47. The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

“Administrator” means the Administrator of the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund appointed under section 79.

“Civil Liability Convention” means the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, concluded at Brussels on November 29, 1969, as amended by the Protocol concluded at London on November 19, 1976 and the Protocol concluded at London on November 27, 1992.

“Convention ship” means a seagoing ship, wherever registered,

(a) carrying, in bulk as cargo, crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil, lubricating oil or any other persistent hydrocarbon mineral oil; or

(b) on a voyage following any such carriage of such oil, unless it is proved that there is no residue of the oil on board.

“discharge”, in relation to a pollutant, means any discharge of the pollutant that directly or indirectly results in the pollutant entering the water, and includes spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, throwing and dumping.

“Fund Convention” means the International Convention on the Establishment of the International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, concluded at Brussels on December 18, 1971, as amended by the Protocol concluded at London on November 19, 1976 and the Protocol concluded at London on November 27, 1992.

“guarantor” means a guarantor under a contract of liability insurance or other similar security relating to a shipowner’s liability under section 51.

“in bulk” means in a hold or tank that is part of the structure of a ship, without any intermediate form of containment.

“International Fund” means the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund established by the Fund Convention.

“Limitation of Liability Convention” has the meaning ascribed to the word “Convention” in section 24.

“oil”, except in sections 93 to 99, means oil of any kind or in any form and includes petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and oil mixed with wastes but does not include dredged spoil.

“oil pollution damage”, in relation to any ship, means loss or damage outside the ship caused by contamination resulting from the discharge of oil from the ship.

“owner” means

(a) in relation to a Convention ship, the person who is registered as the owner of the ship or, if no person is so registered,

(i) the person who owns the ship, or

(ii) if the ship is owned by a state and operated by a company that is registered as the ship’s operator in that state, that company; or

(b) in relation to any other ship, the person who has for the time being, either by law or by contract, the rights of the owner of the ship with respect to its possession and use.

“pollutant” means

(a) a substance that, if added to any waters, would degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the quality of the waters to an extent that is detrimental to their use by humans or by an animal or plant that is useful to humans; and

(b) any water that contains a substance in such a quantity or concentration, or that has been so treated, processed or changed, by heat or other means, from a natural state that it would, if added to any waters, degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the quality of the waters to an extent that is detrimental to their use by humans or by an animal or plant that is useful to humans,

and includes oil and any substance or class of substances identified by the regulations as a pollutant for the purposes of this Part.

“pollution damage”, in relation to any ship, means loss or damage outside the ship caused by contamination resulting from the discharge of a pollutant from the ship.

“ship” means any vessel or craft designed, used or capable of being used solely or partly for navigation, without regard to method or lack of propulsion, and includes

(a) a ship in the process of construction from the time that it is capable of floating; and

(b) a ship that has been stranded, wrecked or sunk and any part of a ship that has broken up.

“Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund” means the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund established by section 77.

48. (1) For ships other than Convention ships, this Part applies in respect of actual or anticipated pollution damage, irrespective of the location of the actual or anticipated discharge of the pollutant and irrespective of the location where any preventive measures are taken,

(a) on the territory of Canada or in Canadian waters; or

(b) in the exclusive economic zone of Canada.

(2) For Convention ships, this Part applies, subject to subsection (3), in respect of actual or anticipated oil pollution damage, irrespective of the location of the actual or anticipated discharge of the oil and irrespective of the location where any preventive measures are taken,

(a) on the territory of Canada or in Canadian waters;

(b) in the exclusive economic zone of Canada;

(c) on the territory or in the territorial sea or internal waters of a state other than Canada that is a party to the Civil Liability Convention; or

(d) in the exclusive economic zone of a state referred to in paragraph (c) or, if the state has not established an exclusive economic zone, in an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea of that state and extending not more than 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of its territorial sea is measured.

(3) Sections 84 and 85 do not apply in respect of actual or anticipated oil pollution damage in an area described in paragraph (2)(c) or (d).

49. (1) This Part does not apply to a drilling ship that is on location and engaged in the exploration or exploitation of the sea-bed or its subsoil in so far as a discharge of a pollutant emanates from those activities.

(2) This Part does not apply to a floating storage unit or floating production, storage and offloading unit unless it is carrying oil as a cargo on a voyage to or from a port or terminal outside an offshore oil field.

