Section 1(z)

(z) “minimum manning requirement ” means the standard and number of persons required for safe manning and navigation of vessels, as may be prescribed by the Central Government; 8 (za) “non-mechanically propelled inland vessel ” means any vessel which is not a mec hanically propelled inland vessel; (zb) “notification ” means a notification published in the Gazette of India or the Official Gazette of a State, as the case may be, and the expression “notify” with its grammatical variation and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly; (zc) “obnoxious substance ” means any substance, which has been designated as pollutants under this Act or any other law for the time being in force in India; (zd) “official number ” means the number assigned to any vessel by the Registrar of Inland Vessels or such other person appointed under this Act, to be affixed or displayed on a conspicuous part of such vessel to refer, distinguish and identify one vessel from anothe r; (ze) “oil” means any edible oil carried on vessel as cargo or persistent oil such as crude oil, heavy diesel oil, lubricating oil and white oil, carried on board of a vessel as cargo or fuel; (zf) “oily mixture ” means a mixture with any oil content; (zg) “owner” means operator, charterer, beneficial owner or registered owner, who is responsible for the activities of the vessel and shall be under obligation to comply with the provisions of this Act in relation to, or in possessing express or implied title under this Act or any other law for the time being in force; (zh) “passenger ” means any person carried on board of a vessel, except persons employed or engaged in any capacity on board of the vessel in connection with the business of the vessel; (zi) “passenger terminal ” means the terminal designated for the embarking or dis -embarking of passengers and the permitted cargo, in a port, jetty, wharf or like places; (zj) “passenger vessel ” means any vessel permitted to carry more than twelve passengers; (zk) “pilot” means a person appointed by the owner of the vessel to assist the master or to steer the vessel in such area of inland water in accordance with the mandatory requirements, as specified in section 83 ; (zl) “prescribed ” means prescribed by rules by the Central Government or a State Government, as the case may be; (zm) “priority of lien ” means the ranking of liens in the order in which they are perfected or recorded in the book of registry maintained at every port or place of registry; (zn) “reciproc ating country ” means any country, as may on the basis of reciprocity, specified by notification by the Central Government to be a reciprocating country for the purposes of this Act; (zo) “recognised organisation ” means any organisation recognised and autho rised by the Central Government to perform and execute the functions involved in survey, classification or certification of vessels; (zp) “salvage” means an act of the salvor in retrieving or saving any property or life in danger due to wreck or accident a nd includes all expenses incurred by the salvor in the performance of salvage services; (zq) “salvor” means any person who conducts salvage operations; (zr) “service provider ” includes any person, who in the capacity of owner or operator of an inland vesse l used or plying in inland waters, providing services to any service user for the purposes of transportation, storage or accommodation; (zs) “service user ” includes any person who as a passenger or owner of cargo or freight forwarder, uses the services of any inland vessel in the inland waters for transportation, storage or accommodation purposes; (zt) “special category vessel ” means a mechanically propelled inland vessel that is identified under this Act as special by considering its use, purpose, function or utility or the means of 9 propulsion including the fuelling system or source of power for propulsion, such as liquefied natural gas, electrical propulsio n, the design, dimensions of construction or areas of operation or such other criteria or standards; (zu) “vessel” includes every description of water craft used or capable of being used in inland waters, including any ship, boat, sailing vessel, tug, barg e or other description of vessel including non-displacement craft, amphibious craft, wing -in-ground craft, ferry, roll on -roll-off vessel, container vessel, tanker vessel, gas carrier or floating unit or dumb vessel used for transportation, storage or acco mmodation within or through inland waters; (zv) “wreck” means a state of any vessel, or goods or a part or property of such vessel or carried on the vessel, -