(1) The master of any Saint Lucian ship upon encountering dangerous ice, a dangerous derelict, a tropical storm or any other direct danger to navigation shall send information accordingly by any means of communication at his or her disposal and in accordance with the regulations to all ships in the vicinity or to such authorities ashore as may be prescribed.
(2) The Minister may make regulations requiring ships to send out information regarding dangers to navigation and prescribing the manner in which the information is to be sent.
(3) Every person in charge of a radio station in Saint Lucia or on board any Saint Lucian ship, shall, on receiving such signal as may be prescribed for indicating 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 if so required by regulations made under subsection (2) shall transmit the message in the prescribed manner.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a “tropical storm” means a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone or other storm of a similar nature, and a master of a ship shall be deemed to have encountered a tropical storm if he or she has reason to believe that there is such a storm in the vicinity.
(5) A transmission of messages under this section shall be without charge.