50. In the event of an inconsistency between the provisions of this Part and the provisions of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act or any regulations made under that Act, the provisions of this Part prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

51. (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Part, the owner of a ship is liable

(a) for oil pollution damage from the ship;

(b) for costs and expenses incurred by

(i) the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans,

(ii) a response organization within the meaning of section 654 of the Canada Shipping Act,

(iii) any other person in Canada, or

(iv) any person in a state, other than Canada, that is a party to the Civil Liability Convention,

in respect of measures taken to prevent, repair, remedy or minimize oil pollution damage from the ship, including measures taken in anticipation of a discharge of oil from the ship, to the extent that the measures taken and the costs and expenses are reasonable, and for any loss or damage caused by those measures; and

(c) for costs and expenses incurred

(i) by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in respect of measures taken under paragraph 678(1)(a) of the Canada Shipping Act, in respect of any monitoring under paragraph 678(1)(b) of that Act or in relation to any direction given under paragraph 678(1)(c) of that Act, or

(ii) by any other person in respect of measures the person was directed to take or prohibited from taking under paragraph 678(1)(c) of the Canada Shipping Act,

to the extent that the measures taken and the costs and expenses are reasonable, and for any loss or damage caused by those measures.

(2) If oil pollution damage from a ship results in impairment to the environment, the owner of the ship is liable for the costs of reasonable measures of reinstatement actually undertaken or to be undertaken.

(3) The owner’s liability under subsection (1) does not depend on proof of fault or negligence, but the owner is not liable under that subsection if the owner establishes that the occurrence

(a) resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war or insurrection or from a natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character;

(b) was wholly caused by an act or omission of a third party with intent to cause damage; or

(c) was wholly caused by the negligence or other wrongful act of any government or other authority responsible for the maintenance of lights or other navigational aids, in the exercise of that function.

(4) Nothing in this Part shall be construed as limiting or restricting any right of recourse that the owner of a ship who is liable under subsection (1) may have against another person.

(5) Costs and expenses incurred by the owner of a ship in respect of measures voluntarily taken by the owner to prevent, repair, remedy or minimize oil pollution damage from the ship, including measures taken in anticipation of a discharge of oil from the ship, to the extent that the measures taken and the costs and expenses are reasonable, rank equally with other claims against any security given by that owner in respect of the owner’s liability under this section.

(6) No action lies in respect of a matter referred to in subsection (1) unless it is commenced

(a) if pollution damage occurred, before the earlier of

(i) three years after the day on which the pollution damage occurred, and

(ii) six years after the occurrence that caused the pollution damage or, if the pollution damage was caused by more than one occurrence having the same origin, six years after the first of the occurrences; or

(b) if no pollution damage occurred, within six years after the occurrence.

52. (1) Subject to section 59, all claims under this Part may be sued for and recovered in the Admiralty Court.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the jurisdiction conferred on the Admiralty Court by subsection (1) may be exercised in rem against the ship that is the subject of the claim, or against any proceeds of sale of the ship that have been paid into court.

(3) No action in rem may be commenced in Canada against

(a) a warship, coast guard ship or police vessel;

(b) a ship owned or operated by Canada or a province, or any cargo carried on such a ship, if the ship is engaged on government service; or

(c) a ship owned or operated by a state other than Canada, or any cargo carried on such a ship, with respect to a claim if, at the time the claim arose or the action is commenced, the ship was being used exclusively for non-commercial governmental purposes.

53. (1) If there is an occurrence that gives rise to liability of an owner of a ship under subsection 51(1),

(a) the Administrator may, either before or after receiving a claim under section 85, commence an action in rem against the ship that is the subject of the claim, or against any proceeds of sale of the ship that have been paid into court; and

(b) subject to subsection (3), the Administrator is entitled in any such action to claim security in an amount not less than the owner’s maximum aggregate liability under section 54 or 55.

(2) The Administrator may continue an action referred to in subsection (1) only if the Administrator has become subrogated to the rights of the claimant under subsection 87(3).

(3) The Administrator is not entitled to claim security under subsection (1) if

(a) in the case of a Convention ship, a fund has been constituted under section 58; and

(b) in the case of any other ship, a fund has been constituted under Article 11 of the Limitation of Liability Convention.

