S.L. 499.34 ст. 4Interpretation.

(1) In these regulations unless the context otherwise requires:

"agent" means any person mandated or authorized to supply information on behalf of the operator of the ship;

"the Armed Forces of Malta" means the regular force raised under the provisions of the Malta Armed Forces Act; "the Authority" means the Authority for Transport in Malta established in terms of the Authority for Transport in Malta Act; "casualty" means a casualty within the meaning of the IMO Code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents; "coastal station" means any of the following, designated in terms of these regulations: a vessel traffic service, a shore-based installation responsible for a mandatory reporting system or a body responsible for coordinating search and rescue, or operations to tackle pollution at sea; "the competent authority" means the authority appointed under regulation 5; "contiguous zone" has the same meaning as that assigned to it in article 3 of the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act; "dangerous goods" and "polluting goods" shall have the same meaning as defined in the Dangerous Cargo Ships, Marine

Terminals and Facilities and Bunkering Regulations; "declarant" means any natural or legal person who shall be subject to reporting obligations, or any duly authorised natural or legal person acting on such person’s behalf within the limits of the relevant reporting obligations;

"electronic transmission of data" means the process of transmitting information that has been encoded digitally using a revisable structured format which can be used directly for storage and processing by computers; "FAL Convention" means the IMO Convention on Facilitation of th International Maritime Traffic, adopted on 9 April, 1965 as amended;

"FAL forms" means the standardised forms as provided for in the FAL Convention;

"fishing vessel" means any vessel equipped for the commercial exploitation of living aquatic resources;

"IMO guidelines on the fair treatment of seafarers in the event of a maritime accident" means the guidelines as annexed to resolution LEG. 3(91) of the International Maritime Organisation Legal Committee of 27th April, 2006 and as approved by the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its 296th session of the 12th to the 16th June, 2006, in their updated versions; "IMO Resolution A.851(20)" means International Maritime Organisation Resolution 851(20) entitled "General principles for ship reporting systems and ship reporting requirements, including guidelines for reporting incidents involving dangerous goods, harmful substances and, or marine pollutants", in its updated version;

"IMO Resolution A.917(22)" means the International Maritime Organisation Resolution 917(22) entitled "Guidelines for the onboard use of AIS", as amended by the International Maritime Organisation Resolution 956(23), in its updated version; "IMO Resolution A.949(23)" means the International Maritime Organisation Resolution 949(23) entitled "Guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance", in its updated version;

"IMO Resolution A.950(23)" means the International Maritime Organisation Resolution 950(23) entitled "Maritime assistance services (MAS)", in its updated version; "IMO Resolution MSC.286(86)" means the International Maritime Organisation Resolution 286(86) entitled "Recommendations for Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for MARPOL Annex 1 Oil Cargo and Oil Fuel", in its updated version;

"ISM Code" means the International Safety Management Code; "law" means any law or instrument having the force of law; "LRIT" means a system for the long-range identification and tracking of ships in accordance with the provisions of regulation V/ 19-1 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1974, as amended; "Maltese waters" means the ports, internal waters, territorial waters and contiguous zones of Malta; "maritime enforcement officer" has the same meaning as that assigned to it in the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act; "MARPOL" means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 and the 1978 Protocol thereto;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for shipping and ports;

"onshore power supply system" means the system established to supply electricity to ships at berth for powering hotel and service workloads or charging secondary batteries; "operator" means the owner or manager of a ship;

"owner", as regards a ship, means -

(i) the owner of the ship, or

(ii) any other organization or person such as the manager or the bareboat charterer who has assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner of the ship, and who on assuming such responsibility has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Safety Management (ISM) Code;

"Regulation (EU) 2019/1239" means Regulation (EU) 2019/1239 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 establishing a European Maritime Single Window environment and repealing Directive 2010/65/EU; "related interests" means the interest of Malta directly affected or threatened and concerning, among others:

(i) maritime activities in the coastal areas, or in ports, including fishing activities;

(ii) the historical and tourist appeal of the area in question, including water sports and recreation;

(iii) the health of the coastal population;

(iv) the cultural, aesthetic, scientific and educational value of the area;

(v) the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of marine and coastal biological resources;

(vi) supply of water, energy and other resources; and

(vii) the socio-economic interest of Malta. "reporting formalities" means the information set out in regulation 18 which must be provided for administrative and procedural purposes when a ship arrives in or departs from a port in Malta;

"SafeSeaNet" means the Community maritime information exchange system developed by the Commission in cooperation with the Member States to ensure the implementation of Community legislation;

"scheduled service" means a series of ship crossings operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more ports, either according to a published timetable or with crossings so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognisable systematic series; "ship" means any sea-going vessel or craft; "ship in need of assistance" means, without prejudice to the provisions of the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), 1979 in its up-to-date version, concerning the rescue of persons, a ship in a situation that could give rise to its loss or to an environmental or navigational hazard; "territorial waters" has the same meaning as that assigned to it in article 3 of the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act; "traditional ships" means all kinds of historical ships and their replicas including those designed to encourage and promote traditional skill and seamanship, that together serve as living cultural monuments, operated according to traditional principles of seamanship and technique; "vessel traffic service" means a service designed to improve the safety and efficiency of vessel traffic and to protect the environment, which has the capability to interact with the traffic and to respond to traffic shipping situations developing in Maltese waters.

(2) For the purposes of these regulations:

(a) "accident" means any accident or occurrence affecting the safety of a ship, including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any occurrence whereby a ship -

(i) is in collision,

(ii) grounds,

(iii) is damaged,

(iv) malfunctions or breaks down,

(v) suffers the flooding or shifting of cargo, or

(vi) suffers a defective hull or structural failure;

(b) "incident" means any incident on a ship which affects or could affect the safety of other ships, including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, a failure or defect which affects or is likely to affect -

(i) the manoeuvrability or seaworthiness,

(ii) the propulsion system,

(iii) the steering gear,

(iv) the electrical generating system,

(v) the navigation equipment, or

(vi) the communications system, of the ship.