(1) Sections 376 to 411 shall not apply to warships or other non-commercial vessels owned or operated by a foreign country and entitled, at the time of salvage operations, to sovereign immunity under generally recognised principles of international law unless that country has decided to apply the Salvage Convention to such ships or vessels.
(2) For the purposes of any proceedings under this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation, setting out a Country's decision to apply the Salvage Convention to ships and vessels referred to in subsection (1) and the terms and conditions of such application, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.