### Merchant Shipping (Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) Ordinance 《商船(油類污染的法律責任及補償)條例》

28. Extinguishment of claims under Part III
(1) No action to enforce a claim against the Fund under this Part shall be brought in any court in Hong Kong unless—
(a) the action is commenced; or
(b) a third-party notice of an action to enforce a claim against the owner or his guarantor in respect of the same damage is given to the Fund,
not later than 3 years after the claim against the Fund arose.
(2) In subsection (1) third-party notice (第三者通知) means a notice of the kind described in section 27(1) and (2).
(3) No action to enforce a claim against the Fund under this Part shall be brought in any court in Hong Kong unless the action is commenced not later than 6 years after the occurrence or, if there is more than one such occurrence, the first of such occurrences, resulting in the discharge or escape or (as the case may be) the relevant threat of contamination by reason of which the claim against the Fund arose. (Amended 46 of 1997 s. 22)
(4) (Repealed 46 of 1997 s. 22)

29. Subrogation and rights of recourse
(1) In respect of any sum paid under section 25(1)(b) the Fund shall acquire by subrogation the rights of the recipient against the owner or guarantor.
(2) (Repealed 46 of 1997 s. 23)(3) In respect of any sum paid—
(a) under section 25(1)(a) or (c); or
(b) (Repealed 46 of 1997 s. 23)the Fund shall acquire by subrogation any rights of recourse belonging to the recipient of the payment against any person, other than the owner or guarantor, in respect of the damage for which the payment was made. (Amended 46 of 1997 s. 23)
(4) In respect of any sum paid by the Government as compensation for pollution damage, the Government shall acquire by subrogation any rights which the recipient has against the Fund under this Part.

### Merchant Shipping (Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) Ordinance 《商船(油類污染的法律責任及補償)條例》

29A. Legal proceedings
(1) Any proceedings by or against the Fund may either be instituted by or against the Fund in its own name or by or against the Director of the Fund as the Fund’s representative.
(2) Evidence of any instrument issued by any organ of the Fund or of any other document may be given in any legal proceedings by production of a copy certified as a true copy by an official of the Fund; and any document purporting to be such a copy shall, in any such proceedings, be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person signing the certificate.
(3) In this section organ of the Fund (基金機構) means any subsidiary body established under paragraph 9 of Article 18 of the Fund Convention.
(Added 46 of 1997 s. 24)

29B. Interpretation of Part IIIA
In this Part—
e-cert database (電子證書資料庫) means an electronic database that is maintained or managed by or for the Director in accordance with the e-cert guidelines;
e-cert guidelines (電子證書指引) means the documents listed in Schedule 3, as from time to time revised or amended by revisions or amendments to those documents;
insurance certificate (保險證明書) means a certificate referred to in section 15(2);
Secretary (局長) means the Secretary for Transport and Logistics.

29C. Application
This Part and Schedule 3 apply to a Hong Kong ship.

29D. Insurance certificates may be issued electronically
(1) This section applies to an insurance certificate that may be issued by the Director under a provision of this Ordinance.
(2) An insurance certificate may be issued by the Director in electronic form.
(3) An insurance certificate is considered as issued in electronic form only if it is issued in accordance with the applicable requirements set out in the e-cert guidelines.
(4) The Director must cause an insurance certificate issued by the Director in accordance with this section to be kept in the e-cert database.

29E. Insurance certificates may be cancelled electronically
(1) This section applies to an insurance certificate that may be cancelled by the Director under a provision of this Ordinance.
(2) An insurance certificate may be cancelled by the Director in electronic form.
(3) An insurance certificate is considered as cancelled in electronic form only if the cancellation is made in accordance with the applicable requirements set out in the e-cert guidelines.
(4) If an insurance certificate is cancelled in electronic form, the requirement under any provision of this Ordinance for delivering up the certificate on its cancellation is regarded as having been met and physical delivery of the certificate is no longer required.
(5) The Director must cause a cancellation made by the Director in accordance with this section to be entered in the e-cert database with respect to the insurance certificate.

### Merchant Shipping (Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) Ordinance 《商船(油類污染的法律責任及補償)條例》

29F. Power of Secretary to amend Schedule 3
(1) The Secretary may, by notice published in the Gazette, amend Schedule 3.
(2) A notice published under subsection (1) may contain any incidental, supplementary, consequential, savings or transitional provisions that are necessary or expedient in consequence of the amendments made under that subsection.

30. Offences by bodies corporate
Where an offence under this Ordinance, which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been—
(a) committed with the consent or connivance of; or
(b) due to any neglect on the part of,
a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, commits that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

30A. Delegation by Director
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Director may, either generally or in any particular case, delegate to any other public officer the performance or exercise on the Director’s behalf of any of the functions imposed or conferred on the Director under this Ordinance.
(2) If any function imposed or conferred on the Director under this Ordinance is performed or exercised by any other public officer, the Director is, unless the contrary is proved, regarded as having delegated to the public officer under subsection (1) the performance or exercise of the function.
(3) No delegation under subsection (1) is to be made of any power under this Ordinance to make subsidiary legislation.
(4) In this section—
functions (職能) includes powers and duties.
(Added 24 of 2023 s. 10)

31. Fees
(1) The Chief Executive in Council may by regulations made under this section or under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance (Cap. 281) prescribe the fees payable in respect of any certificate, service or facility issued or provided under this Ordinance, not being fees prescribed under any other section of this Ordinance. (Amended 64 of 1999 s. 3)
(2) Any fees prescribed under this Ordinance—
(a) may be fixed at levels which provide for the recovery of expenditure incurred or likely to be incurred by the Government or other authority in relation generally to the administration, regulation and control of Hong Kong ships and of ports, ships and navigation in the waters of Hong Kong, and shall not be limited by reference to the amount of administrative or other costs incurred or likely to be incurred in the provision of any particular certificate, service, facility or matter; and
(b) may, without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), be fixed at different amounts in relation to different sizes of ship, whether measured by tonnage, length or otherwise, or in relation to different classes, types or descriptions of certificate, service, facility or ship.