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Hovercraft Act 1971

Public Act		1971 No 17
Date of assent		20 September 1971

An Act to make provision relating to hovercraft

BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1 Short Title and commencement

(1)

This Act may be cited as the Hovercraft Act 1971.

(2)

This Act shall come into force on a date to be fixed by the Governor-General by Order in Council.

2 Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

“Aircraft” has the same meaning as in the Civil Aviation Act 1964:

“Cargo” includes livestock:

“Crew member” means any person employed or engaged in any capacity on board any hovercraft on the business of the hovercraft; but does not include a person temporarily employed on any hovercraft while at a hoverport or while the hovercraft is at rest:

“Dangerous goods” has the same meaning as in the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952:

“Hovercraft” means a machine designed to be supported in the atmosphere, wholly or partly by air expelled from the machine to form a cushion extending beneath the machine to the surface of any ground, water, or other portion of the earth’s surface:

“Hoverport” means any area, whether on land or elsewhere, which is designed, equipped, set apart, or commonly used for affording facilities for the arrival and departure of hovercraft:

“Minister” means the Minister of Marine:

“Passenger” means any person carried on a hovercraft other than—

(a)

A person employed or engaged in any capacity on board the hovercraft on the business of the hovercraft:

(b)

A child less than 1 year old:

“Secretary for Marine” means the Secretary for Marine appointed under the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952; and includes his deputy:

“Surveyor of Ships” has the same meaning as in the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952.

3 Application to Crown

(1)

Subject to subsection (2) of this section, this Act shall not apply to the Crown.

(2)

If any hovercraft owned by the Grown, other than a hovercraft used for the purposes of any of the Armed Forces of New Zealand, is involved in an accident, the Minister may direct that the provisions of this Act, or of any regulations made under this Act, relating to the investigation of accidents involving hovercraft shall apply to the Crown for the purposes of investigating the accident.

4 Regulations

(1)

The Governor-General may from time to time by Order in Council make regulations for all or any of the following purposes:

(a)

Applying to hovercraft, or to persons, things, or places in relation to hovercraft—

(i)

Any Act, or instrument having effect under any Act, relating to ships, vessels, boats, aircraft, motor vehicles, vehicles, or other means of transport, or to persons, things, or places in relation to any means of transport:

(ii)

Any rule of law relating to ships, vessels, or boats, or to persons, things, or places in relation to ships, vessels, or boats—

and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, providing that any Act, instrument, or rule of law shall have effect as if references in it, in whatever terms, to ships, vessels, boats, aircraft, motor vehicles, vehicles or other means of transport, or to persons, things, or places in relation to any means of transport, include references to hovercraft or to persons, things, or places in relation to hovercraft:

(b)

Registering hovercraft:

(c)

Licensing, inspecting, and otherwise regulating hover-ports, and prohibiting the use of unlicensed hover-ports:

(d)

Requiring plans and specifications of hovercraft to be submitted for approval; and requiring workshops and other premises used for the construction, maintenance, or servicing of hovercraft and hovercraft equipment to be approved:

(e)

Requiring the hull, equipment, and machinery of hovercraft to comply with prescribed specifications:

(f)

Requiring adequate provision of doorways, passageways, stairways, companionways, ladderways, scuttles, and other means of egress for all persons, whether crew members or passengers, who may be carried in the hovercraft, and requiring all means of egress to be adequately indicated:

(g)

Surveying hovercraft and issuing certificates of survey:

(h)

Providing for warning devices, emergency lighting, and other safety equipment to be carried by hovercraft:

(i)

Providing for the proper accommodation of all persons on hovercraft:

(j)

Prescribing the number of crew members including the grade and number of qualified crew members to be carried on hovercraft:

(k)

Prescribing the qualifications for granting certificates of competency to crew members and, for the purposes of granting those qualifications, conducting examinations in both the theory and practice of hovercraft operations:

(l)

Prohibiting any person from taking charge or otherwise acting as a crew member of a hovercraft, or from engaging or being employed in such capacities as may be prescribed, in connection with the maintenance or repair of a hovercraft unless he holds the prescribed qualifications and satisfies such other conditions as may be prescribed:

(m)

Requiring crew members to be properly trained and periodically exercised in the use of safety equipment:

(n)

Securing the safety of hovercraft; securing the safety of persons and property in hovercraft and at hover-ports; and preventing hovercraft from endangering persons and property generally:

(o)

Preventing the overloading of hovercraft, the overcrowding of hovercraft with passengers, and regulating the carriage of passengers:

(p)

Requiring the reporting of accidents involving hovercraft causing damage to the hovercraft or causing damage to property or causing death or serious injury to any person, and requiring the investigation of those accidents:

(q)

Regulating generally all matters relating to the protection of the lives and property of crew members, passengers, and others on hovercraft:

(r)

