Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to this section, where a person dies or suffers serious injury:
(a) on board a vessel; or
(b) while engaged in duties relating to the operation of a vessel,
a shipping officer or a person authorised by the Minister must hold an inquiry into the manner and cause of the death or injury.
(2) An inquiry under subsection (1) shall not be held:
(a) in the case of the death of a person – if a coroner is, by the Coroners Act , required to hold an inquest into the manner and cause of the death; or
(b) if the Minister so directs.
(3) The person holding an inquiry under subsection (1) shall, if not a shipping inspector, have, for the purposes of holding the inquiry, the powers conferred on a shipping inspector by section 8(3) as if he were a shipping inspector.