19. Power to detain ship

Where the Director has reasonable cause to believe that any oil has been discharged or has escaped from any ship or that a relevant threat of contamination has arisen, and the owner of that ship has incurred a liability under section 3 and the damage only affects, or is likely only to affect, the territory of Brunei Darussalam, the Director may detain the ship and the ship may be so detained until the owner of the ship deposits with the Director an amount which meets the owner’s liability or furnishes such security which will, in the opinion of the Director, be adequate to meet the owner’s liability.

If any ship is detained under this Act and the ship proceeds to sea before it is released by the Director, the master of the ship, and also the owner thereof and any person who sends the ship to sea, if that owner or person is party or privy to the act of sending the ship to sea, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.