(1) Subject to subsection (2), any person who steals from or in any vessel, is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 7 years, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for 2 years.
(2) If because of a previous conviction, either summarily or on indictment, for a similar offence, or for any other cause the magistrate is of opinion that any summary charge under this section ought to be tried as an indictable offence, he or she may deal with it as such.