(7)If a certificate under sub-section (1) of section 316 is issued for a period of less than five years, the Central Government or any person authorised by it in this behalf, may extend the validity of the certificate beyond the expiry date to a maximum period specified in sub-section (1):Provided that annual surveys referred to in sub-section (5) are carried out as may be appropriate.(7-A) If a ship at the time when a certificate expires is not in a port at which it is to be surveyed, the Central Government or any person authorised by it in this behalf may extend the period of validity of the certificate, but this extension shall be granted only for the purpose of allowing the ship to complete the voyage to the port in which it is to be surveyed and also only in cases where it appears proper and reasonable to do so:Provided that no certificate shall be extended for a period longer than three months and the ship to which an extension is granted shall not on its arrival at the port in which it is to be surveyed leave that port without having a new certificate:Provided further that when the survey is completed, the new certificate shall be valid to a date not exceeding five years from the date of expiry of the existing certificate.(7-B) A certificate, issued to a ship engaged in short voyage which has not been extended under sub-section (7-A), may be extended by the Central Government or any person authorised by it in this behalf for a period up to one month from the date of expiry and when the survey is completed, the new certificate shall be valid up to a date not exceeding five years from the date of expiry of the existing certificate.(7-C) In special circumstances where the Central Government so determines a new certificate, need not be dated from the date of expiry of the existing certificate, shall be valid up to a date not exceeding five years from the date of completion of the survey.
