Section 39. Duties and liabilities of Operator in case of environmental emergency.

(1) If an environmental emergency occurs from any activity in Antarctica and dependent and associated ecosystems, the Operator shall, without delay, take effective response action and inform the Committee and the Director General appointed under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) of such environmental emergency and thereafter, the Committee shall transmit it to the Parties to the Treaty. (2) If no response action is taken by the Operator under sub-section (1) and the nature of the environmental emergency requires immediate response action, the Party, where the vessel or aircraft is registered, may undertake such action on behalf of the Operator, and the Operator shall be liable to pay the cost of such response action taken by the Party or Parties, as may be prescribed in accordance with Annex VI to the Protocol. (3) If no response action is taken by the Operator or by any Party or Parties, the Operator shall be liable to such penalty as may be prescribed in accordance with Annex VI to the Protocol. Explanation.---For the purposes of this section, the expression "environmental emergency" means any unforeseen or accidental event that results in, or imminently threatens to result in, significant and harmful impact on the Antarctic environment.