Detaining any hovercraft in order to secure compliance with any law relating to hovercraft and detaining any hovercraft which is suspected of having been concerned with the breach of any law:

(s)

Prohibiting or restricting the use of any hovercraft until the prescribed certificates of survey are in force, and the prescribed manning requirements and conditions as to maintenance and repair are satisfied with respect to that hovercraft:

(t)

Keeping official log books, prescribing matters that are to be kept in the log books, and requiring those matters, or such of them as may be prescribed, to be reported to the Secretary for Marine:

(u)

Regulating the carriage of cargo, and the carriage of dangerous goods:

(v)

Suspending or cancelling certificates of survey and certificates of competency for offences committed against this Act or any regulation made under this Act:

(w)

Prescribing offences by crew members against discipline which endanger the safety of the hovercraft or of persons on board the hovercraft:

(x)

Prescribing forms for any certificate, book, instrument, paper, or document relating to hovercraft:

(y)

Requiring the payment by any person of such fees, charges, and dues as may be prescribed in respect of any matter relating to hovercraft:

(z)

Providing for such matters as are contemplated by or are necessary to give full effect to the provisions of this Act and for its due administration.

(2)

Any regulations made under this section may—

(a)

Make different provision for different circumstances or for hovercraft of different descriptions:

(b)

Exclude hovercraft of prescribed classes from the operation, in whole or in part, of any provision of this Act:

(c)

Provide that any Act, instrument, or rule of law applied by any regulations shall have effect as so applied subject to such modifications as may be specified in the regulations:

(d)

Prescribe offences against the regulations, and, on summary conviction for each offence against the regulations, a fine not exceeding $2,000 together with a further fine not exceeding $10 for each day on which the offence if it is a continuing offence has continued.

(3)

Any regulations made under this section may prohibit, control, or regulate any noise or vibration which may be caused by hovercraft, or hovercraft engines, whether on hoverports or elsewhere, and may prescribe any means of silencing, suppressing, or reducing that noise or vibration.

(4)

Any regulations made under this section may regulate the conditions under which noise or vibration may be caused by hovercraft, or hovercraft engines, on hoverports, and may provide that subsection (5) of this section shall apply to all hoverports, or to any specified hoverport, at which those conditions are regulated.

(5)

No action shall lie in respect of nuisance by reason only of the noise and vibration caused by any hovercraft, or hovercraft engines, on a hoverport to which, by virtue of regulations made under this section, this subsection applies, so long as the regulations are duly complied with.

5 Inspection of hovercraft

(1)

A Surveyor of Ships, or other person authorised in that behalf by the Minister, may in the execution of his duties and without unnecessarily detaining the hovercraft or delaying the hovercraft from proceeding on any voyage or excursion unless expressly authorised by this Act or by any regulation made under this Act so to do—

(a)

Go on board any hovercraft:

(b)

Inspect any certificate of survey of a hovercraft, and any permit, licence, or other document issued in respect of a hovercraft, and any certificate of competency of a crew member of a hovercraft:

(c)

Ascertain whether or not any persons are carried on any hovercraft and the number carried:

(d)

Ascertain, in the case of any hovercraft that is not authorised to carry passengers for hire or reward, whether any passengers are carried by it for hire or reward:

(e)

Ascertain whether or not any cargo is carried on any hovercraft and the nature and weight of the cargo.

(2)

Every owner and crew member of a hovercraft shall, when required to do so, give all information and assistance within his power to any Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person exercising the powers conferred on him by this section; but no owner or crew member shall be required to give any information that may incriminate or tend to incriminate himself.

(3)

No information obtained by a Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person in the exercise of his functions under this Act shall, except for the purposes of this Act, be disclosed to any person.

(4)

Every owner or crew member of a hovercraft commits an offence against this Act who—

(a)

Hinders any Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person from going on board the hovercraft or otherwise impedes him in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by this section; or

(b)

When required to do so by any Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person, fails without reasonable cause to produce any certificate of survey, permit, licence or other document relating to the hovercraft; or

(c)

Fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section; or

(d)

Knowingly misleads or deceives any Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person in any material particular.

(5)

Every Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person going on board a hovercraft shall, when requested to do so, produce evidence of his appointment.

(6)

Every crew member of a hovercraft commits an offence against this Act who fails without reasonable cause to produce when required to do so by any Surveyor of Ships or other authorised person any certificate of competency issued to him under any regulation made under this Act.

6 Loss or damage caused by hovercraft

(1)

If any loss or damage is caused to any person or property by a hovercraft, or by any person in a hovercraft, or by any article or person leaving or falling from a hovercraft, whether the person or property was being carried on the hovercraft or not, damages for the loss or damage shall be recoverable from the owner of the hovercraft without proof of negligence or intention or other cause of action as if the loss or damage were caused by the fault of the owner:

Provided that if the loss or damage is caused in circumstances in which—

(a)

Damages for the loss or damage are recoverable from the owner by virtue only of this section; and

(b)

Some person other than the owner is legally liable to pay damages for the loss or damage,—

the owner shall be entitled to be indemnified by that other person against any claim in respect of the loss or damage.

