(1) The master or an owner of a vessel may apply to AMSA for an exemption from the requirement to navigate the vessel with a licensed pilot in a compulsory pilotage area.
(2) The application must:
(a) be in writing; and
(b) contain the information prescribed by the regulations; and
(c) be in the approved form.
(3) AMSA must, after considering the application:
(a) by instrument in writing, grant or refuse to grant the exemption applied for; and
(b) give the applicant a copy of the instrument and, in the case of a refusal, a statement of the reasons for that refusal.
(4) A refusal to grant the exemption applied for may be a refusal to grant the exemption at all or a refusal to grant the exemption as to a part of the vessel's proposed navigation in the compulsory pilotage area.
(5) An exemption under subsection (1) is subject to the conditions specified in the exemption.
(6) An instrument under this section granting or refusing an exemption is not a legislative instrument.