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Back to Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

2. Interpretation

In this Act except where the context otherwise requires—

“agent” means in relation to a ship, any person, not being a managing owner, vested with a specific authority by the owner;

“aircraft” means any ship or vessel designed for flying but capable of being manoeuvred on water and includes a seaplane or any ship or vessel able to alight upon or hover over water;

“apprentice” means a trainee officer and includes a cadet;

“bankruptcy” includes insolvency and any other process leading to the liquidation of assets;

“cargo” includes livestock;

“cargo ship” means a ship which is not a passenger ship or a fishing vessel;

“Caribbean Community” means the Community established under the Treaty done at Chaguaramas on 4 July 1973;

“CARICOM State” means a member State of the Caribbean Community;

“Comptroller” means the Comptroller of Customs and Excise;

“consular officer” means a person discharging the duties of a consular officer on behalf of the Government of Saint Lucia and when used in relation to a country other than Saint Lucia, means the officer recognised by the Government of Saint Lucia as a consular officer of that other country;

“crew” in relation to a ship includes seamen and apprentices;

“Director” means the Director of Maritime Affairs appointed under section 4, and includes any person lawfully acting under the instructions of or on behalf of the Director;

“drugs” means narcotics and psychotropic substances as defined in the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act;

“duly qualified medical practitioner” means a person registered or licensed under the Registration of Medical Practitioners Act;

“fishing vessel” means a vessel of whatever size and in whatever way propelled which is used or intended to be used for catching fish for gain;

“foreign ship” means a ship which is not a Saint Lucian ship;

“grain” includes millet, wheat, maize (corn), oats, rye, barley, rice, pulses and seeds;

“Inspector” means a person appointed as such by the Minister under section 484;

“international trade” means the transport of passengers or goods or the carrying out of any other operation or activity outside Saint Lucian waters for profit or reward; (Inserted by Act 14 of 2016)

“international voyage” means a voyage from a port in one country to a port in another country;

“licensed Saint Lucian ship” means a ship that is licensed under section 49;

“Liens and Mortgages Convention” means the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Maritime Liens and Mortgages, 1967;

“local trade in Saint Lucian waters” means the transport locally of passengers or goods or the carrying out of any other operation or activity locally, within Saint Lucian waters for profit or reward;

“machinery” includes propulsion systems, steering systems, pressurised containers and systems, pumping systems, windlasses, electrical systems and all similar apparatus required for, or affecting, the safety or operation of a ship or the safety of the personnel on board a ship;

“managing owner” in relation to a ship includes any person, not being an agent, in whom an owner of such ship has vested authority to manage and operate the ship;

“maritime officer” means a person appointed as such under section 6 and includes any person lawfully acting under the instructions of or on behalf of the Director;

“master” includes every person who lawfully has command or charge of any ship;

“merchant ship” means any ship other than a fishing vessel or a ship which forms part of the Defence Force of Saint Lucia;

“Minister” means the Minister assigned with the responsibility for shipping;

“mortgage” includes a hypothec within the meaning of article 1908 of the Civil Code;

“officer” in relation to ships, includes a master and a deck engineer, radio or medical officer;

“owner” in relation to a ship includes a demise or bareboat charterer and a managing owner;

“passenger” means any person carried on board a ship except—

(a) the master, a member of the crew, or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship on the business of the ship and signed on the ship's articles of agreement as such a person;

(b) a child under one year of age; or

(c) a person carried on the ship under an obligation imposed upon the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons, or by reason of any circumstances which neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer, if any, could prevent or forestall;

“passenger ship” means a ship which is constructed for, or which is habitually or on any particular occasion used for carrying more than 12 passengers;

“person qualified to own a Saint Lucian ship” has the meaning assigned to it in section 12;

“pilot” in relation to any ship means any person not belonging to the ship who has the conduct thereof;

“pleasure craft” means a ship, however propelled, that is used exclusively for pleasure and does not carry passengers or cargo for hire or reward, but does not include a vessel that is provided for the transport or entertainment of lodgers at any institution, hotel, boarding house, guest house or other establishment;

“port” means the harbour of Castries and any other harbour or port declared to be such under section 12 of the Customs (Control and Management) Act;

“Port of Registry” in relation to any ship means the port where the ship is registered;

“Principal Receiver” means the Principal Receiver of Wreck referred to in section 353;

“proper officer” in relation to any function or activity under this Act means a person authorised to perform that function or activity and may include a consular officer;

“public officer” has the meaning assigned to that expression in the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“receiver” means a receiver of wreck so designated under section 353;

“Registrar of Ships” means a person appointed as such under section 4, and includes an Assistant Registrar appointed under section 8;

“Saint Lucia” includes Saint Lucian waters;

“Saint Lucian Government ship” means a ship which belongs to the Government of Saint Lucia but does not include a ship which forms part of the Defence Force of Saint Lucia;

“Saint Lucian ship” means a ship which is—

(a) registered or licensed in Saint Lucia under this Act; or

(b) exempted under this Act from being registered or licensed;

“Saint Lucian waters” includes the internal waters and the territorial sea as defined in the Maritime Areas Act;

“salvage” includes all expenses properly incurred by a salvor in the performance of salvage services or operations;

“salvage services” means services rendered in direct connection with salvage operations;

“salvor” means any person rendering salvage services;

“seafarer” includes a master, officer and any other category of crew;

“seaman” means every person employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship, and includes apprentices except for the purposes of sections 198 to 223, but does not include a master, pilot or a person temporarily employed on the ship while the ship is in port;

“ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation and not propelled by oars;

“shipwrecked persons” means persons belonging to any ship referred to in section 355;

“Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority” means the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority established under the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority Act;

“surveyor of ships” means a person appointed as such under section 4;

“tackle” means, in relation to a vessel, the tackle, machinery, gear, apparatus, and appliances used on board a ship for the loading and unloading thereof;

“vehicle” includes any vehicle of any description, whether propelled by mechanical power or otherwise, and whether used for drawing other vehicles or otherwise;

“vessel” includes every description of water craft used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water;

“wreck” includes—