Hong Kong Ordinances

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SAFETY) ORDINANCE - SECT 47

Interpretation

PART IV

LOAD LINES

Preliminary

(1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires-

"alteration" (改動) includes deterioration;

"conditions of assignment" (勘定條件) means such provisions relating to
the assignment of freeboards as are contained in the load line regulations;

"Contracting Government" (締約國政府) means any such government as is
referred
to in paragraph (a) of the definition of "Convention country";

"Convention country" (公約國) means a country or territory which is-

   (a)  a country the government of which has been declared by Her Majesty by
        Order in Council made under section 31 of the Merchant Shipping (Load
        Lines) Act 1967 (1967 c. 27 U.K.) to have accepted or acceded to the
        Convention of 1966, and has not been so declared to have denounced
        that Convention; or

   (b)  a territory to which it has been so declared that the
        Convention of 1966 extends, not being a territory to which it has been
        so declared that the Convention has ceased to extend;

"Convention of 1966" (1966年公約) means the International Convention on
Load  Lines signed in London on 5 April 1966;

"deck-line" (甲板線) means such mark as may be prescribed which indicates
on each side of a ship the position of the freeboard deck of that ship;

"existing ship" (現有船舶) means any ship which is not a new ship;

"international voyage" (國際航程) means, subject to subsection (2), a
voyage between-

   (a)  Hong Kong and a port outside Hong Kong; or

   (b)  a port in a country (other than Hong Kong) and a port in any other
        country or territory (whether a Convention country or not) which is
        outside Hong Kong;

"load lines" (載重線) means such lines as may be prescribed which indicate
on each side of a ship the various maximum depths to which the ship may be
loaded in such circumstances as may be prescribed;

"new ship" (新船舶) means a ship whose keel is laid, or which is at a
similar stage of construction on or after-

   (a)  in relation to a ship whose parent country is a Convention  country
        other than the United Kingdom, the date from which it is declared
        under section 31 of the Merchant Shipping (Load Lines) Act 1967 (1967
        c. 27 U.K.) either that the government of that country has accepted or
        acceded to the Convention of 1966 or that it is a territory to which
        that Convention extends;

   (b)  in relation to any other ship, 21 July 1968;

"parent country" (母國家) means, in relation to a ship, the country or
territory in which the ship is registered, or, if the ship is not registered
anywhere, means the country or territory whose flag the ship flies;

"valid Convention certificate" (有效公約證明書) means a certificate
which-

   (a)  has been issued under section 57(2) and is for the time being in
        force; or

   (b)  is produced in circumstances in which it is required by the load line
        regulations to be recognized for the purposes of this Part.

(2) In determining, for the purposes of an international voyage, what are the
ports between which a voyage is made, no account shall be taken of any
deviation by a ship from her intended voyage which is due solely to stress of
weather or any other circumstances which neither the master nor the owner of
the ship could have prevented or forestalled; and for the purposes of
determining whether a voyage is an international  voyage any colony,
protectorate or other dependency, any territory for whose international
relations a government is separately responsible and any territory for which
the United Nations are the administering authority, shall be taken to be a
separate territory.

(3) Any reference in this Part to the gross tonnage of a ship shall be
construed as a reference to the tonnage of a ship ascertained in accordance
with the tonnage regulations made under the Merchant Shipping 
(Registration) Ordinance ( Cap 415); and where in accordance with those
regulations alternative tonnages are assigned to a ship, the gross tonnage of
the ship shall, for the purposes of this Part be taken to be the larger of
those tonnages. HISTNOTE (Amended 74 of 1990 s. 104)

(4) Any reference in this Part to any provision of the Convention  of 1966
shall, in relation to any time after that provision has been amended in
pursuance of Article 29 of that Convention, be construed as a reference to
that provision as so amended.

"alteration" (改動)

"conditions of assignment" (勘定條件)

"Contracting Government" (締約國政府)

"Convention country" (公約國)

"Convention of 1966" (1966年公約)

"deck-line" (甲板線)

"existing ship" (現有船舶)

"international voyage" (國際航程)

"load lines" (載重線)

"new ship" (新船舶)

"parent country" (母國家)

"valid Convention certificate" (有效公約證明書)