MERCHANT SHIPPING

(a) the requirement of officers to hold certificates of competency, and the production of those certificates ;

(b) the exemption from stamp duty and record of indentures of apprenticeship, and matters to be done for the purpose of such record ;

(c) the entry in the agreement with the crew of the particulars respecting apprentices, and matters to be done for the purpose of such entry ;

(d) the engagement or supply of seamen or apprentices by or through unlicensed persons ;

(e) agreements with the crew ;

(f) the compulsory discharge and payment of seamen’s wages before a shipping master and the compulsory delivery of an account of wages ;

(g) the accommodation for seamen ;

(h) the deduction and payment of fines imposed under stipulations in the agreement; or

(i) official log books.

(1) Every Commonwealth foreign-going ship, and every Commonwealth home-trade passenger ship, and every Commonwealth home-trade ship of three hundred tons gross tonnage or upwards, and every Ceylon ship of fifty tons gross tonnage and upwards, when going to sea from any place in Ceylon, and every foreign ship carrying passengers between places in Ceylon shall be provided with duly certificated officers according to the following scales: –

(2) If any person-

the first-mentioned person shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(3) Subject to the provisions of section 13, an officer shall not be deemed to be duly certificated, within the meaning of this section, unless he is the holder of a certificate of competency or of a certificate of service, granted to him under this Act and in force for the time being, of a grade appropriate to his station in the ship, or of a higher grade.

(1) Certificates of competency shall be granted, as hereafter in this Act provided, for each of the following grades: – Master of a foreign-going ship. First mate of a foreign-going ship. Second mate of a foreign-going ship. Master of a home-trade ship. Mate of a home-trade ship. First-class engineer. Second-class engineer.

(2) A certificate of competency for a foreign-going ship shall be deemed to be a higher grade than the corresponding certificate for a home-trade ship and shall entitle the person to whom it has been granted to go to sea in the corresponding grade in a home-trade ship ; but a certificate for a home-trade ship shall not entitle the person to whom it has been granted to go to sea as master or mate of a foreign-going ship.

(3) A certificate of competency as master or mate of a home-trade ship shall not entitle the person to whom it has been granted to go to sea as master or mate, as the case may be, of any ship which is of more than one thousand five hundred tons net register tonnage or which proceeds at any point in the course of its voyage to a distance of more than fifty miles from the nearest coast.

(1) For the purpose of granting certificates of competency as masters, mates, or engineers to persons desirous of obtaining such certificates, examinations shall be held at such places as the Director directs.

(2) The Director may-

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the Director shall deliver to every applicant who is duly reported by the examiners to have passed the examination satisfactorily, and to have given satisfactory proof of his sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct on board ship, such a certificate of competency as the case requires.

(2) The Director may, in any case in which further inquiry or examination appears to him desirable, remit the case either to the examiners who made the report or to any other examiners, and may require a re-examination of the applicant, or a further inquiry into his testimonials and character, before granting him a certificate.

(1) A person who has attained the rank of lieutenant in Her Majesty’s Navy, or of lieutenant in the Royal Ceylon Navy or in the naval forces raised in any country forming part of the British Commonwealth specified in any Notification made by the Governor-General, shall, if he gives satisfactory proof to the Director of his sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct on board ship, be entitled without examination to a certificate of service as master of a foreign-going ship registered in Ceylon.

(2) A person who has attained the rank of lieute-nant (E) or sub-lieutenant (E) in Her Majesty’s Navy or of engineer lieutenant or engineer sublieutenant in the naval forces raised in any country forming part of the British Commonwealth specified in any Notification made by the Governor-General shall, if he gives satisfactory proof to the Director of his sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct on board ship, be entitled without examination, if a lieutenant (E) or an engineer lieutenant, to a certificate of service as first-class engineer, and if a sub-lieutenant (E) or an engineer sub-lieutenant, to a certificate of service as second-class engineer.

(3) A certificate of service shall differ in form from a certificate of competency, and shall contain the name and rank of the person to whom it is delivered, and the Director shall deliver a certificate of service to any person who proves himself to be entitled thereto.

(4) Any reference to a certificate of competency in sections 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 40 shall be deemed to include a reference to a certificate of service issued under this section.