54. (1) The maximum liability under section 51 of an owner of a Convention ship in respect of an occurrence is

( a) if the ship has a tonnage of not more than 5,000 tons, 4,510,000 units of account; and

( b) if the ship has a tonnage of more than 5,000 tons, 4,510,000 units of account for the first 5,000 tons and 631 units of account for each additional ton, not exceeding 89,770,000 units of account in the aggregate.

(2) An owner is not entitled to limitation of liability under subsection (1) if it is proved that the actual or anticipated oil pollution damage resulted from the personal act or omission of the owner, committed with the intent to cause the oil pollution damage or recklessly and with knowledge that the oil pollution damage would probably result.

(3) For the purpose of subsection (1), a ship’s tonnage is the gross tonnage calculated in accordance with the tonnage measurement rules contained in Annex I of the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, concluded at London on June 23, 1969, including any amendments, whenever made, to the Annexes or Appendix to that Convention.

(4) In paragraphs (1)( a) and ( b), “unit of account” means a special drawing right issued by the International Monetary Fund.

(5) If amendments to the limits of liability specified in paragraph 1 of Article V of the Civil Liability Convention are made in accordance with Article 15 of the Protocol of 1992 concluded at London on November 27, 1992, the Governor in Council may, by order, on the recommendation of the Minister, amend the limits of liability set out in subsection (1) by the same amounts.

2001, c. 6, s. 54; SOR/2003-353.

55. The maximum liability under section 51 of an owner of a ship other than a Convention ship in respect of an occurrence shall be as determined in accordance with Part 3.

56. No action may be commenced in a court in Canada in relation to an occurrence that gives rise to liability of an owner of a Convention ship in respect of matters referred to in subsection 51(1) if

(a) the occurrence does not result in oil pollution damage on the territory of Canada, in Canadian waters or in the exclusive economic zone of Canada; and

(b) no costs, expenses, loss or damage described in paragraph 51(1)(b) or (c) are incurred in respect of actual or anticipated oil pollution damage in any of the areas described in paragraph (a).

57. (1) The owner of a Convention ship is not liable for the matters referred to in subsection 51(1) otherwise than as provided by this Part.

(2) Subject to subsection 51(4), none of the following persons is liable for the matters referred to in subsection 51(1) unless the actual or anticipated oil pollution damage resulted from a personal act or omission of theirs that was committed with intent to cause the damage or was committed recklessly and with knowledge that the damage would probably result:

(a) a servant or an agent of the owner of a Convention ship or one of its crew members;

(b) the pilot of a Convention ship or any other person who, without being a member of the crew, performs services for the Convention ship;

(c) a charterer, a manager or an operator of a Convention ship;

(d) any person using a Convention ship to perform salvage operations with the consent of the owner or on the instructions of a competent public authority;

(e) a person taking measures to prevent oil pollution damage from a Convention ship; or

(f) a servant or an agent of a person referred to in any of paragraphs (c) to (e).

(3) If two or more owners of Convention ships are liable for costs, expenses, loss or damage referred to in subsection 51(1), the owners of all those ships are jointly and severally liable, to the extent that the costs, expenses, loss or damage are not reasonably separable.

58. (1) The owner of a Convention ship is not entitled to limitation of liability under subsection 54(1) unless the owner constitutes a fund, in this section referred to as the “shipowner’s fund”, in an amount equal to the limit of the owner’s liability under that subsection.

(2) A shipowner’s fund may be constituted by the owner of a ship

(a) making a payment into court of the amount described in subsection (1); or

(b) filing with the court a guarantee or other security satisfactory to the court.

(3) A shipowner’s fund shall be distributed among claimants in proportion to the amount of their established claims as determined by the court.

(4) If, before the distribution of a shipowner’s fund, the owner of the Convention ship, or anyone on behalf of the owner, pays compensation in respect of any matters referred to in subsection 51(1) as a result of the occurrence in question, the person who pays the compensation is subrogated to the rights that the person compensated would have had under this Part.

(5) If the owner of a Convention ship, or a person who pays compensation on behalf of the owner, satisfies the court that, because of a claim that might later be established before a court of a state other than Canada that is not a party to the Civil Liability Convention,

(a) they may be compelled to pay compensation mentioned in subsection (4) after the distribution of the shipowner’s fund, and

(b) they would enjoy a right of subrogation under subsection (4) if the compensation were paid before the distribution of the shipowner’s fund,

the court may postpone the distribution of the portion of the shipowner’s fund that it considers appropriate, having regard to the possibility that such a claim might be established.

