Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)Chapter V : Safety of Ships and Life at SeaPart III : Safety of navigation249. Reports of dangers to navigation |
| (1) | The master of a South African ship on meeting with dangerous ice, a dangerous derelict, dangerous storm or any other direct danger to navigation, shall forthwith send information accordingly by all means of communication at his disposal and in accordance with the regulations, to ships in the vicinity and to such authorities on shore as may be prescribed. |
| (2) | Any person in charge of a radio station which is under the control of the Postmaster-General or which is carried on under licence issued by the Postmaster-General, shall on receiving the prescribed signal that a message is about to be sent under this section, refrain from sending messages for a time sufficient to allow other stations to receive the message, and shall transmit the message in such manner as may be required by the Authority. Compliance with this subsection shall be deemed to be a condition of every licence granted by the Postmaster-General under the Radio Act No. 3 of 1952, or any amendment thereto. Nothing in this subsection shall interfere with the transmission by radio of any signal which by regulation has been declared to be a signal of distress. |
[Section 249(2) substituted by section 32 of Act No. 30 of 1959]
| (3) | For the purpose of this section, the expression "dangerous storm" means a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone, or other storm of a similar nature and the master of a ship shall be deemed to have met with a dangerous storm if he has reason to believe that there is such a storm in his vicinity. |