26. — (1) No ship registered in the State shall proceed to sea on an international voyage from a port in the State unless there is in force in respect of the ship—

(a) if she is a passenger steamer, a general safety certificate, a short-voyage safety certificate, a qualified safety certificate or a qualified short-voyage safety certificate which (subject to the provisions of this section relating to short-voyage safety certificates) is applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed and to the trade in which she is for the time being engaged;

(b) if she is not a passenger steamer, both—

(i) a safety equipment certificate or a qualified safety equipment certificate, and

(ii) a radio certificate or a qualified radio certificate, or an exemption certificate stating that she is wholly exempt from the requirements of the Safety Convention relating to F27[radiocommunications] and F28[navigation and tracking systems and equipment].

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not prohibit a ship, not being a passenger steamer, from proceeding to sea as aforesaid if there is in force in respect of the ship such certificate or certificates as would be required if she were a passenger steamer.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a qualified certificate shall not be deemed to be in force in respect of a ship unless there is also in force in respect of the ship the corresponding exemption certificate; and an exemption certificate shall be of no effect unless it is by its terms applicable to the voyage on which the ship is about to proceed.

(4) F29[If any ship proceeds, or attempts to proceed, to sea in contravention of this section—

(a) in the case of a passenger steamer, the owner or master of the steamer, without prejudice to any other remedy or penalty under the Merchant Shipping Acts commits an offence and is liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €100,000,

or

(b) in the case of a ship not being a passenger steamer, the owner or master of the ship commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000.]

(5) F30[…]

(6) Where the Minister permits any passenger steamer in respect of which there is in force a short-voyage safety certificate, whether qualified or not, to proceed to sea on an international voyage from a port in the State not exceeding twelve hundred nautical miles in length between the last port of call in the State and the final port of destination, the certificate shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be applicable to the voyage on which the steamer is about to proceed notwithstanding that the voyage exceeds six hundred nautical miles between the said ports.

(7) Where an exemption certificate issued in respect of any ship registered in the State specified any conditions on which the certificate is issued and any of those conditions is not complied with, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding F31[€5,000].