Cap. 10 Art. 228Pollution of harbours and territorial waters by petroleum or other oils.

(1) If any petroleum or other oil or any mixture containing petroleum or other oil is discharged, leaks or runs into the waters of any harbour or into any part of the internal waters or of the territorial waters of Malta from any vessel or any place afloat, or from any place on land, or from any apparatus used for transferring petroleum or other oils from or to any vessel (whether to or from a place on land or afloat), then -

(a) if the discharge, leakage or running is from a vessel, the owner or master of the vessel, or

(b) if the discharge, leakage or running is from an apparatus used for transferring petroleum or other oils from or to a vessel, or takes place while petroleum or other oils are being so transferred, the owner or person in charge of the apparatus, or

(c) if the discharge, leakage or running is from any other place, the occupier or other person in charge of such place, shall be guilty of an offence against this article and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine (multa) of not less than two hundred and thirty-two euro and ninety-four cents (232.94) and not more than four thousand and six hundred and fifty-eight euro and seventy- five cents (4,658.75), or to imprisonment from one to six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) Any person found guilty of an offence under this article shall be liable for all damages caused and all costs occasioned by the facts constituting the offence, and the court shall, at the demand of the prosecution made at any time of the proceedings prior to final judgment, order in the same judgment the offender to make good and pay to the Authority for Transport in Malta all such damages and costs as shall be liquidated by the same court, which order shall be executable in the same manner as if it had been given in a civil action duly instituted by the Authority for Transport in Malta against the offender: Provided that nothing in this sub-article shall affect the right of third parties to institute any civil action against the offender for any damage suffered by them.