(5) The provisions of this Act (including the penal provisions) shall apply in the case of a certificate of service as they apply in the case of a certificate of competency, except that the provisions allowing a holder of a certificate of competency as master of a foreign-going ship to go to sea as a master or mate of a home-trade passenger ship shall apply only to officers of the Royal Ceylon Navy who possess certificates of service.

(6) There shall be payable in respect of the grant of a certificate of service under this section such fee, not exceeding the fee specified in Part II of the First Schedule to this Act, as the Director may determine.

(1) Every certificate of competency shall be made in duplicate, one part to be delivered to the person entitled to the certificate, and one to be preserved.

(2) The part of the certificate mentioned last in subsection (1) of this section shall be preserved, and a record of certificates of competency and of the suspending, cancelling, or altering of the certificates and any other matter affecting them shall be kept by the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen.

(3) Any certificate of competency and any record under this section shall be admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

(1) Any person who-

shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months :

Provided that if in any case the Attorney-General by order under his hand directs that proceedings be taken under Chapter XVI of the Criminal Procedure Code in respect of an offence under this subsection, such offence shall be triable upon indictment, and shall in such case be punishable with a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding two years.

(2) Any certificate of competency or certificate of service the holder of which is, under section 13 and subject as therein provided, to be deemed to be duly certificated for the purpose of section 5 shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a certificate of competency granted under this Act.

(1) Every indenture of apprenticeship to the sea service made in Ceylon shall be executed in duplicate in a form approved by the Director, and shall be exempt from stamp duty.

(2) Every indenture of apprenticeship to the sea service made as aforesaid, and every assignment or cancellation thereof, and, where the apprentice bound dies or deserts, the fact of the death or desertion, shall be recorded.

(3) For the purpose of the record-

(4) If any person fails to comply with any requirement of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(5) There shall be payable in respect of the recording under this section by the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen or by a shipping master of any indenture of apprenticeship to the sea service such fee, not exceeding the fee specified in Part III of the First Schedule to this Act, as the Director may determine.

(1) The master of a foreign-going ship shall, before carrying an apprentice to sea from a port in Ceylon, cause the apprentice to appear before the shipping master before whom the crew are engaged, or, if the crew are engaged otherwise than before a shipping master, cause the apprentice to appear before a shipping master, and shall produce to such shipping master the indenture by which the apprentice is bound and every assignment thereof.

(2) The name of the apprentice, with the date of the indenture and of the assignments thereof, if any, and the names of the ports at which the same have been registered, shall be entered on the agreement with the crew.

(3) If the master fails without reasonable cause to comply with any requirement of this section he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) The Director may grant to such persons as he thinks fit licences to engage or supply seamen or apprentices for merchant ships in Ceylon, and any such licence shall continue for such period and may be granted and revoked on such terms and conditions as the Director thinks proper.

(2) No person shall maintain a seaman’s lodging-house except under the authority of a licence issued in that behalf by the Director and except in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be specified in the licence.

(1) A person shall not engage or supply a seaman or apprentice to he entered on board any ship in Ceylon, unless that person either holds a licence from the Director for the purpose, or is the owner or master or mate of the ship, or is bona fide the servant and in the constant employment of the owner, or is a shipping master.

(2) A person shall not employ any other person for the purpose of engaging or supplying a seaman or apprentice to be entered on board any ship in Ceylon, unless that other person either holds a licence from the Director for the purpose, or is the owner or master or mate of the ship, or is bona fide the servant and in the constant employment of the owner, or is a shipping master.

(3) A person shall not receive or accept to be entered on board any ship any seaman or apprentice, if that person knows that the seaman or apprentice has been engaged or supplied in contravention of this section.

(4) Any person who acts in contravention of this section in respect of any seaman or apprentice shall be guilty of an offence in respect of each seaman or apprentice in respect of whom he has acted in contravention of this section and shall, upon conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees, and shall further, if he is a person to whom a licence to engage or supply seamen has been granted by the Director under section 20, forfeit his licence.

(1) A person shall not demand or receive directly or indirectly from a seaman or apprentice to the sea service, or from a person seeking employment as a seaman or apprentice to the sea service, or from a person on his behalf, any remuneration whatever for providing him with employment other than any fees authorized by the Minister.

