2 Port State action

  2.1 Parties shall appoint or authorize officers to carry out investigations for the purpose of verifying whether a ship has discharged oil or noxious liquid substances in violation of the provisions of MARPOL.

  2.2 Parties may undertake such investigations on the basis of reports received from sources indicated in paragraph 1.6 above.

  2.3 These investigations should be directed toward the gathering of sufficient evidence to establish whether the ship has violated the discharge requirements. Guidelines for the optimal collation of evidence are given in appendices 3 and 4.

  2.4 If the investigations provide evidence that a violation of the discharge requirements took place within the jurisdiction of the port State, that port State shall either cause proceedings to be taken in accordance with its law, or furnish to the flag State all information and evidence in its possession about the alleged violation. When the port State causes proceedings to be taken, it shall inform the flag State.

  2.5 Details of the report to be submitted to the flag State are set out in appendix 16.

  2.6 The investigation might provide evidence that pollution was caused through damage to the ship or its equipment. This might indicate that a ship is not guilty of a violation of the discharge requirements of Annex I or Annex II of MARPOL provided that:

• .1 all reasonable precautions have been taken after the occurrence of the damage or discovery of the discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the discharge; and

• .2 the owner or the master did not act either with intent to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.

  2.7 However, action by the port State as set out in chapter 3 of these Procedures may be called for.