### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

84. Mode of making declarations
(1) A declaration under or for the purposes of this Ordinance—
(a) may be made in Hong Kong before the Registrar, a notary public, a commissioner for oaths or a solicitor; (Amended 47 of 1997 s. 10)
(b) may be made in a place outside Hong Kong before a notary public or such other person as may be specified for the purpose in instructions; and
(c) may be made on behalf of a body corporate by the secretary or any other officer of the body corporate authorized by it for that purpose.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) commissioner for oaths (監誓員) means a commissioner for oaths duly appointed by the Chief Justice under any enactment in force in Hong Kong;
(b) notary public (公證人) in relation to Hong Kong, means a notary public as defined in section 2(1) of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance (Cap. 159), and in relation to a place outside Hong Kong means a person duly authorized to take declarations under the law of that place. (Amended 25 of 1998 s. 2; 27 of 1998 s. 11)

85. Power of Registrar to dispense with declarations, etc.
(1) Where under or for the purposes of this Ordinance a person is required to make a declaration on behalf of himself or of any body corporate, or any evidence is required to be produced to the Registrar, and it is shown to the satisfaction of the Registrar that from any reasonable cause that person is unable to make the declaration, or that the evidence cannot be produced, the Registrar may on the production of such evidence and subject to such terms as he thinks fit, dispense with the declaration or evidence.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), the Registrar may upon an application for registration of a ship under section 19, dispense with any declaration, evidence or consent under section 19, 20 or 21 to the extent that such declaration, evidence or consent has been made, produced or obtained, as the case may be, pursuant to an application for provisional registration of the ship under section 27.

### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

86. False declarations or information
Any person who, knowingly or recklessly—
(a) makes any false declaration or certificate under or for the purposes of this Ordinance; or
(b) makes any false or misleading statement or furnishes any false or misleading information to the Director or Registrar pursuant to a requirement by or under this Ordinance to make any statement or furnish any information, whether in an application or otherwise,
commits an offence and is liable—
(i) on conviction upon indictment to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 2 years; or
(ii) on summary conviction to a fine at level 3 and to imprisonment for 6 months.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)

### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

87. Documents, copies and admissibility in evidence
(1) A document purporting to be—
(a) a certificate of registry, certificate of provisional registry, other certificate or declaration issued or made under this Ordinance; or
(b) a copy of or extract from—
(i) the register in legible form; or
(ii) a document referred to in paragraph (a),
and to be certified as a true copy or extract by the Registrar or a person authorized by him in that behalf,
shall be admitted in evidence in any legal proceedings upon its production unless it is proved that it is not the document it purports to be or that it was not signed or certified by the person by whom it purports to be signed or certified, as the case may be, and if so admitted shall be sufficient, but not conclusive, evidence of any matter stated in the register or document.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prejudice the admissibility of any evidence which would be admissible apart from that subsection.
(3) Without prejudice to section 8, the Registrar may in his discretion and on payment of the prescribed fee, supply a certified copy of or extract from any document forming part of or associated with the register to any person applying for such copy or extract.
(4) A certification under subsection (3) relating to a copy of or extract from a listed certificate issued or granted in electronic form under Part IXA may be made in electronic form. (Added 24 of 2023 s. 14)
(5) If a listed certificate is issued or granted in electronic form under Part IXA—
(a) a document referred to in subsection (1)(a) includes a printout of, and an electronic copy of, the listed certificate; and
(b) in case of a certification relating to a copy of or extract from the listed certificate made under subsections (3) and (4)—a document referred to in subsection (1)(b)(ii) includes a printout of, and an electronic copy of, a copy of or extract from the listed certificate that is so certified. (Added 24 of 2023 s. 14)
(6) If a certification relating to the register is made under section 8(2), a document referred to in subsection (1)(b)(i) includes a printout of, and an electronic copy of, a copy of or extract from the register that is so certified. (Added 24 of 2023 s. 14)
(7) In subsections (4), (5) and (6)—
listed certificate (表列證書) has the meaning given by section 80A;
printout (打印本) includes a copy of a printout. (Added 24 of 2023 s. 14)

### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

88. Service of documents
(1) Any notice required or authorized to be served on any person by the Director or Registrar under this Ordinance shall be deemed to be duly served on that person if it is—
(a) delivered to him;
(b) sent to him by registered post at the address for the time being recorded in relation to him in the register or otherwise notified to the Registrar pursuant to a duty under this Ordinance; or
(c) left at that address.
(2) Any document required or authorized, by virtue of any statutory provision, to be served for the purpose of the institution of, or otherwise in connection with, proceedings for an offence under this Ordinance or any Ordinance specified in Schedule 2 shall, where the person to be served is the owner or demise charterer of a registered ship, be deemed to be duly served on the owner or demise charterer if it is served, in the manner prescribed by subsection (1), on the representative person appointed in relation to the ship.
(3) Any document required or authorized by virtue of any statutory provision, to be served for the purpose of the institution of, or otherwise in connection with, proceedings for an offence under this Ordinance, on the master of a ship, shall be deemed to be duly served on the master if it is—
(a) delivered to him; or
(b) left on board the ship with a person being or appearing to be in command or charge of the ship.
(4) Any person who obstructs the service under this Ordinance of a document on the master of a ship commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine at level 2.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)
(5) Any owner, demise charterer, master or representative person of a ship who is party or privy to a contravention of subsection (4) commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for 1 year.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)