(2) If a person acts in contravention of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) The master of every ship, except home-trade steamers of less than eighty tons gross tonnage and home-trade sailing ships of less than three hundred tons gross tonnage, shall enter into an agreement (in this Act referred to by the expression ” agreement with the crew “) in accordance with the provisions of this Act with every seaman whom he carries to sea as one of his crew from any port in Ceylon: Provided, however, that a master of a ship shall not be required to enter into an agreement in accordance with the provisions of this Act if the seaman’ has entered into an agreement with the master or owner outside Ceylon and such agreement has been duly registered by the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen.

(2) If the master of a ship carries any seaman to sea without entering into an agreement with him in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the master in the case of a foreign-going ship, and the master or owner in the case of a home-trade ship, shall be guilty of an offence in respect of each seaman so carried to sea, and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(3) No Ceylon seaman shall be carried to sea from any port in Ceylon unless he has a document of identity issued by the shipping master of that port.

(4)

(1) Every agreement with the crew shall be in a form approved by the Director, and shall be dated at the time of the first signature thereof, and shall be signed by the master before it is signed by a seaman.

(2) Every agreement with the crew shall contain as terms thereof the following particulars: –

(3) The agreement with the crew shall be so framed as to admit of such stipulations, to be adopted at the will of the master and seaman in each case, whether respecting the advance and allotment of wages, the supply of warm clothing, or otherwise, as are not contrary to law.

(4) Where the master of any ship other than a Ceylon ship engages a single seaman at any port in Ceylon, such seaman may, if there is an agreement between the master and the crew of that ship made in due form according to the law of the place to which that ship belongs, sign with the consent of the shipping master of that port such agreement, and it shall not then be necessary for the master of the ship to enter into an agreement with such seaman in the form approved by the Director.

(5) Where the master of any ship other than a Ceylon ship engages a single seaman on the condition that the service of such seaman shall terminate at any port outside Ceylon, the agreement between the master of the ship and such seaman shall contain a stipulation for providing such seaman on the termination of his service a passage free of charge in some other ship bound to the port at which that seaman was engaged, and every such stipulation shall be signed by the master and shall be binding upon such master.

(a) The agreement shall (subject to the provisions of this Act as to substitutes) be signed by each seaman in the presence of a shipping master.

(b) The shipping master shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, or otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the same before he signs it, and shall attest each signature.

(c) When the crew is first engaged the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by the shipping master, and the other shall be delivered to the master and shall contain a special place or form for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or persons engaged subsequently to the first departure of the ship.

(d) Where a substitute is engaged in the place of a seaman who duly signed the agreement and whose services are, within the period of twenty-four hours immediately preceding the ship’s putting to sea, lost by death, desertion, or other unforeseen cause, the engagement shall, when practicable, be made before a shipping master, and, when this is not practicable, the master shall, if practicable before the ship puts to sea and if not as soon afterwards as possible, cause the agreement to be read over and explained to the substitute, and the substitute shall thereupon sign the same in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature.

(e) The agreement may be made for a voyage, or if the voyages of the ship average less than six months in duration may be made to extend over two or more voyages, and agreements so made to extend over two or more voyages are in this Act referred to as ” running agreements “.

(f) Running agreements shall not extend beyond the next following thirtieth day of June or thirty-first day of December, or the first arrival of the ship at her port of destination in Ceylon after that date, or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival.

(g) On every return to a port in Ceylon before the final termination of a running agreement, the master shall make on the agreement an endorsement as to the engagement or discharge of seamen, either that no engagements or discharges have been made or are intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or that all those made have been made as required by law, and if a master wilfully makes a false statement in any such endorsement he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(h) The master shall deliver the running agreement so endorsed in accordance with paragraph (g) to the shipping master, and the shipping master shall, if the provisions of this Act relating to agreements have been complied with, sign the endorsement and return the agreement to the master.

(i) The duplicate running agreement retained by the shipping master on the first engagement of the crew shall either be transmitted to the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen immediately or kept by the shipping master till the expiration of the agreement, as the Director directs.

(a) Agreements may be made either for service in a particular ship or for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner, but in the latter case the names of the ships and the nature of the service shall be specified in the agreement.

(b) Crews or single seamen may, if the master thinks fit, be engaged before a shipping master in the same manner as they are required to be engaged for foreign-going ships ; but if the engagement is not so made, the master shall, if practicable before the ship puts to sea and if not as soon after as possible, cause the agreement to be read and explained to each seaman, and the seaman shall thereupon sign the same in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature.

