Marine Liability Act

Marginal note:Definitions

75 The following definitions apply in this Division.

discharge

discharge, in relation to a pollutant, means a discharge of a pollutant that directly or indirectly results in the pollutant entering the water, and includes spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, throwing and dumping. (rejet)

oil

oil means oil of any kind or in any form and includes petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and oil mixed with wastes but does not include dredged spoil. (hydrocarbures)

oil pollution damage

oil pollution damage, in relation to any ship, means loss or damage outside the ship caused by contamination resulting from the discharge of oil from the ship. (dommages dus à la pollution par les hydrocarbures)

owner

owner means the person who has for the time being, either by law or by contract, the rights of the owner of the ship with respect to its possession and use. (propriétaire)

pollutant

pollutant means oil and any substance or class of substances identified by the regulations as a pollutant for the purposes of this Part and includes

• (a) a substance that, if added to any waters, would degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the waters’ quality to an extent that their use would be detrimental to humans or animals or plants that are useful to humans; and

• (b) any water that contains a substance in such a quantity or concentration, or that has been so treated, processed or changed, by heat or other means, from a natural state that it would, if added to any waters, degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the waters’ quality to an extent that their use would be detrimental to humans or animals or plants that are useful to humans. (polluant)

pollution damage

pollution damage, in relation to any ship, means loss or damage outside the ship caused by contamination resulting from the discharge of a pollutant from the ship. (dommages dus à la pollution)

ship

ship means any vessel or craft designed, used or capable of being used solely or partly for navigation, without regard to its method of propulsion or lack of propulsion, and includes

• (a) a ship in the process of construction from the time that it is capable of floating; and

• (b) a ship that has been stranded, wrecked or sunk and any part of a ship that has broken up. (navire)