59   Offence for failure to hold appropriate certificate of competency

(1)  A person must not operate a commercial vessel to which this Division applies as its master if the person is required to hold a certificate of competency and the person does not hold an appropriate certificate under this Act.

(2)  A person must not act as a crew member of such a commercial vessel if the person is required to hold a certificate of competency and the person does not hold an appropriate certificate under this Act.

(3)  The owner of a vessel must not operate the vessel if this section is contravened by its operation.

(4)  The master of a vessel must not operate the vessel if this section is contravened by its operation. It is a defence to a prosecution under this subsection if the master establishes that he or she did not have any reasonable cause to believe that the vessel was being so operated.

Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.

Note. A certificate of competency is a marine safety licence—Part 4 deals with the grant of, and other matters relating to, any such licence.