Acts Online
GT Shield

National Ports Act, 2005 (Act No. 12 of 2005)

Rules

Ports Rules

Chapter 1 : Interpretation, Application and Powers of the Harbour Master and the Authority

1. Interpretation

 

(1) In these rules, unless the context indicates otherwise —
(a) "Act" means the National Ports Act No. 12 of 2005.
(b) "agent" refers to all representatives having commercial dealings with a vessel or its cargo, unless the context indicates that it refers to a particular kind of agent, and includes a vessel's agent and a cargo agent
(c) "approaches to a port" means the VTS zone in respect of each port excluding the port limits, or, where a port does not have a VTS zone, the port limits.
(d) "Authority" means, subject to section 3 of the Act, the National Ports Authority of South Africa or the National Ports Authority Limited, as contemplated in section 4 of the Act.
(e) "cargo" means any cargo, goods, wares, merchandise, and articles of every kind whatsoever, including animals, birds, fish, plants and containers, carried, or intended to be carried, by sea.
(f) "cargo agent" includes both a clearing and forwarding agent.
(g) "certified chemist" means a person who holds a B. Sc degree in chemistry or a recognised equivalent certificate, or who has successfully completed a specialised course in Chemical Tanker or Oil Tanker Safety Training Program in accordance with the South African Code of Maritime Qualifications published by SAMSA, and who has at least two years laboratory experience and specialised training in the testing of atmospheres in vessels.
(h) "chart" means the latest valid navigational chart for sea navigation purposes.
(i) "Chief Fire Officer" means the Chief Fire Officer of the Authority or the Municipal Fire Services.
(j) "container operator" means any person providing international transportation of containerised goods, and approved by the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service under section 96A of the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964, as amended, for operating containers in the Republic.
(k) "customs" means the South African Revenue Service.
(I) "dangerous goods" includes dangerous cargo and —
(i) goods classified in the IMDG Code, published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time;
(ii) substances listed in chapter 17 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (IBC Code), published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time;
(iii) substances listed in chapter 19 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code), published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time;
(iv) oils as defined in Annex I of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the 1978 Protocol, as amended from time to time;
(v) noxious liquid substances as defined in Annex II of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the 1978 Protocol, as amended from time to time;
(vi) harmful substances as defined in Annex III of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the 1978 Protocol, as amended from time to time; and
(vii) radioactive materials specified in the Code for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-level Radioactive Wastes in Flasks on board Ships (INF Code), published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time.
(m) "entering port" means a vessel entering the port's limits.
(n) "entering the VTS zone" means a vessel entering the VTS limits.
(o) "foreign regulated ship" means a foreign ship that is —
(i) in South African waters;
(ii) in, or is intending to proceed to, a port in the Republic, and
(iii) a passenger ship, a cargo ship of 500 gross tonnage or more, or a mobile offshore drilling unit (other than a unit that is attached to the seabed).
(p) "fire protection personnel" means fire protection personnel complying with the requirements set by the Authority in terms of rule 73.
(q) "fishing vessel" means a vessel that is used for the purpose of catching fish or other living resources of the sea for financial gain or reward.
(r) "gangway1" means any access between vessel and shore and vice versa.
(s) "gas free" means that the tank, compartment or container has sufficient fresh air introduced into it in order to lower the level of any flammable, toxic or inert gas to that required for any purpose.
(t) "Harbour Master" means the employee of the Authority appointed for each port as contemplated in section 74(3) of the Act.
(u) "hot work" means work involving sources of ignition or temperatures sufficiently high to cause the ignition of a flammable gas mixture or combustibles. This includes any work requiring the use of welding, burning or soldering equipment, blow torches, some power driven tools, portable electrical equipment, which is not intrinsically safe or contained within an approved explosion proof housing or internal combustion engines.
(v) "hot work permit" means a document issued by the Authority permitting specific hot work to be done during a specific time interval in a defined area.
(w) "IMDG Code" means the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization by resolution MSC.122 (75).
(x) "in contact" means the wilful physical contact or interaction occurring between a vessel and a pleasure vessel that involves the movement of persons or goods or the provision of services to or from the vessel.
(y) "industry guidelines" includes the industry reference works referred to in rule 1041(2), as amended from time to time.
(z) "IMC" means International Maritime Organisation.
(aa) "length" refers to the length overall (LOA) and means —
(i) in the case of a registered vessel, the length shown in the certificate of registry; and
(ii) in the case of a vessel licensed in terms of section 68 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951), the length shown in the licence.
(bb) "manoeuvre" means any vessel movement that may be detrimental to safe navigation, and includes —
(i) a compass adjustment;
(ii) the calibration and servicing of navigational aids;
(iii) a sea trial;
(iv) a dredging operation; and
(v) the laying, picking up and servicing of submarine cables.
(cc) "master" means any person, other than a pilot, having charge or command of a vessel or pleasure vessel
(dd) "motor vehicle" means a vehicle that is registered in terms of the National Road Traffic Act No. 93 of 1996.
(ee) "ISO container" means a freight container with the specifications prescribed by the International Organization for Standardisation.
(ff) "owner" means any person to whom a vessel or pleasure vessel or a share in a vessel or pleasure vessel belongs or any other organisation or person, such as the manager or charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the vessel or pleasure vessel from the owner of the vessel or pleasure vessel.
(gg) "passenger" means any person carried in a vessel, except —
(i) a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board a vessel on the business of the vessel,
(ii) a person on board the vessel either in pursuance of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason of any circumstance that neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) could have prevented; and
(iii) a child under one year of age.
(hh) "passenger vessel" means a vessel that carries more than 12 passengers.
(ii) "pleasure vessel" means a vessel, however propelled, that is used, or intended to be used, solely for sports and recreation and that does not carry more than 12 passengers.
(jj) "port" means any of the ports as defined in section 1 or determined in terms of section 10 of the Act.
(kk) "Port Security Officer" means a person appointed by the Authority in a port to implement and maintain the Authority's maritime security plan.
(II) "Republic" means the Republic of South Africa.
(mm) "revenue office" means the Authority's Revenue Office.
(nn) "SAMSA" means the South African Maritime Safety Authority, established as a juristic person by virtue of section 2(1) of the South African Maritime Safety Authority Act No. 5 of 1998.
(oo) "security officer operating within a port" means a person designated by the Authority or operator within a port to implement and maintain the relevant maritime security plan.
(pp) "shift" means the movement of a vessel from one place in the port to another, and "shifting" bears a corresponding meaning.
(qq) "small vessel" means a commercial small vessel that:
(i) is registered in the Republic;
(ii) lies in, is used in or operates from a port, and
(iii) includes a tug, fishing vessel, launch, barge, lighter, rowing boat, skiboat, sailing boat, yacht or similar vessel, or a hulk of any of the vessels enumerated, but excludes a pleasure vessel.
(rr) "tanker" means a vessel designed to carry liquid cargo in bulk, including a combination carrier being used for this purpose.
(ss) "Tariff Book" means the Tariff Book contemplated in section 72 of the Act.
(tt) "unseaworthy", used in relation to a vessel, has the same meaning as set out in the Merchant Shipping Act No. 57 of 1951, read with the changes required by the context.1
(uu) "vessel" means any water-navigable vessel or structure and includes a passenger vessel, ship, seaplane, small vessel and a non-displacement vessel, but excludes a pleasure vessel, to which Part B of Chapter 2 applies.
(w) "vessel agent" refers to the agent of the owner of the vessel.
(ww) "vessel in need of assistance" means a vessel in a situation, apart from one requiring rescue of persons on board, that could give rise to the loss of the vessel or an environmental or navigational hazard. "Pleasure vessel in need of assistance" has a corresponding meaning.
(xx) "VTS" means the vessel traffic service of a port administered by the Authority in respect of a VTS zone.
(yy) "vessel traffic services zone" or "VTS zone" means the inshore vessel traffic services zone in respect of a port as described in columns 1 and 2 of Annex 1.
(zz) "writing" includes electronic communications such as e-mails, facsimiles and telexes.