59. If the owner of a Convention ship has constituted a shipowner’s fund under section 58 with a court of a state other than Canada that is a party to the Civil Liability Convention, no action may be commenced or continued in any court in Canada in relation to the same occurrence in respect of matters referred to in subsection 51(1).

60. (1) A Convention ship carrying, in bulk as cargo, more than 2,000 metric tons of crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil, lubricating oil or any other persistent hydrocarbon mineral oil shall not

(a) enter or leave a port in Canadian waters or in the exclusive economic zone of Canada or arrive at or leave an offshore terminal in Canadian waters or in the exclusive economic zone of Canada, or

(b) if the ship is registered in Canada, enter or leave a port in any other state, whether or not the state is a party to the Civil Liability Convention, or arrive at or leave an offshore terminal

(i) in the territorial sea or internal waters of any such state, or

(ii) in the exclusive economic zone of any such state or, if the state has not established an exclusive economic zone, in an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea of the state, and extending not more than 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of its territorial sea is measured

unless a certificate described in Article VII of the Civil Liability Convention and subsection 61(1) has been issued in respect of the ship, showing that a contract of insurance or other security satisfying the requirements of that Article is in force in respect of the ship.

(2) In relation to a Convention ship owned by a state that is a party to the Civil Liability Convention and being used for commercial purposes, it is a sufficient compliance with subsection (1) if there is in force a certificate issued by the government of the state showing that the ship is owned by that state and that any liability for pollution damage as defined in Article I of that Convention will be met up to the limit stipulated in Article V of that Convention.

(3) A certificate referred to in subsection (1) or (2) must be carried on board the Convention ship to which it relates.

(4) The master of a Convention ship or any other person on board shall produce the certificate or give details of it at the request of any authorized officer of the Government of Canada.

61. (1) The certificate referred to in subsection 60(1)

(a) must be a certificate issued by the Minister, if the Convention ship is registered in Canada;

(b) must be a certificate issued by or under the authority of the government of the state of registration, if the Convention ship is registered in a state other than Canada that is a party to the Civil Liability Convention; or

(c) must be a certificate issued or recognized by the Minister, if the Convention ship is registered in a state other than Canada that is not a party to the Civil Liability Convention.

(2) On an application to the Minister for a certificate referred to in subsection 60(1) in respect of a Convention ship registered in Canada or registered in a state other than Canada that is not a party to the Civil Liability Convention, the Minister shall, subject to subsection (3), issue such a certificate to the owner of the ship if the Minister is satisfied that a contract of insurance or other security satisfying the requirements of Article VII of the Civil Liability Convention will be in force in respect of the ship throughout the period for which the certificate is issued.

(3) If the Minister believes that the guarantor will be unable to meet the guarantor’s obligations under the contract of insurance or other security referred to in subsection 60(1), or that the insurance or other security will not cover the owner’s liability under section 51, the Minister may refuse to issue the certificate referred to in subsection 60(1).

62. A claimant may commence an action against a guarantor of the owner of a Convention ship in respect of a matter referred to in subsection 51(1) and, in that event,

(a) the guarantor is entitled to establish the defences affecting the owner’s liability set out in subsection 51(3) and, in addition, may establish as a defence that the occurrence resulted from the wilful misconduct of the owner;

(b) the guarantor may not plead as a defence the bankruptcy or winding-up of the owner;

(c) irrespective of whether the owner is entitled to limitation of liability, the guarantor is entitled to limitation of liability in respect of claims made by virtue of this section to the same amount and in like manner as an owner is entitled to limitation of liability under this Part; and

(d) if the owner of a Convention ship and the guarantor each applies to the Admiralty Court in accordance with subsection 58(2) in order to limit their liability, any amount paid into court or filed as a guarantee pursuant to either application shall be treated as paid or filed also pursuant to the other application.

63. The definitions in this section apply in this section and in sections 64 to 71.

“foreign judgment” means a judgment of a court of a state other than Canada that is a party to the Civil Liability Convention in respect of a liability described in Article III of that Convention, resulting from an occurrence after the entry into force of that Convention for Canada.

“judgment creditor” means a person in whose favour a foreign judgment was rendered, and includes the person’s assigns, heirs, executors, liquidators of the succession, administrators and other legal representatives.

“judgment debtor” means a person against whom a foreign judgment was rendered, and includes a person against whom the foreign judgment is enforceable under the law of the state in which it was rendered.

