New Zealand Acts

MARITIME TRANSPORT ACT 1994 - SECT 32

32 Duty to assist persons in danger and to respond to distress calls

1 The master of a New Zealand ship and the master of a foreign ship in New Zealand waters shall, so far as the master can do so without serious danger to the ship and persons on board,—

a) render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost:

b) after a collision, render assistance to the other ship, its crew, and its passengers:

c) after a collision, inform the master of the other ship of the name of his or her own ship, its port of registry, and the nearest port at which it will call.

2 On receiving a signal that a ship, aircraft, or survival craft is in distress, the master of a ship referred to in subsection (1) shall—

a) proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress and, if possible, inform them of that fact; and

b) comply with any requisition to the master’s ship by the master of the ship in distress by continuing to proceed with all speed to the assistance of persons in distress.

3 Subsection (2)(a) does not apply if—

a) the master is unable, or, in the special circumstances of the case, considers it unreasonable or unnecessary, to proceed to the assistance of the persons in distress; or

b) the master is informed that 1 or more ships have been requisitioned and are complying with the requisition.

4 Neither paragraph (a) of subsection (2) nor, if the ship has been requisitioned, paragraph (b) of that subsection, shall apply if the master is informed by the persons in distress or by the master of another ship which has reached the persons that assistance is no longer necessary.

5 The master of a New Zealand ship that is required to carry a logbook shall enter in the logbook a record of every distress signal received and any reason for failing to go to the assistance of persons in distress in accordance with subsection (3)(a).

6 Every person commits an offence who fails to comply with this section and is liable on conviction to—

a) imprisonment to a term not exceeding 12 months; or

b) a fine not exceeding $100,000; or

c) both.

Note: 1952 No 49 ss 289(1)(a), (c), 297 ; 1987 No 184 s 14

History: Section 32(6): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).