If the owner or the agent of the owner of a South African ship or of a ship plying between ports in the Republic or between a port in the Republic and any other port has reason, owing to the non-appearance of the ship or to any other circumstances, to believe or to fear that the ship has been wholly lost, he shall as soon as conveniently may be notify the Authority in writing of the loss or the feared loss and of the probable occasion thereof, stating the name of the ship, her official number, the port to which she belongs, and giving all other available relevant information.

[Section 260 substituted by section 46 of Act No. 40 of 1963]