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

72. Application of detention provisions to ships not registered in Hong Kong
(Amended 10 of 2009 s. 24)(1) When a ship not registered in Hong Kong is for the time being in the waters of Hong Kong and is found to be unsafe within the meaning of section 67, the provisions of this Part relating to the detention of ships shall, subject to the modifications contained in this section, apply to that ship as if it were a ship registered in Hong Kong. (Amended 23 of 1998 s. 2)
(2) A copy of the order for the detention of the ship shall be served forthwith on the consular officer (if any) in Hong Kong representing the country to which the ship belongs, or if there is no such consular officer, on the owner, agent or master of the ship.
(3) Where a ship has been detained, the consular officer on the request of the owner, agent or master of the ship and, if there is no consular officer, the owner, agent or master of the ship, may require that the person, if any, appointed by the Director to survey the ship shall be accompanied by such person as such officer, or owner, agent or master, as the case may be, may nominate; and, in such case, if the surveyor and such person agree the Director shall order that the ship be released or continues to be detained, but if they differ, the ship shall continue to be detained and the owner, agent or master shall have the same right of appeal to a court of survey against the report of the surveyor as is provided in section 68(4)(b)(ii).
(4) Where the owner, agent or master of the ship appeals to the court of survey, the consular officer on the request of such owner, agent or master, or, if there is no such consular officer, the owner, agent or master may nominate not more than 2 competent persons to be members of the court of survey.
(5) Notwithstanding that this section is expressed to apply to any ship not registered in Hong Kong while it is for the time being within the waters of Hong Kong, this section shall not apply to a ship that would not be within such waters but for stress of weather or any other circumstance that neither the master nor the owner of the ship could have prevented or forestalled. (Amended 23 of 1998 s. 2)

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

73. Owners’ obligation to secure safety of ships
(1) In every contract of service, express or implied, between the owner of a ship registered in Hong Kong and the master or any seaman thereof, there shall be implied, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, an obligation on the owner of the ship that—
(a) the owner of the ship;
(b) the master of the ship; and
(c) every agent of the owner of the ship charged with—
(i) the loading of the ship;
(ii) the preparing of the ship for sea; or
(iii) the sending of the ship to sea,
shall use all reasonable means to ensure the safety of the ship for the voyage at the time when the voyage commences and to keep it in a safe condition during the voyage.
(2) Nothing in this section shall subject the owner of a ship to any liability by reason of the ship being sent to sea in an unseaworthy state where, owing to special circumstances, the sending of the ship to sea in such a state was reasonable and justifiable.

74. Appointment of courts of survey
(1) The Chief Executive may, whenever the occasion may arise, appoint by warrant under his hand and the seal of Hong Kong a court of survey.
(2) A court of survey shall consist of not less than 3 nor more than 5 members, of whom—
(a) one shall be a judge, district judge or magistrate, who shall preside over the court; and
(b) the remainder shall be master mariners or persons of nautical, engineering or other special skill or knowledge.
(Amended 10 of 2009 s. 25)

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

75. Procedure in respect of courts of survey
(1) All proceedings before a court of survey shall be heard in open court.
(2) Every member of the court may survey the ship subject of the proceedings and, for that purpose, shall have all of the powers conferred by section 115.
(3) The court may order a ship to be surveyed and, for that purpose, may appoint, by majority vote in case of disagreement, any competent person to survey the ship and report thereon to the court.
(4) The court shall have the same powers as are vested in the Director under this Ordinance to order that a ship be released or detained:
Provided that unless a majority of the members of the court concur in an order for the detention of the ship the court shall order that the ship be released.
(5) The owner, agent and master of any ship subject of the proceedings and any person appointed by the owner, agent or master of the ship may attend at any inspection or survey of a ship made or ordered by the court.
(6) The court may make such order with respect to the cost of—
(a) any proceedings before the court; and
(b) any inspection or survey of a ship made or ordered by the court,
which costs shall be recoverable as a civil debt.
(7) The presiding officer of the court shall send to the Chief Executive such report as may be directed by regulations made under section 109 and each other member of the court shall either sign the report or report to the Chief Executive the reasons for his dissent. (Amended 10 of 2009 s. 26)

76. Nothing to affect admiralty jurisdiction of High Court
Nothing in this Part shall either affect, or be deemed to affect, the admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court.
(Amended 25 of 1998 s. 2)

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

77. Observance of collision regulations
(1) The owner, master and any person for the time being responsible for the conduct of a ship registered in Hong Kong— (Amended 56 of 1990 s. 5)
(a) shall comply with the collision regulations; and
(b) shall not—
(i) carry or exhibit any other lights; or
(ii) use any other sound-signals,
other than such as are required by those regulations.
(2) If any of the collision regulations is contravened by a ship, the owner of the ship, the master and any person for the time being responsible for the conduct of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine at level 4. (Replaced 56 of 1990 s. 5. Amended E.R. 5 of 2021)
(3) It shall be a defence to a charge under subsection (2) for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions to prevent the contravention to which the charge relates. (Replaced 56 of 1990 s. 5)
(4) The Director shall furnish a copy of the collision regulations to any master or owner of a ship who applies for it upon payment of the prescribed fee.
(5) In this section ship (船、船舶) includes a junk and a trawler to which Part XII of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance (Cap. 281) applies. (Added 56 of 1990 s. 5)