23.—(1) The Minister may appoint such persons or classes of persons as he or she considers appropriate to be inspectors for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A person appointed under subsection (1) shall, on his or her appointment, be furnished by the Minister with a warrant of his or her appointment and when exercising a power conferred by this Act shall, if requested by any person thereby affected, produce such warrant to that person for inspection.

(3) Whenever an inspector has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence has been committed in relation to a ship under this section or section 15 and the ship concerned is in the State he or she may detain the ship or take it to such place in the State as he or she considers appropriate and there detain it.

(4) An inspector may, for the purposes of this Act—

(a) stop and board any ship,

(b) inspect and examine the ship,

(c) inspect and take copies of, or of extracts from the ship's log (if any) and the ship's manifest (if any) and any other records or documents on board the ship relating to the ship or its owner,

(d) require the master or any member of the crew of the ship to furnish him or her with such information or documents and give to him or her such assistance as he or she may reasonably require for the purpose of carrying out his or her functions under this Act,

(e) inspect and examine any cargo carried on board the ship, or

(f) inspect, examine and take samples of any hazardous and noxious substances carried on board the ship.

(5) A person who obstructs or interferes with an inspector in the performance of his or her functions under this Act or who fails or refuses to comply with a requirement of an inspector under subsection (4) shall be guilty of an offence.

(6) If a ship that has been detained pursuant to this section leaves or attempts to leave the place at which it has been detained the owner and the master of the ship concerned shall each be guilty of an offence.