Northern Territory Numbered Acts Northern Territory Numbered Acts(1) Subject to the regulations, the regional harbourmaster for a designated port may, by Gazette notice or notice published in a newspaper circulating generally in the vicinity of the port, close, for a period specified in the notice, all or part of the waters of the port:
(a) to all persons and vessels; or
(b) to specified classes of persons and vessels.
(2) However, the regional harbourmaster for a designated port may only exercise a power given by subsection (1) if:
(a) satisfied that the closure would not have an impact, and could not reasonably be expected to have an impact, on commercial shipping within the port; and
(b) before publishing the notice under that subsection, the regional harbourmaster gave written notice to the port operator of the port of the proposal to publish the notice.
(3) If a notice is published under subsection (1), the waters described in the notice are, for the period specified in the notice, closed waters to all persons and vessels or to the classes of persons and vessels specified in the notice, as the case requires.
(4) A person commits an offence if the person is in closed waters contrary to a notice published under subsection (1).
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.
(5) The master of a vessel commits an offence if the vessel is in closed waters contrary to a notice published under subsection (1).
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.
(6) An offence against subsection (4) or (5) is an offence of strict liability.
(7) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (4) or (5) if the defendant has a reasonable excuse.
(8) The regional harbourmaster, or a person authorised by the regional harbourmaster, may direct a person apparently in control of a vessel that is in closed waters contrary to a notice published under subsection (1) to remove the vessel from the closed waters.