Terms used
3 Terms used
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —
channel includes a swinging basin, turning circle, area alongside a jetty, fairway or anchorage;
control, when used in the sense of being in control of a vessel, means to be in charge or command of, or to have the management of, the vessel;
Crown land has the same meaning as it has in the Land Administration Act 1997;
damage includes alter, destroy or remove;
dangerous thing means —
a vessel or part of a vessel; or
a wreck and any cargo, fuel or other thing on or in it; or
any other thing,
that is likely to be a danger to navigation or to port facilities or harmful to the environment;
goods includes —
merchandise, wares, chattels and other articles, whether manufactured or of any other kind; and
minerals and mineral products; and
petroleum and hydrocarbon products; and
forestry and agricultural products; and
livestock;
GTE Act means the Government Trading Enterprises Act 2023;
harbour master means a person appointed under section 102 as the harbour master or acting harbour master of a port or authorised under that section to perform the harbour master’s functions;
jetty includes —
a pier, wharf, quay, grid, slipway, landing place, stage, platform or similar structure, whether fixed or floating, erected or placed, wholly or in part, in, on, over or alongside any waters; and
a ramp that is or may be used for the purpose of launching or landing a vessel,
but does not include a vessel;
management, in relation to staff, includes recruitment, selection, appointment, transfer, secondment, performance management, redeployment, discipline and termination of employment;
maritime structure means —
a jetty; or
a breakwater, groyne or seawall; or
a dredged channel; or
a boat pen or vessel mooring; or
a navigational aid; or
a pipeline in, over, under or discharging into navigable waters (but not a pipeline discharging material from a dredging vessel);
master includes a person, other than an approved pilot provided under section 96(5), having control of a vessel for the time being;
mooring includes anchoring and berthing;
movement, in relation to —
goods, includes loading and unloading;
passengers, includes boarding and going ashore;
navigational aid means an apparatus, device, mark or structure that —
is or is intended to be an aid to marine navigation; or
emits or transmits a light, sound, radio, electronic or other signal that is or is intended to be an aid to marine navigation;
owner, in relation to —
property of any kind, includes a person who is an owner jointly or in common with another person;
goods, includes a consignor, consignee, shipper or agent for sale or custody, loading or unloading of the goods concerned;
a vessel, includes a charterer of the vessel;
port means a port named in Schedule 1 or placed under the control and management of a port authority by regulations in accordance with Schedule 9 and the port or its port, in relation to a port authority, means —
the port that the port authority controls and manages; or
if the port authority controls and manages more than one port — each of those ports;
port activities has the meaning given by section 35;
port authority means a body established by section 4;
port charges has the meaning given by section 115 as affected by section 136(3);
port facilities means facilities provided for or in relation to port activities or the administration of the port and includes —
maritime structures and other buildings, structures and enclosures; and
railways; and
machinery, equipment, vessels, vehicles and aircraft;
port land means vested land, land acquired by a port authority or other land that becomes the property of a port authority under this Act;
port operations means —
the carrying out of port activities or port works; or
the provision of port services; or
the provision, management or operation of port facilities;
port property, in relation to a port authority, means —
port facilities; or
vested property; or
other property held by the port authority;
port security means all matters relating to —
the preservation and protection of —
port property; or
any other vessel, vehicle or other property within the port,
from damage, destruction or unlawful activity; and
the protection of people within the port from injury or unlawful activity;
port services has the meaning given by section 35;
port works has the meaning given by section 35;
potential supplier means —
a person who might become a supplier of port services; or
a person who might become a supplier of port services and, for that purpose, provide related port facilities;
vessel has the meaning given by subsections (2) and (3);
vested means vested in a port authority under this Act;
vested land includes vested seabed and vested water.
A reference in this Act to a vessel is a reference to a thing used, or capable of being used, in navigation by water, and includes a reference to —
an air‑cushion vehicle, seaplane or other similar craft; or
a barge, lighter or other floating structure used for commercial purposes other than a structure of a class or kind prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph.
A thing can be a vessel for the purposes of this Act —
no matter how it is moved or propelled; and
even if it is normally stationary.
[(4) deleted]
[Section 3 amended: No. 10 of 2001 s. 157; No. 74 of 2003 s. 93(2); No. 8 of 2009 s. 102(2) and (3); No. 46 of 2009 s. 17; No. 39 of 2010 s. 81(2); No. 9 of 2014 s. 4; No. 2 of 2019 s. 43; No. 13 of 2023 s. 219.]
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.