Section 128: Power to detain unsafe ships

128. Power to detain unsafe ships (1) Subject to subsection (3), where the Director has reason to believe that any ship, being in Port or at sea in Mauritius waters, is an unsafe ship by reason of any of the matters specified in subsection (2) and unfit to remain at sea or proceed to sea without serious danger to human life or the environment having regard to the nature of the service for which it is intended, he may cause the ship to be detained. (2) The matters referred to in subsection (1) are— (a) the condition, or the unsuitability for its purpose, of the ship or its machinery or equipment; or (b) undermanning; (c) failure to comply with the conditions of assignment under section 116 or 120; (d) alterations or other changes referred to in section 29; (e) improper carriage of dangerous goods; (f) overloading or unsafe or improper loading; or (g) any other matter relevant to the safety of the ship, and the reference in subsection (1) to proceeding to sea shall, in a case where the service for which the ship is intended consists of going on voyages or that do not involve going to sea, be construed as a reference to going on such a voyage. (3) Notwithstanding any other enactment, a foreign ship that is exercising the right of innocent passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 shall not be detained pursuant to this section.