| (1) | In this regulation "incident" includes any damage to, or failure or breakdown of, a ship carrying INF cargo that— |
| (a) | affects the safety of the ship, including but not limited to, collision, grounding, fire explosion, structural failure, flooding and cargo shifting; or |
| (b) | results in the impairment of the safety of navigation, including the failure or breakdown of steering gear, propulsion system, electrical generating system, and essential shipborne navigational aids. |
| (2) | If an incident occurs in relation to a ship, the ship's master must, without delay, notify, in accordance with subregulation (4)— |
| (a) | where the Republic is the nearest coastal State to the place where the incident occurred, the Authority; or |
| (b) | where another country is the nearest coastal State to that place, the government of that State. |
| (3) | If an incident occurs in relation to a ship and— |
| (a) | the ship's master fails to comply with subregulation (2) (whether or not the master is able to comply with that subregulation) in relation to the incident; or |
| (b) | the incident occurs in circumstances in which the ship is abandoned, |
the ship's operator or an agent of the ship's operator must comply with subregulation (2) in relation to the incident.
| (a) | Notification of an incident pursuant to subregulation (2) must be given using the fastest available means of communication. |
| (b) | Notification to the Authority maybe given by communicating the incident to the principal officer or duty surveyor at any of the Authority's marine survey offices in the Republic. |
| (c) | The notification message must contain the following information: |
| (i) | the ship's name and call sign (if any) and its flag of registry; |
| (ii) | the day and time of the incident; |
| (iii) | the ship’s position when the incident happened and at the time of reporting; |
| (iv) | the ship's course and speed; |
| (v) | whether the ship has been damaged and, if so, the extent of the damage; |
| (vi) | the type and extent of the release; |
| (vii) | prevailing weather conditions; and |
| (viii) | the ship's size and type. |
| (5) | A person who, pursuant to subregulation (2) or (3), has notified the Authority or a government of an incident must, if so requested by the Authority or that government, as the case may be, give a report to the Authority or that government, as the case requires, about the incident; the report must be given in the form approved by the Authority and within 24 hours of being requested. |
| (6) | A person must not, in a notice given to the Authority or a government pursuant to subregulation (2) or (3), or in a report given to the Authority or a government pursuant to subregulation (5), knowingly or recklessly make a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular. |