 

(2) Unless the context indicates otherwise, and except for the expressions defined in sub-rule (1), any expression used in these rules bears the same meaning assigned to it in the Act.

 

 

________________________________________________

1 The definition of "unseaworthy" in the Merchant Shipping Act 57 of 1951 is:

""unseaworthy", used in relation to a vessel, means that she —

(a) is not in a fit state as to the condition of her hull, equipment or machinery, the stowage of her cargo or ballast, or the number or qualifications of her master or crew, or in any other respect, to encounter the ordinary perils of the voyage upon which she is engaged or is about to enter; or
(b) does not comply with the conditions of assignment to the extent set forth in paragraph (d) of section two hundred and seven; or
(c) is loaded beyond the limits allowed—
(i) by a load line certificate issued in the Republic under this Act; or
(ii) if she is a load line ship, registered in a country in which the Load Line Convention applies, by a recognized non-South African international load line certificate; or
(iii) by a load line certificate to which a notice issued under section two hundred and eighteen applies:

Provided that a safety convention ship not registered in the Republic, in respect of which a recognized non-South African safety convention certificate is produced, shall not be deemed unseaworthy, as regards the condition of her hull, equipment or machinery, unless it appears, on the report of a surveyor, that she cannot proceed to sea without danger to human life owing to the fact that the actual condition of the hull, equipment or machinery does not correspond substantially with the particulars stated in the certificate;"