(c) An agreement for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner may be made by the owner instead of by the master ; and the provisions of this Act with respect to the making of the agreement shall apply accordingly,

(d) Agreements shall not extend beyond the next following thirtieth day of June or thirty-first day of December, or the first arrival of the ship at her final port of destination in Ceylon after that date or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival: Provided that the owner or his agent may enter into time agreements in forms sanctioned by the Director with individual seamen to serve in any one or more ships belonging to such owner, and those agreements need not expire on the thirtieth day of June or the thirty-first day of December, and a duplicate of every such agreement shall be sent by the owner or his agent to the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen within forty-eight hours after it has been entered into.

(1) There shall be payable upon all engagements of seamen effected in the presence of a shipping master under section 25 or section 26 such fees as may be fixed by the Director not exceeding those specified in Part IV of the First Schedule to this Act and a shipping master may refuse to proceed with any such engagement unless the fees payable have been first paid by the master or owner of the ship,

(2) All fees recovered under subsection (1) shall be paid and applied as follows, that is to say, one-half to the Consolidated Fund and the other half to the Director.

(1) The master of every foreign-going ship whose crew has been engaged, whether under this Act or under the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom before a shipping master shall, before the final departure of the ship from Ceylon, sign, and send to the nearest shipping master, a full and accurate statement, in a form approved by the Director, of every change which has taken place in his crew before the final departure of the ship from Ceylon, and that statement shall be admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

(2) If the master of a foreign-going ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) In the case of a Ceylon foreign-going ship, on the due execution of an agreement with the crew in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and also, where the agreement is a running agreement, on compliance by the master, before the second and every subsequent voyage made after the first commencement of the agreement, with the provisions of this Act resting that agreement, the shipping master shall grant the master of the ship a certificate to that effect.

(2) The master of every Ceylon foreign-going ship shall, before proceeding to sea, produce to the proper officer of customs the certificate granted to him under subsection (1) of this section, and any such ship may be detained until such certificate is produced.

(3) The master of every Ceylon foreign-going ship shall, within forty-eight hours after the ship’s arrival at her final port of destination in Ceylon or upon the discharge of the crew, whichever first happens, deliver his agreement with the crew to a shipping master, and such shipping master shall give the master of the ship a certificate of that delivery ; and an officer of customs shall not clear a Ceylon foreign-going ship inwards until a certificate of delivery under this subsection is produced, and if the master of a Ceylon foreign-going ship fails without reasonable cause so to deliver the agreement with the crew he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) The master or owner of a Ceylon home-trade ship other than a home-trade steamer of less than eighty tons gross tonnage or a home-trade sailing ship of less than three hundred tons gross tonnage shall, within twenty-one days after the thirtieth day . of June and the thirty-first day of December in every year, deliver or transmit to a shipping master in Ceylon every agreement with the crew made for the ship within six months next preceding those days respectively.

(2) The shipping master on receiving the agreement shall give the master or owner of the ship a certificate to that effect, and the master of the ship shall, before proceeding to sea, produce such certificate to the proper officer of customs, and the ship shall be detained until such certificate is so produced.

(3) If the master or owner of a Ceylon home-trade ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) The master of a Ceylon ship to which the provisions of section 23 apply shall at the commencement of every voyage or engagement cause a legible copy of the agreement with the crew (omitting the signatures) to be posted in some part of the ship which is accessible to the crew.

(2) If a master of a Ceylon ship referred to in subsection (1) of this section fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(a) fraudulently alters, makes any false entry in, or delivers a false copy of, any agreement with the crew ; or

(b) assists in fraudulently altering, making a false entry in, or delivering a false copy of, any such agreement; or

(c) procures the fraudulent alteration of, the making of a false entry in, or the delivery of a false copy of, any such agreement,

(1) Every master of a foreign ship who engages any Asian seaman who is a British subject at any port in Ceylon to proceed to any port out of Ceylon shall give and execute a bond, with some approved person resident in Ceylon as surety, in a sum to be determined by the Director and conditioned for the repayment by such master to the Government of Ceylon of all expenses which the Government of Ceylon may incur in respect of any such seaman so engaged by such master who may be discharged or left behind at any port out of Ceylon and become distressed.

