# Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 1971 (repealed 1.1.1996), Section 20: Interpretation of other expressions.

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

(1) In this Act—
“damage” includes loss;
“owner”, in relation to a registered ship, means the person registered as its owner, except that in relation to a ship owned by a State which is operated by a person registered as the ship’s operator, it means the person registered as its operator;
“the court” means the High Court in England and Wales, the Court of Session or the High Court in Northern Ireland or a judge thereof.
(2) In relation to any damage or cost resulting from the discharge or escape of any oil carried in a ship or from a relevant threat of contamination, references in this Act to the owner of the ship are references to the owner at the time of the occurrence or first of the occurrences resulting in the discharge or escape or (as the case may be) in the threat of contamination.
(3) References in this Act to the area of any country include the territorial sea of that country.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/59/section/20 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/merchant-shipping-oil-pollution-act-1971-repealed-111996/section-20
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.