section 332, the stability of the ship and the circumstances of loading on departure and arrival, approve the plan with such modifications, if any, as it may deem necessary.

(4) The Central Government may request the Government of a country to which the Safety Convention applies to approve the grain-loading plan of an Indian ship and an approval given in pursuance of such a required and contain a statement that it has been so given shall have effect for the purpose of this section as if the approval had been given by the Central Government.

(5) The Central Government may, at the request of the Government of a country to which the Safety Convention applies, approve the grain-loading plan of a ship registered in that country if the Central Government is satisfied, in the like manner as in the case of an Indian ship, that such approval can properly be given and where approval is given at such a request, it shall contain a statement that it has been so given.

(6) It is hereby declared that for the purpose of section 208 (which requires documents relating to navigation to be delivered by the master of a ship to his successor) the plan shall be deemed to be a document relating to the navigation of the ship.]

332. Carriage of grain-- (1) Where grain is loaded on board any Indian ship anywhere or is loaded within any port in India on board any other ship, all necessary and reasonable precautions shall be taken to prevent the grain from shifting; and if such precautions as aforesaid are not taken, the owner of the master of the ship or any agent of the owner who was charged with the loading or with sending the ship to sea laden with grain shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and the ship shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part to be unsafe by reason of improper loading.

(2) Where any ship which is loaded with grain outside India without all necessary and reasonable precautions having been taken to prevent the grain from shifting, enters any port in India so laden, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and the ship shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part to be unsafe by reason of improper loading.

[(2A) Where grain is loaded on board an Indian ship in accordance with a grain-loading plan approved under section 331A or where grain is loaded on board any other ship in accordance with a grain-loading plan approved by or on behalf of the Government of the country in which that ship is registered, the ship shall be deemed, for the purposes of sub-sections (1) and (2), to have been loaded with all necessary and reasonable precautions.]

(3) On the arrival at a port in India from a port outside India of any ship carrying a cargo of grain, the master shall cause to be delivered at the port to such customs or other officer as may be specified by the Central Government in this behalf, a notice stating--

(a) the draught of water and free board of the said ship after the loading of the cargo was completed at the final port of loading;

[(b) the kind of grain carried and quantity thereof stated in cubic feet, quarters, bushels or tons weight; and

(c) the mode in which the grain is stowed and the precautions taken to prevent the grain from shifting and where the grain has been stowed in accordance with the ships’ grain-loading plan, if any, that it has been so stowed.]

[(4) Any person authorised in this behalf, by general or special order of the Central Government may, for securing the observance of the provisons of this section, go on board a ship carrying a cargo of grain and require the production of the grain-loading plan of the ship and inspect the mode in which the cargo is stowed in the ship.]

(5) The Central Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, [make rules in relation to grain-loading plans and the loading of ships] with grain generally or of ships of any class specifying the precautions to be taken, and when such precautions have been prescribed, they shall be treated for the purposes of this section to be included in the expression “necessary and reasonable precautions”.

(6) In [section 331A and this section], the expression “grain” includes wheat, maize, oats, rye, barely, rice pulses and seeds, and the expression” ship carrying a cargo of grain” means a ship carrying a quiantity of grain exceeding one-third of the ship’s registered tonnage reckoning one hundred cubic feet or two tons of wieght of grain as equivalent to one ton of registered tonnage.

Sub-division load lines

333. Sbmersion of sub-division load lines in case of passenger ships--

(1) Where--

(a) an Indian passenger ship has been marked with sub-division load lines, that is to say, load lines indicating the depth to which the ship may be loaded having regard to the extent to which she is sub-divided and to the space for the time being allotted to passengers, and

(b) the appropriate sub-division load line, that is to say, the sub-division load line appropriate to the space for the time being allotted to passengers on the ship, is lower than the load line indicating the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the provisions of this Part to be loaded.

the ship shall not be so loaded as to submerge in salt water the appropriate sub-division load line on each side of the ship when the ship has no list.

(2) Without prejudice to any other proceedings under this Act, any such ship which is loaded in contravention of this section may be detained until she ceases to be so loaded.

Unseaworthy ships

334. Unseaworthy ship not to be sent to sea-- (1) Every person who sends or attempts to send an Indian ship to sea from any port in India in such an unseaworthy state that the life of any person is likely to be thereby endangered shall, unless he proves that he used all reasonable means to insure her being sent to sea in a seaworthy state or that her going to sea in such unseaworthy state was under the circumstances reasonable and justifiable, be guilty of an offence under this sub-section.

(2) Every master of an Indian ship who knowingly takes such ship to sea in such unseaworthy state that the life of any person is likely to be thereby endangered shall, unless he proves that her going to sea in such unseaworthy state was, under the circumstances, reasonable and justifiable, be guilty of an offence under this sub-section.

(3) For the purpose of giving such proof, every person charged under this section may give evidence in the same manner as any other witness.

(4) No prosecution under this section shall be instituted except by, or with the consent of, the Central Government.

(5) A ship is “unseaworthy” within the meaning of this Act when the materials of which she is made, her construction, the qualifications of the master, the number, description and qualifications of the crew including officers, the weight, description and stowage of the cargo and ballast, the condition of her hull and equipment, boilers and machinery are not such as to render her in every respect fit for the proposed voayage or service.