Section 235: Prohibition on proceeding to sea without appropriate certificates

(1) No Nigerian ship shall proceed to sea on an international voyage from a port in Nigeria unless there is in force in respect of the shiped-
(a) if the ship is a passenger ship, a safety certificate which, subject to the provisions of this section relating to short voyage safety certificates, is applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed and to the trade in which it is for the time being engaged; or
(b)
if the ship is a cargo ship, both-
(i) a safety equipment certificate or a qualified safety equipment certificate, and
(ii) a radio certificate, a qualified radio certificate or a radio exemption certificate.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not prohibit a cargo ship from proceeding to sea if there is in force in respect of the ship such certificate or certificates as would be required if the ship were a passenger ship.
(3) The master and owner of a ship which proceeds to sea without a certificate in accordance with this section shall be deemed to have committed an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a fine not less than five hundred thousand Naira or to imprisonment for three years or to both.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a qualified safety equipment certificate shall not be deemed to be in force in respect of a ship unless there is also in force in respect of the ship, the corresponding exemption certificate and an exemption certificate shall be of no effect unless the certificate is, by its terms, applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed.
(5) The master of every Nigerian ship shall produce to the collector of customs from whom a clearance for the ship is demanded for an international voyage, any certificate required by subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section to be in force when the ship proceeds to sea, and the collector of customs shall not grant clearance to and may detain the ship until the required certificate is produced.
(6) Where the Minister permits a passenger ship in respect of which a short voyage safety certificate is in force, whether qualified or not to proceed to sea on an international voyage from a port in Nigeria not exceeding twelve hundred nautical miles in length between the last port of call in Nigeria and the final port of destination, the certificate shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed, notwithstanding that the voyage exceeds six hundred nautical miles between those ports.
(7) Where an exemption certificate, including a valid exemption certificate issued under this part of this Act in respect of a Nigerian ship specifies conditions on which the certificate is issued and those conditions are not complied with, the owner and master of the ship shall each be deemed to have committed an offence and on conviction be liable to a fine not less than five hundred thousand Naira.