(2) If any master of a ship fails to comply with the requirement of subsection (1) of this section in respect of any Asian seaman who is a British subject engaged by him at any port in Ceylon to proceed to any port out of Ceylon, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(1) A seaman shall not be entitled to the rating of A. B., that is to say, of an able-bodied seaman, upon a Ceylon ship unless he has served at sea for three years before the mast; and in the case of persons employed as fishermen in decked vessels registered under the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom such employment shall count as sea service only up to the period of two years thereof, and the rating A. B. shall be granted only after at least one year’s sea service in a trading vessel in addition to two or more years’ sea service on board of decked fishing vessels so registered.

(2) Service at sea may be proved for the purpose of subsection (1) of this section by certificates of discharge, by a certificate of service granted by the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen under the provisions of this Act or by the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen in the United Kingdom under section 126 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, of the United kingdom or by other satisfactory proof.

(3) A shipping master before whom a seaman is engaged for service in a Ceylon ship shall refuse to enter the seaman as A. B. on the agreement with the crew unless the seaman gives such satisfactory proof as is required by this section of his title to be so rated ; and if any seaman, for the purpose of obtaining a rating as A. B., makes any false statement or false representation, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(4) The Registrar of Shipping and Seamen shall grant a certificate of service to any person applying therefor upon payment of such fee not exceeding fifty cents as the Director may determine, and every such certificate so granted shall specify whether the service-to which it relates was rendered in whole or in part in a steamer or in a sailing ship.

(1) Where a seaman serving in a Ceylon ship other than a home-trade steamer of less than eighty tons gross tonnage or a home-trade sailing ship of less than three hundred tons gross tonnage is on the termination of his engagement discharged in Ceylon, he shall be discharged in the manner provided by this Act in the presence of a shipping master.

(2) If the master or owner of a ship acts in contravention of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) Where a seaman is discharged from a Ceylon ship in Ceylon the master thereof shall sign and give to him, either on his discharge or on payment of his wages, a certificate of his discharge in a form approved by the Director, specifying the period of his service and the time and place of his discharge, and if the master fails so to do he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(2) The master of a Ceylon ship shall also, upon the discharge in Ceylon of a certificated officer whose certificate of competency has been delivered to and retained by him, return the certificate to the officer,, and, if without reasonable cause he fails so to do, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) Where a seaman is discharged from a Ceylon ship ‘in Ceylon, the master of the ship shall make and sign; in a form approved by the Director, a report of such seaman’s conduct, character, and qualifications, or may state in that form that he declines to give any opinion upon such particulars, or upon any of them, and the shipping master before whom the discharge is made shall, if the seaman so desires, give to him or endorse upon his certificate of discharge a copy of such report (in this Act referred to by the expression ” report of character “).

(2) The shipping master before whom any seaman is discharged from a Ceylon ship shall transmit such seaman’s report of character to the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen, to be recorded.

(1) There shall be payable upon all discharges of seamen effected in the presence of a shipping master under section 39 such fees as may be fixed by the Director not exceeding those specified in Part V of the First Schedule to this Act and a shipping master may refuse to proceed with any such discharge unless the fees payable have been first paid by the master or owner of the ship.

(2) All fees recovered under subsection (1) shall be paid and applied as follows, that is to say, one-half to the Consolidated Fund and the other half to the Director.

(a) makes a false report of character under this Act knowing the same to be false ; or

(b) forges or fraudulently alters any certificate of discharge signed and given, or purporting to have been signed and given, or any report of character made and signed, or purporting to have been made and signed, under this Act, or any copy of any such report of character ; or

(c) assists in making any such false report of character or in forging or fraudulently altering any such certificate of discharge or any such report of character or a copy of any such report of character, or procures any such false report of character to be made or any such certificate of discharge or any such report of character or a copy of any such report of character to be forged or fraudulently altered ; or

(d) fraudulently uses any such certificate of discharge or any such report of character or any copy of any such report of character which is forged or altered or does not belong to him,

(1) The master of every Ceylon ship and the master of every Commonwealth ship trading with or being at any port in Ceylon shall before paying off or discharging a seaman deliver at the time and in the manner provided by this Act a full and true account, in a form approved by the Director, of the seaman’s wages and of all deductions to be made therefrom on any account whatever.

