(1) Where any person dies on board a Saint Lucian ship or any person from a Saint Lucian ship dies at a place outside Saint Lucia, the master shall report the death to the authorities at the first port of arrival and shall submit to the Minister a statement and log extract signed by the master.
(2) Where the Minister decides to hold an investigation into the cause of death, the Director or any person appointed by the Minister for that purpose shall, on the arrival of the ship at a port inquire into the cause of the death and enter an endorsement in the official log book either to the effect that the statement of the cause of the death in the official log book is in the Director's opinion true, or to the contrary effect, according to the results of the inquiry.
(3) The Director or person appointed under subsection (1) has, for the purpose of the inquiry, all the powers of a person making a preliminary inquiry under section 438.
(4) Where in the course of the inquiry it appears to the Director or person holding the inquiry that the death was caused on board the ship by violence or unlawful means, he or she shall report the matter to the Minister and, where the urgency of the situation so requires, take immediate steps for bringing the offenders to justice.