Section 3: In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“Administration” means the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration set up by the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration Act 2000; “apprentice” means a trainee officer and includes a cadet; “bankruptcy” includes insolvency and any other process leading to the liquidation of assets; “assessor” means a person appointed under section 478 to hold a marine inquiry; Act No. 12 of 1994 Act No. 11 of 2000 “Assistant to the Registrar” means a person appointed by the Registrar under section 7 to be his assistant; “boarding ground” means a place at which the master of a ship is required to present the ship for the purposes of embarking or disembarking a pilot; “cargo” includes livestock; “cargo ship” means a ship which is not a passenger ship or fishing vessel; “Certificate of Competency” means a certificate issued to a seaman which entitles the seaman to serve in the capacity or grade stated in the certificate; “compulsory pilotage area” means the whole or part of a pilotage area in respect of which a declaration has been under section 456; “consular officer” means a person discharging the duties of consular office or on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone and when used in relation to a country other than Sierra Leone means an officer recognized by the Government of Sierra Leone as the consular officer of that country; “crew” in relation to a ship includes seamen and apprentices; “deposition” includes summary of evidence; “crew agreement” means an agreement entered into under section 121; “medical practitioner” means a person registered as such under the Medical Practitioners and Dental Surgeons Act, 1994; “Employment Record Book” means an Employment Record Book issued under section 217; “equipment” in relation to a ship includes everything or every article belonging to or used in connection with or necessary for the navigation and safety of a ship; “Executive Director” means the Executive Director appointed under section 14 of the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration Act, 2000; “exempt pilot” means a person holding a current pilotage exemption certificate that entitles him to be in navigational command of a particular ship, or of a ship within a particular class of ship, in the pilotage area in respect of which it is issued; “fisheries vessel” has the same meaning as in the Fisheries (Management and Development) Act, 1994; or “foreign ship” means a ship which is not a Sierra Leonean ship; “Government ship” means a ship— a) That belongs to the State or to an authority or instrumentality of the State; or b) That is held by a person on behalf, or for the benefit of, the State But does not include a ship belonging to the Armed Forces of Sierra Leone; “grain” includes millet, wheat, maize, oats, rye, barley, rice, pulses and seeds; “internal waters” means all waters landward of the territorial sea baselines of Sierra Leone and which are navigable; “international voyage” means a voyage from a port in one country to a port in another country; “length” in relation to a ship, means the distance measured from the fore part of the stem to the aft side of the head of the stem part in a direct line over the fore and after line or, in a ship not having a stem part to the foreside of the rudder stock at the point where the rudder stock passes out of the hull; “licensed pilot” means a person holding a valid pilotage license that entitles him to be in pilotage charge of a ship in the pilotage area in respect of which it is issued; “machinery” includes propulsion systems, steering systems, pressurized containers and pumping systems, windlasses, electrical systems and all similar apparatus required for, or affecting, the safety or operation of a ship or the safety of the personnel on board a ship “managing owner” in relation to a ship, includes any person not being an agent in whom the owner of such ship has vested authority to manage and operate the ship; “master” in relation to a ship, means every person (except a pilot) lawfully having for the time being, command or charge of any s hip and in relation to a fishing vessel means the skipper; “merchant ship” means any ship other than a fishing vessel or ship which forms part of the Armed Forces of Sierra Leone; “Minister” means the Minister for the time being responsible for transport matters; “mortgage” means the instrument creating a security under section 59; “National Flag” means the National Flag of Sierra Leone; “officer” in relation to ship’s officers, includes a master and a deck, engineer or radio officer; “official log book” in relation to a ship, means the official log book kept under section 219; “owner” in relationship to a ship, includes a demise or bareboat charterer and a managing owner; “passenger” means any person carried on board a ship except— a) The master, a member of the crew or a person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the ship or the business of the ship assigned on the ship’s articles of agreement as such person; b) A child under one year of age; c) A person carried on the ship under an obligation imposed upon the master to carry shipwrecked, distressed or other persons, or by reason of any circumstances which neither the master nor the owner, nor charterer, if any, could not prevent or forestall; or d) Supernumerary; “passenger ship” means a ship which is constructed or which is habitually or on any particular occasion used for carrying more than 12 passengers on international voyage; “person qualified to own a Sierra Leonean ship” has the meaning assigned to it in section 12; “pilot” in relation to a ship, means a person not belonging to the ship who has the lawful conduct of the “pilotage area” means a port or place declared as a pilotage area under section 454; “pilotage authority” the pilotage authority is appointed by the Minister under section 455; “pilotage exemption certificate” means a pilotage exemption certificate issued under section 460; “pilotage license” means a pilotage license issued under section 460; “pleasure craft” means a vessel that is exclusively used for pleasure; “port of registry” in relation to any ship, means the port where she is for the time being registered; “proper officer”, in relation to any function or activity under this Act, means a person authorized to perform that function or activity and may include a “consular officer”; “public office” includes an office the emoluments attached to which are paid directly from the Consolidated Fund or directly out of monies provided by Parliament and an office in a public corporation established entirely out of public funds or monies provided by Parliament; “Registrar” means the Registrar of ships referred to in section 5; “Registrar of Seamen” means the registrar of seamen appointed by the Executive Director under section 120; “Registrar of Ships” means a registrar of Sierra Leonean ships in his capacity as registrar or functions of his being discharged by that person or authority; “register” means the register of Sierra Leonean ships maintained for Sierra Leone; “regulations” means regulations made under this Act; “seaman” includes any person (except master and pilots) employed or engaged in any capacity on board any “seafarer” includes a master, officer and any other category of crew; “ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation; “surveyor” means a surveyor of ships a classification society or organization appointed by the Minister under this Act to carry out surveys and inspection of ships and issue safety convention certificate; “Sierra Leonean ship” means a ship which is— a) registered in Sierra Leone or b) exempted from this act from registration; “Sierra Leone waters” includes internal waters, inland waters and the territorial sea of Sierra Leone; “tackle” means, in relation to a vessel, the tackle, machinery, gear, apparatus and appliances used on board a ship for the loading and unloading of the vessel; “vessel” includes every description of water craft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water; “wages” means remuneration to crew for the work done as agreed between the crew and vessel owner or managing owner and it includes emoluments; “wreck” includes; a) flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict found in the water or on the shores of Sierra Leone; b) cargo, stores, tackle or equipment; c) the personal property of shipwrecked persons; d) any wrecked or any part of a wrecked aircraft or cargo; P ART II – REGULATIONS FOR VESSELS OPERATING IN INLAND WATERWAYS ETC. Regulations for vessels operating in inland waterways, etc.