(2)

If any hovercraft has been transferred, let, or hired out by the owner to any other person for a period exceeding 14 days, and no crew member of the hovercraft in the employment of the owner remains in charge of the hovercraft, this section shall have effect as if in place of references to the owner there were substituted references to the person to whom the hovercraft has been so transferred, let, or hired out.

(3)

For the purposes of this section the term “fault” means negligence, breach of statutory duty, or other act or omission which gives rise to a liability in tort or which would, apart from the Contributory Negligence Act 1947, give rise to the defence of contributory negligence.

7 Appeal Authority

(1)

For the purposes of hearing and determining appeals from the suspension or cancellation of any certificate of survey or certificate of competency, the Minister may from time to time, after consultation with the Minister of Justice, appoint a suitable person as Appeal Authority.

(2)

The person appointed as Appeal Authority shall be a barrister or solicitor of not less than 7 years’ practice of the Supreme Court, whether or not he holds or has held any judicial office.

(3)

Every appeal shall be considered by the Appeal Authority with the assistance of 1 or more assessors. Each assessor shall be appointed by the Minister, and shall possess such nautical, engineering, or other knowledge or experience as shall best assist the Appeal Authority, but no assessor shall be an officer or other employee of the Marine Department.

(4)

Any person appointed as Appeal Authority or as an assessor may hold that office concurrently with any other office held by him, but shall not by virtue of his having been appointed as Appeal Authority or an assessor be deemed to be employed in the service of Her Majesty for the purposes of the State Services Act 1962, or of the Superannuation Act 1956.

(5)

The Appeal Authority together with every assessor shall be deemed to be a statutory Board within the meaning of the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951, and there shall be paid to the Appeal Authority and each assessor, out of money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose, remuneration by way of fees, salary, or allowances, and travelling allowances and expenses, in accordance with that Act, and the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly.

(6)

The Appeal Authority may receive as evidence any statement, document, information, or matter, which may in his opinion assist him to deal effectually with the appeal being considered, whether or not the evidence would be otherwise admissible in a Court of law.

(7)

Subject to subsection (6) of this section, the Evidence Act 1908 shall apply to the Authority, and to all appeals before the Authority, in the same manner as if the Authority were a Court within the meaning of that Act.

(8)

The Appeal Authority shall, within the scope of his jurisdiction, be deemed to be a Commission of Inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908, and, subject to the provisions of this Act, all the provisions of that Act, except sections 2 and 4a, shall apply accordingly.

(9)

Every appeal to the Appeal Authority shall be considered at such place and at such time as he deems convenient having regard to the nature of the matters to be decided, and may be adjourned from time to time and place to place.

(10)

Except as otherwise provided by this section, the Appeal Authority shall determine his own procedure.

(11)

On any appeal the Appeal Authority may confirm, modify, or reverse the decision appealed against.

(12)

Every appeal heard by the Appeal Authority shall be determined by the decision of the Appeal Authority alone, and shall be final.

8 Delegation of Minister’s powers

(1)

The Minister may from time to time, by writing under his hand, delegate to the Secretary for Marine, or to any other officer or officers of the Marine Department, any of his powers under this Act or any regulations made under this Act other than his powers under subsection (2) of section 3 and section 7 of this Act.

(2)

The officer or officers referred to in subsection (1) of this section may be an officer or officers referred to by name, or may be the officer or officers who for the time being hold any specified position or positions in the Marine Department.

(3)

Subject to any general or special conditions imposed by the Minister, the person to whom any powers are delegated under this section may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred on him directly by this section and not by delegation.

(4)

Every person purporting to act pursuant to any delegation under this section shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation.

(5)

Every delegation under this section shall be revocable in writing at will, and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power by the Minister.

(6)

Every delegation made under this section shall, until it is revoked, continue in force according to its tenor, notwithstanding that the Minister may have ceased to hold office, and shall continue to have effect as if made by his successor in office.

(7)

Where under this section the Minister delegates to the Secretary for Marine or to any other officer of the Department any power which the Minister is authorised to exercise by notice in the Gazette, the Secretary for Marine or, as the case may be, that other officer shall exercise that power by notice in the Gazette.

(8)

Every reference to the Minister in any Act, regulation, order, application, notice, licence, or document whatsoever shall, in relation to any power that the Minister has delegated to the Secretary for Marine or to any other officer of the Department under this section, be read as a reference to the Secretary for Marine or to that other officer, as the case may be.

9 Penalty for offences

Every person who commits an offence against this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year, or to a fine not exceeding $2,000, or to both, and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine not exceeding $10 for each day on which the offence has continued.

This Act is administered in the Marine Department.

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Hovercraft Act 1971