Section 52: Power to deal with idle vessels

52. Power to deal with idle vessels (1) No vessel shall stay idle in port without the prior approval of the Port Master. P14 – 23 [Issue 1] Ports Act (2) An idle vessel shall adhere strictly to any specific instructions of the Port Master and to regulations which may from time to time be made by the Authority. (3) The Authority shall be empowered to remove, sell, destroy or otherwise dispose of a vessel which does not comply with subsection (1) or (2). (4) The Authority shall not incur any liability, criminal or civil, in respect of action taken in good faith under subsection (3). (5) The Authority may retain, out of the proceeds of the sale of a vessel, any expenses incurred by it in respect of the vessel or in marking, buoying, lighting or otherwise controlling the vessel or warning shipping of its presence, and shall pay the surplus, if any, to the person entitled to it, if an application for the payment is made to the Authority by that person before the expiration of one year from the date of the sale. (6) Where the proceeds of a sale are insufficient to reimburse the Authority for its expenses, or there is no sale, the Authority may recover the deficiency, or, where there is no sale, the whole of the expenses, from the owner. (7) This section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation from, section 32.