### Shipping and Port Control Ordinance 《船舶及港口管制條例》

47. Defences under section 46
(1) Where a person is charged with an offence under section 46 as the owner or master of a vessel it shall be a defence to prove that the oil or mixture containing oil was discharged for the purpose of—
(a) securing the safety of the vessel;
(b) preventing damage to the vessel or its cargo; or
(c) saving life,
unless the court is satisfied that the discharge of the oil or mixture containing oil was not necessary for that purpose or was not a reasonable step to take in the circumstances.
(2) Where a person is charged as mentioned in subsection (1) it shall also be a defence to prove—
(a) that the oil or mixture containing oil escaped in consequence of damage to the vessel and that as soon as practicable after the damage occurred all reasonable steps were taken for preventing, or (if it could not be prevented) for stopping or reducing, the escape of the oil or mixture containing oil; or
(b) that the oil or mixture containing oil escaped by reason of leakage, that neither the leakage nor any delay in discovering it was due to want of reasonable care, and that as soon as practicable after the escape was discovered all reasonable steps were taken for stopping or reducing it.
[cf. 1971 c. 60 s. 5 U.K.]

48. Duty to report discharge of oil into Hong Kong waters
(1) If any oil or mixture containing oil—
(a) is discharged from a vessel into the waters of Hong Kong;
(b) is found to be escaping or to have escaped from a vessel into any such waters; or
(c) is found to be escaping or to have escaped into any such waters from a place on land,
the owner or master of the vessel, or the occupier of the place on land, as the case may be, shall forthwith report the occurrence to the Director.
(2) A report made under subsection (1) by the owner or master of the vessel shall state whether the occurrence falls within paragraph (a) or (b) of that subsection.
(3) Any person who fails to make a report as required by this section commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 2. (Amended E.R. 3 of 2021)
[cf. 1971 c. 60 s. 11 U.K.]

### Shipping and Port Control Ordinance 《船舶及港口管制條例》

48A. Discharges under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance
No offence under section 46 is committed by, and no obligation arises under section 48 on the part of, any person who makes a discharge or deposit of oil or a mixture containing oil under and in accordance with a licence for the purposes of the Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 358).
(Added 41 of 1980 s. 50. Amended 42 of 1985 s. 6; 67 of 1990 s. 23)

49. Interpretation
In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—
dark smoke (黑煙) means smoke which would appear to be as dark as, or darker than, shade 2 on a specified chart; (Added 13 of 2014 s. 3)
smoke (煙霧) includes soot, ash, grit and gritty particles emitted in smoke or steam; (Amended 13 of 2014 s. 3)
specified chart (指明圖表) means a shade chart of the type known on the commencement date* of the Shipping Legislation (Control of Smoke Emission) (Amendment) Ordinance 2014 (13 of 2014) as a Ringelmann Chart and includes a Micro-Ringelmann Chart. (Added 13 of 2014 s. 3)
Editorial Note:
* Commencement date: 18 July 2014.

50. Emission of dark smoke from vessels
(Amended 13 of 2014 s. 4)(1) Subject to subsection (2), no vessel in the waters of Hong Kong shall emit dark smoke for 3 minutes or more continuously at any one time.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the emission of dark smoke in circumstances affecting the safety of life or of the vessel.
(3) If subsection (1) is contravened, the owner and master of the vessel and the owner’s agent each commits an offence.
(4) Each person who commits an offence under subsection (3) is liable—
(a) if the person has never committed the offence in relation to the vessel, to a fine at level 4; or
(b) if the person has previously committed the offence in relation to the vessel, to a fine at level 5. (Added 13 of 2014 s. 4)
(Amended 13 of 2014 s. 4)

### Shipping and Port Control Ordinance 《船舶及港口管制條例》

51. Regulations
(1) The Chief Executive in Council may make regulations for all or any of the following purposes— (Amended 64 of 1999 s. 3)
(a) specifying periods during which emission of smoke from vessels may be permitted in any class of case and subject to limitations;
(b) the adoption of precautions against the emission of smoke from vessels;
(c) generally for effectively controlling the emission of smoke from vessels.
(2) Any regulations made under this section may provide that a contravention of specified provisions thereof is an offence and may prescribe penalties therefor not exceeding a fine at level 2. (Amended E.R. 3 of 2021)

52. Port dues and remissions
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the owner, his agent and the master of every vessel which enters any port or other part of the waters of Hong Kong, or which uses any port facility, shall be jointly and severally liable to pay in respect of the vessel such port dues as may be prescribed.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any vessel for the time being used by the Hong Kong Government or to any warship or ship for the time being used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Central People’s Government or the Government of any State for other than commercial purposes. (Amended 2 of 2012 s. 3)
(3) The Director, Deputy Director of Marine or an Assistant Director of Marine may refund or waive the payment of, in whole or in part, any port dues in respect of any vessel, or class, type or description of vessel, used for other than commercial purposes.

53. Payment of port dues
(1) Port dues shall be paid to the Director on demand made by him.
(2) The Director may require the payment of port dues in advance in the case of any specified vessel, or specified class, type or description of vessel.
(3) The Director may in any particular case or class of case permit the port dues to be paid in arrear, subject to such conditions as to security or time for payment as he thinks fit.