Marine Pollution (Control and Civil Liability) Act, 1981 (Act No. 6 of 1981)12. Applications to court |
| (1) | If the owner of a ship, tanker or offshore installation has or is alleged to have incurred a liability in terms of the provisions of subsection (1) of section 9 in the circumstances contemplated in subsection (5) of that section, he may in the prescribed manner apply to the court for the determination, in accordance with the provisions of the said subsection (5), of the aggregate amount payable by him in respect of such liability. |
| (2) | If on an application referred to in subsection (1) the court finds that the applicant has incurred the liability in question and is, by virtue of the provisions of section 9(5), entitled to pay in respect of such liability an aggregate amount not exceeding an amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of section 9(5), the court shall, after determining such aggregate amount in accordance with the provisions of section 9(5), direct the applicant to deposit such amount with the Master of the said court or to furnish the said Master with a written guarantee, acceptable to the court, for the payment of such amount, and any amount so deposited or guarantee so furnished shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to constitute a fund. |
| (3) | The Master referred to in subsection (2) shall appoint a person nominated by the applicant and a person nominated by the Authority as joint trustees of the fund referred to in subsection (2). |
| (4) | The trustees referred to in subsection (3) shall in the prescribed manner administer the fund referred to in subsection (2) and distribute it among the several persons establishing claims in connection with the incident from which the liability originated. |
| (5) | Where any amount has already been paid in or towards satisfaction of any claim in respect of the loss, damage or costs to which the liability relates, by the owner of the ship, tanker or offshore installation in question or by the person referred to in section 15 as the insurer, the person who paid such amount shall, to the extent of that amount, be in the same position with respect to any distribution made by the trustees in terms of subsection (4) as the person to whom such amount was paid would have been. |
| (6) | If the owner concerned has made any reasonable sacrifice or taken any other reasonable measures to prevent or reduce loss or damage to which the liability relates, he shall be in the same position with respect to any distribution made by the trustees in terms of subsection (4) as if he had a claim in respect of the liability equal to the cost of the sacrifice or other measures. |
| (7) | If the owner or insurer referred to in subsection (5) establishes that he may be compelled to pay, at a date subsequent to the distribution in terms of subsection (4) of the fund referred to in subsection (2), an amount in or towards satisfaction of any claim as contemplated in subsection (5), which payment would have entitled him to the right envisaged in subsection (5) had it been made before the said distribution, the trustees may out of the said fund provisionally set aside an amount in order to enable the said owner or insurer to enforce the said right against the said fund at such subsequent date. |
| (8) | For the purposes of this section "court" means any division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. |