Any person authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter who observes a vessel being used without sufficient lifesaving or firefighting devices or in an overloaded or other unsafe condition as defined in department rules, and in the person’s judgment such use creates an especially hazardous condition, may direct the operator to take whatever immediate and reasonable steps would be necessary for the safety of those aboard the vessel, including directing the operator to return to mooring and to remain there until the situation creating the hazard is corrected or ended.