Section 20: Foreign warships

20. Foreign warships.—A foreign warship and other state owned ships used and operated by the government thereof for non-commercial purposes shall not be arrested or taken into custody under any provision of this Act. In such cases, a written report shall be submitted immediately to the Federal Government or any authority or person duly authorized in this behalf by the Federal Government. Explanation.—For the purpose of this section, the expression “warship” means a ship belonging to the armed forces of a State bearing the external marks distinguishing such ship of its nationality, under the command of an officer duly commissioned by that state and whose name appears in the appropriate service list or its equivalent and manned by a crew which is under regular armed forces discipline.

Effective date: 2023-04-26

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