SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mathiew Christophe Rajoo, Probin Dass and Tan Hui Tsing, DennisMathiew
1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts The main domestic laws establishing the authorities of the maritime and shipping courts in Singapore are: • the High Court (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Act 1961; • the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996; • the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; and • the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Conven - tion) Act 2014. The General Division of the High Court of Singapore has jurisdiction to hear maritime cases, and there are High Court judges assigned to hear maritime cases. Appeals from the General Division of the High Court are made to the Court of Appeal. Common maritime claims include those relating to vessel collisions, breach of charterparty obligations, cargo damage, bills of lading and demurrage. 1.2 Port State Control The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) is the port authority, port regulator and port planner, and essentially regulates port activities in Singapore. For pollution, the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act 1990 gives the MPA the power to take measures to prevent pollution, such as denying entry or detain - ing ships. For wreck removal, the Wreck Removal Convention, which has been enacted in Singapore via the Mer - chant Shipping (Wreck Removal) Act 2017, requires owners of vessels over 300 gross tonnage (GT) to take out insurance or provide other financial security to cover the costs of wreck removal, capped at an amount equal to the limits of liability under the appli - cation limitation regime. As a port entry requirement, owners will have to carry a Wreck Removal Conven - tion State certificate (“WRC State certificate”) to show that they have obtained adequate insurance coverage or other financial security to cover liability for wrecks. All Singapore-registered ships over 300 GT, therefore,
must carry on board a WRC State certificate, which can be obtained by applying to the MPA Registry Department. Pursuant to Shipping Circular No 8 of 2023, all inci - dents involving Singapore-registered ships, includ - ing but not limited to death, occupational accident or injury affecting seafarers, loss of persons from a ship, loss or abandonment of ship, security breaches, material damage to a ship, stranding or disabling of ship, involvement of the ship in a collision, damage to marine infrastructure that could endanger the safety of the ship, severe or potential damage to the envi - ronment brought about by damage of the ship, and detention by foreign authorities, must be reported to the MPA. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration The MPA handles the domestic registration of vessels. An overview of an application for registration as a Sin - gapore ship can be found via the MPA website. The relevant domestic legislation includes the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Regulations. 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels Owners of Singapore-flagged ships must be Singa - pore citizens/permanent residents or bodies corporate incorporated in Singapore with a minimum paid-up capital sum of SGD50,000. Owners of a Singapore- flagged ship must also appoint a commercial manager whose residence is in Singapore. Vessels that are still under construction cannot be registered. 1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels In addition to the usual (permanent) registration, provi - sional registration of a vessel is permitted. Provisional registration is valid for one year, without the possibility of extension. The vessel must be transferred to the permanent register before the end of this period. No fee is charged for the transfer. Dual flagging is not permitted. Singapore-flagged ves - sels that are found to be dual-flagged will be dereg - istered as the vessel will not be allowed to remain in the Singapore Registry of Ships.
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