Chapter I PRELIMINARY

(1) This Act may be called the Gujarat Maritime Board Act, 1981. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat. (3) It shall come into force on such date, as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. (4) It applies to all the minor ports in the State to which the Indian Ports Act applies on the date of the commencement of this Act and the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to any other minor port in the State to which the Indian Ports Act is extended by the State Government under section 4 of that Act, and with effect from such date, as may be specified in the notification.

In this unless the context otherwise requires,— (a) "applointed day" in relation to any minor port means the day on which this Act is made applicable to that port; (b) "Board" means the Gujarat Maritime Board constituted under section 3; (c) "Board security "means debentures, bonds or dock certificates issued by the Board in respect of any loan contracted by it under the provisions of this Act; (d) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Board and includes the person appointed to act in his place under section 9; (e) "dock" includes all basins, locks, cuts, entrances, graving docks, graving blocks, inclined planes, slipways, gridirons, mooring, trainst sheds, warehouses, godowns, open plots and other works and things appertaining to any dock and also the portion of the sea enclosed or protected by the arms or groynes of a harbour; (f) "foreshore" in relation to a port means the area between the high water mark and the low water mark relating to that port; (g) "goods" includes live stock and every kind of moveable property; (h) "high water mark" in relation to a port means a line drawn through the highest points reached by ordinary spring tides at any season of the year at the port; (i) "immovable property" includes wharfage-rights and all other rights exercisable on, over or in respect of, land, any wharf, dock or pier. (j) "Indian Ports Act" means the Indian Ports Act, 1908. (k) "land" includes the bed of sea or river below high water mark and also things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth; (1) "low water mark" in relation to a port means a line drawn through the lowest points reached by ordinary spring tides at any reason of the year at that port; (m) "master" in relation to any vessel or craft making use of any minor port means any person having for the time being the charge or control of such vessel or craft, as the case may be, except a pilot, harbour master, dock master, or berthing master of the port; (n) "member" means a member of the Board or its Committee, as the case may be; (o) "minor port" means a port other than a major port declared as such by the Central Government under any law; (p) "owner" — (i) in relation to goods includs any consignor, consignee, shipper or agent for the sale, custody, loading or unloding of such goods, and (ii) in relation to any vessel or craft making use of any port, includes any part owner, charterer, consignee or mortgagee in possession thereof; (q) "pier" includes any stage, stairs, landing place, hard jetty, floating barge or pontoon and any bridges or other works connected therewith; (r) "port" means any minor port to which this Act applies within such limits as may from time to time be defined by the State Government under the Indian Ports Act; (s) "port approaches" in relation to a port means those parts of the navigable rivers and channels leading to the port in which the Indian Ports Act is in force; (t) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules or regulations made under this Act; (u) "public securities" means— (i) promisory notes, debentures, stock or other securities of the Central Government or of any State Government: Provided that securities both the principal whereof and the interest where of have been fully and unconditionally guaranteed by any such Government shall be deemed, for the purposes of this clause, to be securities of such Government, (ii) debentures or other securitues for money issued by or on behalf of any municipal body, Improvement Trust or Port Trust under the authority of any law for the time being in force in the State (including the Board securities); (v) "rate" includes any toll, due, rent, fee or charge leviable under this Act; (w) "regulations" means regulations made under this Act; (x) "rules" means rules made by the State Government under this Act; (y) "State" means the State of Gujarat; (z) "vessel" includes anything made for the conveyance, mainly by water, of human being or of goods; (z-a) "wharf" includes any wall or stage and any part of the land or fore-shore that may be used for loading or unloading goods or for the embarkation or disembarkation of passengers and any wall enclosing or adjoining the same.