NATIONAL MARITIME BOARD (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.01 p.m.

The Senior Minister of State for Communications (Mr Ong Teng Cheong): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Presently, ships working cargo on Sundays have to pay Sunday Labour Permit Fee which ranges from $60 to $200 according to the tonnage of the ship. The money collected is paid into the National Maritime Fund. The Fund is administered by the National Maritime Board whose functions are mainly to develop and regulate maritime employment and to administer welfare and training schemes for seafarers.

The Sunday Labour Permit Fee originated in the late 19th century and was meant to aid destitute seamen. It is an anachronism for a port like ours which now operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The present system of collection also has various shortcomings. At present, the National Maritime Board collects the Sunday Labour Permit Fee based on information furnished by the Port of Singapore Authority and the Marine Police. But the Board has no facilities to check whether ships are working cargo on Sundays, resulting in cases of evasion.

Revenue from the Sunday Labour Permit Fee amounts to about $1/2 million every year and constitutes an important part of the Board's income, of which a substantial portion is channelled towards the welfare and training of seamen. On this basis, the original criterion of collection has not been lost. To retain this income but without the administrative shortcomings, the Board proposes to replace the Fee with a new levy to be known as the Maritime Welfare Fee. The new Fee will be levied on all vessels of 75 gross registered tons (grt) and above calling at Singapore on a per call basis. The proposed rates of the new Fee range from $15 to $100 per call per vessel according to the size of the vessel. Concessionary rates, of course, will be provided for. The Maritime Welfare Fee will be collected by the Port of Singapore Authority which has agreed to be the collecting agent on behalf of the National Maritime Board.

The new Fee will have only a marginal effect on shipowners' operating costs. A study of selected ships has indicated that the imposition of the Maritime Welfare Fee on a per call basis will amount to only about 1% of a ship's daily operating costs. As most ships stay several days on calling in port, the effect would therefore be negligible. In fact, if we were to consider instances of specific tonnages, we will see that the rates of the new Fee are considerably lower than the rates of the existing Fee. For example, for ships between 1,000 and 1,500 grt the existing Fee for working on a Sunday is $150 whereas under the new Fee similar-sized vessels will pay only $25.

The Singapore Shipping Association and the Singapore Shipowners' Association were consulted. They both agreed that the Sunday Labour Permit Fee should be replaced by a more equitable and administratively more efficient system. Hence the proposed Maritime Welfare Fee.

The Fee will be levied on a date to be signified in the Government Gazette.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Ong Teng Cheong].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.