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In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,

"authorised person" includes a maritime security officer appointed under section 71 (1) of this Act, a customs officer, and any other person required to perform any

official duties for purposes of giving effect to this Act;

"Authority" means the Ghana Maritime Authority established under section 1 of the Ghana Maritime Authority Act, 2002 (Act 630);

"certificate" means a valid International Ship Security Certificate issued under section 30 or a valid Interim International Ship Security Certificate issued under section 35;

"Code" means the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, as adopted, on 12 December 2002, by resolution 2 of the Conference of Contracting Governments to the Convention;

"company" means a body corporate registered under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179), or a partnership registered under the incorporated Partnership Act, 1962 (Act 152) which has assumed the responsibility for the operation of a ship from the owner of the ship and which has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Safety Management Code;

"company security officer" means the person on board the ship who is accountable to the master, and designated by the company as responsible for the security of the ship including the implementation and maintenance of the ship security plan, and for liaising with the port facility security officer;

"Convention" means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, done at London on 1 November, 1974, and includes

(a) the Annex and Appendix to the Convention,

(b) amendments of the Convention, and

(c) protocols to the Convention;

"customs officer" means a person employed in the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, as well as a person acting in the aid of that employed person; and a person acting in aid of an officer acting in the execution of duty, shall be considered to be an officer acting in the execution of duty;

"Declaration of Security" means a Declaration of Security determined by the Minister under subsections (1) and (2) of section 9;

"Director-General" means the Director-General appointed under section 11 of the Ghana Maritime Authority Act, 2002 (Act 630);

"functions" includes powers and duties;

"Ghanaian ship" means a ship registered or licensed under the Ghana Shipping Act, 2003 (Act 645) or a ship owned by Ghanaians but exempted from being regis tered or licensed under Act 645 and includes

(a) a passenger ship that is used for international voyage or within Ghana, and

(b) a cargo ship of 500 or more gross tonnage that is used for international voyage or a voyage within Ghana;

"high-speed craft" means a craft capable of a maximum speed in metres per second equal to or exceeding, VO.1667 3.7 3 where V is the displacement corresponding to the design waterline (m);

"International Safety Management Code" means the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention adopted on 4 November 1993 by the International Maritime Organisation by Resolution A741 (18);

"maritime security document" means a document issued or approved by a party to the Convention for the purpose of the Code;

"maritime security officer" means a person who is appointed under section 71 (1) to carry out maritime security functions;

"master" includes every person who lawfully has, for the time being, command or charge of a ship;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for Maritime Transportation;

"mobile offshore drilling unit" means a mechanically propelled unit or vessel that is capable of engaging in drilling operations for the exploration for, or exploitation of, resources beneath the seabed such as liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, sulphur, or saIt;

"oil tanker" means an oil tanker as defined in regulation 1 of Annex 1 of the Protocol of 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973;

"Organisation" means the International Maritime Organisation;

"passenger ship" means a vessel which is constructed for or which is habitually or on any particular occasion used for carrying more than twelve passengers;

"pleasure craft" means a ship, however propelled, that is used exclusively for pleasure and does not carry passengers or cargo for hire or reward;

"port" includes an area of water, or land and water including the buildings, installations or equipment situated in or on that land or water intended for use either wholly or partly in connection with the movement, loading, unloading, maintenance or provisioning of ships, and

(a) areas of water, between the land of the port and the open waters outside the port, intended for use by ships to gain access to loading, unloading or other land-based facilities, and

(b) areas of open water intended for anchoring or otherwise holding ships before they enter areas of water, including areas of open water between the areas of water;

"port facility" means a location, as determined by the Director-General, where the ship-port interface takes place, including areas such as anchorages, waiting berths, and approaches from seaward; and includes fixed and floating platforms;

"port facility operator" means

(a) the owner of the port facility, or

(b) the manager of the port facility, or

(c) any other person who is, for the time being, responsible for the management of the port facility;

"port facility security officer" means the person designated under subsection (1) of section 57 by the port facility operator;

"port facility security plan" means a plan developed to ensure the application of measures designed to protect a port facility, ships, persons, cargo, cargo transportunits, and ship's stores within the port facility from the risks of a security incident;

"recognised security organisation" means an organisation appointed under sub-section (1) of section 5 and includes a security organisation affiliated to the Organisation or designated by the Minister as competent for appointment by the Authority in accordance with subsection (4) of section 5;

"security incident" means any suspicious act or circumstance that threatens the security of a

(a) ship

(b) a mobile offshore drilling unit and high-speed craft;

(c) a port facility;

(d) ship-port interface; or

(e) ship-to ship activity;

"security level" means the quantification of the degree of risk that a security incidentwill be attempted or will occur;

"security level" means the level for which minimum appropriate protective security measures must be maintained at all times for a period of time as a result of heightened risk of a security incident;

"security level 2" means the level for which appropriate additional protective security measures must be maintained at all times;

"security level 3" means the level for which further specific protective security measures must be maintained for a limited period of time when a security incident is probable or imminent, although it may not be possible to identify the specific target;

"security regulated port" means a port or port facility subject to a Declaration of Security under subsection (3) of section 9;

"ship-port interface" means the interaction that occurs when a ship is a directly and immediately affected by actions involving the movement of persons, goods, or the provision of port services to or from the ship;

"ship security officer" means a person designated under subsection (1) of section 44;

"ship security plan" means a plan developed to ensure the application of measures on board the ship designed to protect persons on board, cargo, cargo transport units, ship's stores, or the ship from the risks of a security incident;

"ship-to-ship activity" means an activity not related to a port facility that involves the transfer of goods or persons from one ship to another;

"ship's administration" means the government of the State in which the ship is registered;

"territorial limits of the Republic of Ghana" means the internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone and any safety zones around sea installations in the exclusive economic zone of Ghana.