64. (1) If a foreign judgment has been rendered, the judgment creditor may, at any time during which the foreign judgment is enforceable in the state in which it was rendered, apply to the Admiralty Court in accordance with its rules to have the foreign judgment registered in that Court.

(2) On an application made under subsection (1), the Admiralty Court may, subject to subsections (3) and (4) and section 67, order the registration of the foreign judgment if it is satisfied

(a) that a case for registration has been made; and

(b) that the foreign judgment is not under appeal and is no longer subject to appeal in the state in which it was rendered.

(3) If, under the rules of the Admiralty Court, the judgment debtor appears at the hearing of an application made under subsection (1), that Court may not order the registration of the foreign judgment if it is satisfied that

(a) the foreign judgment has been fully satisfied;

(b) the foreign court acted without jurisdiction;

(c) the foreign judgment was obtained by fraud; or

(d) the defendant in the foreign action was not given reasonable notice and a fair opportunity to present their case.

(4) On any application made under subsection (1), if the Court is satisfied that the foreign judgment has been partly satisfied, the foreign judgment shall be ordered to be registered only in respect of the balance remaining payable.

65. For the purpose of section 64, a foreign judgment includes any interest, up to the day of registration, that has accrued on it under the law of the state in which it was rendered.

66. Reasonable costs incurred by the judgment creditor related to the registration of the foreign judgment, including the cost of obtaining an exemplification or certified copy of it from the foreign court, are recoverable in the same manner as if they were amounts payable under the foreign judgment, and the costs shall be taxed by an assessment officer of the Admiralty Court and the assessment endorsed on the order for registration.

67. (1) A foreign judgment expressed in a currency other than Canadian currency cannot be registered under section 64 until the Admiralty Court has determined the equivalent amount in Canadian currency on the basis of the rate of exchange prevailing on the day on which the foreign judgment was rendered, as ascertained from any bank in Canada, and, for the purpose of making that determination, that Court may require the judgment creditor to provide any evidence of the applicable rate of exchange that that Court considers necessary.

(2) When the equivalent amount in Canadian currency has been determined in accordance with subsection (1), the Admiralty Court shall certify on the order for registration the amount so determined, and the foreign judgment, when registered, is deemed to be a judgment for payment of the amount so certified.

68. Subject to section 69, a foreign judgment registered under section 64 has, as of the date of registration, the same force and effect as a judgment of the Admiralty Court rendered on that date.

69. If a foreign judgment is registered under section 64 after an ex parte hearing, execution of the registered judgment may not issue until the expiry of 30 days after the judgment debtor has been served with a notice of registration of the foreign judgment in the manner set out in the rules of the Admiralty Court for the service of originating documents.

70. (1) At any time after a foreign judgment has been registered under section 64, the judgment debtor may apply to the Admiralty Court, in accordance with its rules, to have the registration of the judgment set aside on any of the grounds set out in subsection (2).

(2) On an application by a judgment debtor under subsection (1), the Admiralty Court shall set aside the registration of the foreign judgment if it is satisfied that

(a) the foreign judgment had been fully or partly satisfied;

(b) the foreign court acted without jurisdiction;

(c) the foreign judgment was obtained by fraud;

(d) the defendant in the foreign action was not given reasonable notice and a fair opportunity to present their case;

(e) the registration of the foreign judgment was obtained by fraud;

(f) an error was made in the conversion of the foreign judgment to Canadian currency under section 67;

(g) the registered judgment included interest on the foreign judgment to which the judgment creditor was not entitled; or

(h) for any other reason that Court erred in registering the foreign judgment.

(3) If the Admiralty Court sets aside the registration of a foreign judgment on the ground that it had been partly satisfied, or on a ground referred to in paragraph (2)(f) or (g), it shall order the foreign judgment to be registered in the reduced amount.

71. (1) At any time after a foreign judgment has been registered under section 64, the judgment debtor may apply to the Admiralty Court, in accordance with its rules, to have the execution of the registered judgment stayed on the grounds that an application to set aside the registration has been made under subsection 70(1), and, if that Court is satisfied that the application has been made, it may stay the execution of the judgment either absolutely or for the period and on the terms and conditions that it considers appropriate, and may, on further evidence, vary or terminate a stay of execution.

(2) Execution of a registered judgment may not be stayed except on the grounds that an application to set aside the registration has been made under subsection 70(1).