# Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 1971 (repealed 1.1.1996), Section 2: Exceptions from liability under s. 1.

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

The owner of a ship from which persistent oil has been discharged or has escaped shall not incur any liability under section 1 of this Act if he proves that the discharge or escape—
(a) resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war, insurrection or an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible natural phenomenon; or
(b) was due wholly to anything done or left undone by another person, not being a servant or agent of the owner, with intent to do damage; or
(c) was due wholly to the negligence or wrongful act of a government or other authority in exercising its function of maintaining lights or other navigational aids for the maintenance of which it was responsible.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/59/section/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-oil-pollution-act-1971-repealed-111996/section-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.