M/S Apollo Tiger Shipping GmbH & Co. KG v. R

In Charters of Ships on (Updated )

The registered owner of the subject vessel was charged with an offence under the Safe Working Practices Regulations passed pursuant to the Canada Shipping Act following an accident involving a crane on the vessel in which two stevedores were injured. The owner brought a non-suit motion following the conclusion of the Crown’s case arguing that the vessel was under a bareboat charter at the time and that the definition of owner in the regulations did not include the registered owner under such circumstances. After extensively reviewing the definitions in the Canada Shipping Act and the regulations and noting the differences between the English and French versions of the definitions in the regulations the Court concluded that the definition of owner in the regulations did not extend to include the owner of a ship that was under a bareboat charter.