Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person is the master of an oil tanker (the subject oil tanker ); and
(b) the subject oil tanker has a gross tonnage of 150 or more; and
(c) the subject oil tanker is engaged in the transfer of oil cargo with another oil tanker that has a gross tonnage of 150 or more; and
(d) one of the following subparagraphs applies:
(i) the transfer occurs while the subject oil tanker is in the sea near a State, the Jervis Bay Territory or an external Territory and there is no law of that State or Territory that makes provision giving effect to Regulation 41 of Annex I to the Convention in relation to the area of the sea where the transfer occurs;
(ia) the transfer occurs while the subject oil tanker is in the outer territorial sea;
(ii) the transfer occurs while the subject oil tanker is in the exclusive economic zone;
(iii) the transfer occurs while the subject oil tanker is beyond the exclusive economic zone and the subject oil tanker is an Australian ship; and
(e) the transfer is not in accordance with the subject oil tanker's ship - to - ship operations plan.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a ship - to - ship operations plan for an oil tanker is:
(a) if the oil tanker is an Australian ship--a plan:
(i) that is in accordance with the appropriate prescribed form; and
(ii) that is written in the working language of the master of, and the officers on board, the oil tanker; or
(b) otherwise--a plan referred to in paragraph 1 of Regulation 41 of Annex I to the Convention.
Exception
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the transfer is described in paragraph 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Regulation 40 of Annex I to the Convention.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (3): see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .