The master of a vessel which is registered or licensed in the Republic or which, in terms of this Act, is required to be so licensed shall not, within or outside the Republic, and the master of any other vessel shall not, within the Republic or the territorial waters thereof, use or display or cause or permit any person under his authority to use or display, and no person shall use or display at a place on land within the Republic from which it can be seen from the sea -
(a) any signal which by regulation is declared to be a signal of distress, except in the circumstances and for the purpose prescribed; or
(b) any private signal, whether registered or not, which is likely to be mistaken for any such signal of distress.