(2) The account referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be delivered-

(3) If the master of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with the requirements of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) A deduction from the wages of a seaman belonging to a Ceylon ship or to a Commonwealth ship trading with or being at any port in Ceylon shall not be allowed unless it is included in the account delivered in pursuance of section 45, except in respect of a matter happening after the delivery.

(2) The master of any such ship referred to in subjection (1) of this section shall during the voyage enter the various matters in respect of which deductions are made, with the amounts of the respective deductions, as they occur, in a book to be kept for that Purpose, and shall, if required, produce the book at the time of the payment of wages, and also upon the hearing before any competent authority of any complaint or question relating to that payment.

(1) Where the master of a Ceylon ship or the master of a Commonwealth ship trading with or being at any port in Ceylon disrates a seaman while the ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, he shall forthwith enter or cause to be entered in the official log book a statement of the disrating and furnish the seaman with a copy of the entry; and any reduction of wages consequent on the disrating shall not take effect until the entry has been so made and the copy so furnished.

(2) Any reduction of wages consequent on disrating shall be deemed to be a deduction from wages within the meaning of sections 45 and 46.

(a) the master or owner of the ship shall pay to each seaman on account, at the time when he lawfully leaves the ship at the end of his engagement, twenty rupees or one-fourth of the balance of wages due to him, whichever is less, and shall pay him the remainder of his wages within two clear days (exclusive of any Sunday or public or bank holiday) after he so leaves the ship ;

(b) if the seaman consents in writing, the final settlement of his wages may be left to a shipping master, to be effected under such regulations as may be made by the Minister in that behalf, and the shipping master’s receipt shall in that case operate as if it were a release given by the seaman in accordance with this Part of this Act; and

(c) in the event of the seaman’s wages or any part thereof not being paid or settled in accordance with the foregoing requirements of this section, then, unless the delay is due to any act or default of the seaman, or to any reasonable dispute as to liability, or to any other cause not being the wrongful act or default of the owner or master, the seaman’s wages shall continue to run and be payable until the time of the final settlement thereof.

(1) The master or owner of every home-trade ship registered at, trading with, or being at, any port in Ceylon shall pay to every seaman his wages within two days after the termination of the agreement with the crew, or at the time when the seaman is discharged, whichever first happens.

(2) If a master or owner fails, without reasonable cause, to make payment of any seaman’s wages within or at the time specified in subsection (1) of this section, he shall pay to such seaman a sum not exceeding the amount of two days’ pay for each of the days during which payment is delayed beyond that time, but so that the sum payable to any seaman under this subsection shall not exceed ten days’ double pay.

(3) Any sum payable under this section may be recovered as wages.

(1) Where a seaman is discharged from a Ceylon ship or from a Commonwealth ship trading with or being at any port in Ceylon, and the settlement of such seaman’s wages is completed, before a hipping master, he shall sign in the presence of the hipping master a release, in a form approved by the Director, of all claims in respect of the past voyage or engagement; and the release shall also be signed ‘ the master or owner of the ship and attested by the shipping master.

(2)The release, signed and attested in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, shall operate as a mutual discharge and settlement of all demands between the parties thereto in respect of the past voyage or engagement.

(3) The release shall be retained by the shipping master, and on production from his custody shall be admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

(4) Where the settlement of a seaman’s wages is by this Act required to be completed through or in the presence of a shipping master, no payment, receipt, or settlement made otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act or, in the case of a Commonwealth ship to which the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom apply otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom, shall operate as, or be admitted as evidence of, the release or satisfaction of any claim.

(5) Upon any payment being made by a master of a Ceylon ship or of a Commonwealth ship trading with or being at any port in Ceylon before a shipping master, the shipping master shall, if required, sign and give to the master a statement of the whole amount so paid; and such statement shall as between the master and his employer be admissible as evidence that the master has made the payments therein mentioned.

(6) Notwithstanding anything heretofore in this section contained, a seaman may except from the release signed by him under this section any specified claim or demand against the master or owner of the ship ; and a note of any claim or demand so excepted shall be entered upon the release, and the release shall not operate as a discharge or settlement of any claim or. demand so noted, nor shall the provisions of subsection (4) of this section apply to any payment, receipt, or settlement made with respect to any such claim or demand or, in the case of a Commonwealth ship to which the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906, of the United Kingdom applies with respect to any claim or demand excepted from a release under the provisions of section 60 of that Act.

