### Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance 《商船(安全)條例》

25A. Prohibition on certain ships proceeding to sea unless relevant regulations complied with
(1) This section applies to and only to a ship which is—
(a) registered in Hong Kong;
(b) not a passenger ship;
(c) of less than 500 tons gross tonnage;
(d) a vessel required to be certificated under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance (Cap. 548). (Replaced 43 of 1999 s. 91)
(2) A ship to which this section applies shall not proceed to sea on an international voyage unless the ship complies with the relevant regulations.
(3) The master of a ship to which this section applies shall, at the time a clearance for the ship is demanded in respect of an international voyage from Hong Kong, produce to the Director documentary evidence to his satisfaction that the ship complies with the relevant regulations and a clearance shall not be granted and the ship may be detained until such documentary evidence is produced.
(4) Where a ship to which this section applies proceeds, or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of subsection (2), the owner or master of the ship commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 3 and to imprisonment for 6 months. (Amended E.R. 5 of 2021)
(5) In this section relevant regulations (有關規例) means regulations made for the purposes of this section under this Ordinance or under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance (Cap. 548) and applicable to the class of ship to which the ship belongs. (Amended 43 of 1999 s. 91)
(Added 5 of 1993 s. 4)

### Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance 《商船(安全)條例》

27. Cancellation of certificates
(1) The Director may cancel any certificate issued in respect of any ship under this Part, where he has reason to believe that—
(a) any declaration of survey on which the certificate was founded has in any material particular been made fraudulently or erroneously;
(b) the certificate has been issued upon false or erroneous information;
(c) since the making of the declaration of survey, the hull, equipment or machinery of the ship has or have sustained any damage or is or are otherwise insufficient;
(d) any condition on which the certificate has been issued has been contravened;
(e) the master of the ship is not exercising, or is not permitted to exercise, proper control of the ship.
(2) Where a certificate is cancelled under subsection (1) the Director may require the owner or master of the ship to which the certificate referred to have the hull, equipment or machinery of the ship again surveyed and may require the surveyor to complete a further declaration of survey before he re-issues the certificate or issues a fresh one in place thereof.

28. Delivery up of certificates
(1) The Director may require any certificate issued under this Part which has expired or has been cancelled to be delivered up as he directs.
(2) Any owner or master who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement under subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 2. (Amended E.R. 5 of 2021)

### Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance 《商船(安全)條例》

30. Miscellaneous provisions
(1) Any general safety certificate or short voyage safety certificate, whether qualified or not, may be combined in one document with a passenger certificate.
(2) Any certificate issued by the Director under this Part may be signed on his behalf by any person authorized by him for the purpose, and a certificate purporting to be so signed shall be admissible in evidence in like manner as if it had been signed by the Director.

31. Issue or endorsement of certificate at request of Director
(1) The Director may request the government of a Convention country to cause a ship registered in Hong Kong to which this Part applies to be surveyed and to—
(a) issue or authorize the issue of, in respect of the ship, any certificate that the Director may issue under this Part; or
(b) where appropriate, endorse or authorize the endorsement of any such certificate issued in respect of the ship in accordance with the Convention.
(2) A certificate issued pursuant to a request under subsection (1) and containing a statement that it has been so issued has effect for the purposes of this Part as if the certificate had been issued by the Director.
(3) For the purposes of this Part, an endorsement made on the certificate by the government of a Convention country on behalf of the Director in conformity with the Convention has the same effect as an endorsement made by the Director under this Part.
(Replaced 10 of 2009 s. 11 and E.R. 5 of 2021)

32. Forgery of certificates
If any person—
(a) knowingly and wilfully makes, or assists in making, or procures to be made, a false or fraudulent declaration or certificate required by or under this Ordinance; or
(b) forges, assists in forging, procures to be forged, fraudulently alters, assists in fraudulently altering, or procures to be fraudulently altered, any such declaration or certificate, or anything contained in, or any signature to any such declaration or certificate,
he commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for 2 years.
(Amended E.R. 5 of 2021)

### Merchant Shipping (Safety) Ordinance 《商船(安全)條例》

34. Further provisions as to the production of Convention certificates
(1) The master of every Convention ship not registered in Hong Kong shall produce to the Director, at the time a clearance for the ship is demanded in respect of an international voyage from Hong Kong, accepted Convention certificates that are the equivalent of the certificates issued by the Director under this Ordinance that would be required to be in force in respect of the ship if it were a ship registered in Hong Kong; and a clearance shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until such certificates are so produced.
(1A) The Director may for the purposes of a clearance for a ship in respect of an international voyage or a non-international voyage accept any certificate, not being an accepted Convention certificate, where he is satisfied that any standards relating to safety required to be complied with for the issue of such a certificate are substantially the same as those required for a certificate issued by the Director for a ship registered in Hong Kong under this Ordinance or issued by him under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance (Cap. 548) for a ship which is a vessel required to be certificated under that Ordinance. (Added 5 of 1993 s. 6. Amended 43 of 1999 s. 91)
(2) For the purposes of section 33 an accepted Convention certificate being the equivalent of—
(a) a qualified certificate; or
(b) an exemption certificate, other than a certificate under section 18(3),
shall not be accepted unless there is also produced the corresponding exemption certificate or qualified certificate, as the case may be.