Major change proposed to Maritime Transport Act

The Ministry of Transport is seeking to update and modernise the MTA through an omnibus Bill containing 22 proposals. One of these proposals is to amend the penalties for safety offences, bringing them more in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act. Currently operating a ship in a manner which causes unnecessary danger or risk to any other person or property carries a maximum fine of $100,000 for a body corporate under the MTA, but under HSWA the maximum penalty is $1.5 million. If the proposed changes bring about parity between the MTA and HSWA, the industry can expect more prosecutions for safety offences to take place under the MTA.   Similarly, given the higher fines that may be imposed, more matters may be defended.

Other proposed changes include lowering the threshold for which MTA needs to meet before it can investigate a situation, from the current ‘belief’ threshold to ‘reasonable grounds’ for suspecting criteria in section 54A are met.

The first round of submissions closed in late June, however the NZ Marine Transport Association is seeking comments from industry – email them at info@marinetransport.co.nz. The proposed Bill can be found here, and it is expected a further round of consultation will take place when the Bill proceeds through the House and Committee stages.

If you have any specific legal questions relating to this proposal or maritime regulations in general, please contact Peter Dawson by email peter@maritimelaw.co.nz; phone +64 27 229 9624.