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30 JANVIER 2012. - Act regulating the substances referred to in section 78 of the Constitution in respect of the insurance of ship owners for marine claims (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. This Act transposes in part the Directive 2009/20/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 April 2009 on the insurance of ship owners for marine claims.
Art. 3. This Act applies to vessels of a gross tonnage equal to or greater than 300.
This Act does not apply to war vessels, auxiliary war vessels or other vessels owned or operated by a State and used for non-commercial public service.
This Act shall be without prejudice to the regimes established by the instruments mentioned below, provided that they are in force in Belgium, as well as regulations in accordance with these instruments:
1° the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage;
2° the 1996 International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage to the Carriage by Sea of Noxious and Potential Hazardous Substances (NSPD Convention);
3° the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Due to Pollution from Buffer Hydrocarbons (Convention "Sail Hydrocarbons");
4° the 2007 Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of wrecks (Convention "Deletation of wrecks");
5° Regulation (EC) No 392/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 concerning the liability of passenger carriers by sea in the event of an accident.
Art. 4. For the purposes of this Act:
1° "ship owner": the registered owner of a sea ship or any other person, such as the naked charterer, who is responsible for the operation of the ship;
2° "insurance": insurance with or without a deductible, including, for example, insurance of the type currently offered by the members of the "International Group of P♣I Clubs" and other effective forms of insurance, including certified individual insurance, and financial guarantee offering equivalent coverage conditions;
3° "Convention of 1996": the consolidated text of the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability in respect of Maritime Claims, adopted under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as amended by the 1996 Protocol.
Art. 5. The owners of ships flying Belgian flag subscribe to insurance covering the ships in question.
Shipowners flying a flag other than the Belgian flag are insured when these ships enter a port under Belgian jurisdiction.
The insurance referred to in paragraph 1^er and 2 covers maritime claims subject to limitation under the 1996 Convention. The amount of insurance for each vessel per event is equal to the maximum amount applicable to the limitation of liability in accordance with the 1996 Convention.
Art. 6. Any inspection carried out on a vessel in a port under the jurisdiction of Belgium, in accordance with the provisions concerning the State control of the port pursuant to the law of 5 June 1972 on the safety of navigation vessels, shall include the verification of the presence on board a certificate referred to in Article 7.
If the certificate referred to in Article 7 is not on board and without prejudice to the provisions concerning the control by the port State pursuant to the law of 5 June 1972 on the safety of the navigation vessels that provide for the immobilization of ships when matters of safety or the preservation of the marine environment are at stake, the agents responsible for the control of the navigation designated for this purpose may pronounce a decision of expulsion to the European flag which is notified to others When this decision of expulsion or a decision of expulsion by another Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 2 of the Directive 2009/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the insurance of the owners of ships for marine claims has been issued, the access of that ship to the Belgian ports is denied until the owner of the said vessel provided the 7.
If an expulsion decision is issued, the Navigation Control Service shall prepare a substantiated report, a copy of which shall be sent, within 24 hours of the decision, to the master or owner of the vessel.
Within fifteen days after receipt of a copy of the substantiated minutes, an appeal may be filed against the decisions referred to in this article. The appeal shall be filed by the master or owner of the vessel, by means of a request addressed to the Commissioner of State to the Maritime Investigation Board and containing the means invoked. The appeal is not suspensive.
Art. 7. The existence of the insurance referred to in section 5 is certified by one or more certificates issued by the supplier and present on board the vessel.
The certificates issued by the insurance provider include the following information:
1° vessel name, IMO vessel identification number and registration port;
2° the name and place of the principal establishment of the owner of the vessel;
3° type and duration of insurance;
4° name and place of the principal establishment of the insurance provider and, where applicable, place of the establishment to which the insurance was subscribed.
If the language used in certificates is neither English, French, or Spanish, the text of the certificate includes a translation into one of these languages.
Notwithstanding paragraph 1^erevidence of the effectiveness of the insurance or the equivalence of the coverage conditions, referred to in section 4, 2°, shall be borne by the owner of the vessel. The shipping control officers designated for this purpose may request any related information.
Art. 8. The violation of the requirements of Article 5 or the expulsion decision referred to in Article 6 is punishable by a fine of 5.000 euros to 1,000,000 euros.
All provisions of Book I^er the Criminal Code, including Chapter VII and section 85, is applicable to offences under this Act.
Without prejudice to the powers of judicial police officers, officials responsible for the control of navigation designated for this purpose and the Federal Police for the Water Police are responsible for investigating and detecting offences under this Act.
If the Federal Water Police finds violations under this Act, the Navigation Control Service shall be promptly informed of these violations and shall take appropriate action.
Art. 9. The monitoring of ships to ensure compliance with this Act and its enforcement orders is carried out by the officers responsible for the control of navigation designated for this purpose, and for ships flying Belgian flag also by Belgian consular officials abroad.
The officers responsible for the control of navigation designated for this purpose shall be entitled to arrest any vessel that is not in possession of valid certificates prescribed by this Act or for which the evidence referred to in Article 7, paragraph 4 is not sufficiently established or is not insured in accordance with Article 5, or to refuse access to a Belgian port. Except in urgent cases, the shipping control officers designated for this purpose shall not exercise the right, as provided in this paragraph, to foreign vessels until they have informed the consul of the country whose ship is flying the flag. In urgent cases this information is transmitted without delay after the measures have been taken. The vessel shall be released as soon as the vessel is provided with valid certificates prescribed by this Act, to the satisfaction of the navigation control officers designated for that purpose.
The Belgian consular official is entitled to prohibit the departure of a ship flying the Belgian flag if the vessel is not equipped with valid certificates prescribed by this Act or if the evidence referred to in section 7, paragraph 4 is not sufficiently established or if the vessel is not insured under section 5. The departure ban is lifted when the vessel has valid certificates prescribed by this Act, to the satisfaction of the Belgian consular official.
If a departure permit is denied or a vessel is retained or has been denied access to a Belgian port, the Navigation Control Service or, where applicable, the Belgian consular official shall prepare a substantiated report, a copy of which shall be sent, within 24 hours after the decision, to the master or owner of the vessel.
Within fifteen days after the receipt of a copy of the written record in accordance with this article, an appeal may be brought against the decisions referred to in this article. The appeal is filed by the master or owner of the vessel, by means of a request addressed to the Commissioner of State to the Marine Investigation Board and containing the means invoked. The appeal is not suspensive.
Promulgate this law, order that it be put on the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 30 January 2012.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of the North Sea,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Minister of Finance,
S. VANACKERE
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
D. REYNDERS
The Minister of the Interior,
Ms. J. MILQUET
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
(1) Session 2011-2012.
House of Representatives:
Parliamentary documents. - Bill No. 53-1799/001. - Report, No. 53-1799/002. - Text corrected by the Commission, No. 53-1799/003. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, No. 53-1799/004.
Full report: 15 December 2011.
Senate:
Parliamentary documents. - Project referred to by the Senate, No. 5-1400/1. Report, No. 5-1400/2. - Decision not to amend, No. 5-1400/3.
Annales: December 22, 2011.