Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)Chapter V : Safety of Ships and Life at SeaPart III : Safety of navigation232. Signals of distress |
| (1) | The master of a vessel which is registered or licensed in the Republic or which, in terms of this Act, is required to be so licensed shall not, within or outside the Republic, and the master of any other vessel shall not, within the Republic or the territorial waters thereof, use or display or cause or permit any person under his authority to use or display, and no person shall use or display at a place on land within the Republic from which it can be seen from the sea— |
| (a) | any signal which by regulation is declared to be a signal of distress, except in the circumstances and for the purpose prescribed; or |
| (b) | any private signal, whether registered or not, which is likely to be mistaken for any such signal of distress. |
[Section 232(1) substituted by item 18 (Schedule 2) of Act No. 58 of 1998]
| (2) | Any person convicted of contravening subsection (1) shall be liable, in addition to any penalty imposed under section three hundred and thirteen, to pay compensation for any labour undertaken, risk incurred or loss sustained in consequence of the signal used or displayed having been taken to be a signal of distress. Such compensation may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered in the same manner in which salvage is recoverable in terms of this Act. |