Section 131Part 6 — PREVENTION OF COLLISIONS AND SAFETY OF NAVIGATION
Signals of distress
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131. (1) The signals of distress which shall be used by vessels to which section 129 applies are those set out in Annex IV to the Collision Convention.
A signal of distress shall not be used by a vessel unless the master of the vessel so orders.
The master shall not order a signal of distress to be used by the vessel unless the master is satisfied —
that the vessel is in serious and imminent danger, or that another ship or aircraft or person is in serious and imminent danger and cannot send that signal; and
that the vessel in danger, whether the master’s own or another vessel, or the aircraft or person in danger, as may be applicable, requires immediate assistance in addition to any assistance available at that time.
The master of a vessel which has sent a signal of distress by means of radio or other means shall cause that signal to be revoked by all appropriate means as soon as the master of a vessel is satisfied that the vessel or aircraft to which or the person to whom the signal relates is no longer in need of assistance as provided in subsection (3).