(1) Where the Director-General or a surveyor has reason to believe that a ship at a port in Ghana is an unseaworthy ship, whether on a complaint, representation or otherwise made to the Director-General in sufficient time before the sailing of the ship, the Director-General shall ascertain whether the ship ought to be detained or not.

(2) Where the Director-General or surveyor is satisfied that the ship is an unseaworthy ship, the Director-General may in the case of

(a) a foreign ship, cause the ship to be detained; and

(b) a Ghanaian ship, cause its Safety Certificates to be suspended, until the Director-General is satisfied that the ship is fit to proceed to sea.

(3) Where the ship is detained under subsection (2), the Director-General may take any measures the Director-General considers necessary to prevent the ship from sailing while it is an unseaworthy ship.