A person who fails to comply with a general direction or a special direction is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Without prejudice to any other defence, it is a defence for a person charged with an offence under paragraph (1) that the person had reasonable grounds for believing that to comply with the direction in question would have endangered life or imperilled the safety of any vessel or its cargo, or that for other reasons compliance with the direction was impracticable.