(1) Where in the case of a Ceylon ship or of a Commonwealth ship a question as to wages is raised before a shipping master between the master or owner of the ship and a seaman or apprentice, and the amount in question does not exceed fifty rupees, the shipping master may, on the application of either party, adjudicate, and the decision of the shipping master in the matter shall be final; but if the shipping master is of opinion that the question is one which ought to be decided in a court of law, he may refuse to decide it.

(2) Where any question, of whatever nature and whatever the amount in dispute, between the master or owner of a Ceylon ship or of a Commonwealth ship as aforesaid and any of his crew is raised before a shipping master, and both parties agree in writing to submit the same to him, the shipping master shall hear and decide the question so submitted ; and an award made by him upon the submission shall be conclusive as to the rights of the parties, and the submission or award shall not require a stamp ; and a document purporting to be the submission or award shall be admissible as evidence thereof.

(1) In any proceeding under this Act before a shipping master relating to the wages, claims, or dislarge of a seaman, the shipping master may require the owner, or his agent, or the master, or any mate or other member of the crew, to produce any log-books, papers, or other documents in his possession or power relating to a matter in question in the proceeding, and may require the attendance of and examine any of those persons, being then at or near the place, on the matter.

(2) If any person whose attendance is required under subsection (1) of this section fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with the requisition, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) Where, under the provisions of this Act, an agreement with the crew is required to be made in a form approved by the Director-

(2) Save as aforesaid, an agreement by or on behalf of the employer of a seaman for the payment of money to or on behalf of the seaman conditionally on his going to sea from any port in Ceylon shall be void, and any money paid in satisfaction or in respect of any such agreement shall not be deducted from the seaman’s wages, and a person shall not have any right of action, suit, or set-off against the seaman or his assignee in respect of any money so paid or purporting to have been so paid.

(1) Any stipulation made by a seaman at the commencement of a voyage, under section 54, for the allotment of any part of his wages during his absence shall be inserted in the agreement with the crew, and shall state the amounts and times of the payments to be made.

(2) Any stipulation referred to in subsection (1) of this section may provide for the allotment, by means of an allotment note, of any part (not exceeding one-half) of the seaman’s wages in favour either of a near relative or of a savings bank : Provided that by agreement with the master a stipulation may be inserted in the agreement with the crew for the allotment as aforesaid of a greater sum than one-half of the seaman’s wages.

(3) Allotment notes shall be in a form approved by the Director.

(4) For the purposes of the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes-

(5) Every shipping master before whom any seaman is engaged under the provisions of this Act shall, after the seaman has signed the agreement with the crew, enquire of the seaman whether he requires a stipulation for the allotment of his wages by means of an allotment note, and if the seaman requires such a stipulation shall insert the stipulation in the agreement with the crew ; and any such stipulation so inserted (being a stipulation for the allotment of not more than one-half of the seaman’s wages) shall be deemed to have been agreed to by the master.

(1) An allotment in favour of a savings bank shall be made in favour of such persons and carried effect in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations made in that behalf by the Minister.

(2) The sum received by a savings bank in pursuance of an allotment shall be paid out only on an application made, through a shipping master or the Director, by the seaman himself, or in the case of his death, by some person to whom his property, not exceeding one thousand rupees in value, may be paid under this Act.

(1) Where the balance of wages due to a seaman belonging to a Ceylon ship is more than one hundred rupees, and the seaman expresses to the master of the ship, while the ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, his desire to have facilities afforded to him for remitting all or any part of the balance to a savings bank, or to a near relative in whose favour an allotment note may be made, the master shall give the seaman all reasonable facilities for so doing so far as regards so much of the balance as is in excess of one hundred rupees, but shall be under no obligation to give those facilities while the ship is in port if the sum will become payable before the ship leaves port or otherwise than conditionally on the seaman going to sea in the ship.

(2) If the master of a ship fails to comply with the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) The person in whose favour an allotment note is made under this Act may, unless the seaman is shown, in the manner in this Act specified, to have forfeited or ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which the allotment is to be paid, recover the sums allotted, when and as the same are made payable, with costs from the owner of the ship with respect to which the engagement was made, or from any agent of the owner who has authorized the allotment, in the same court and manner in which, wages of seamen not exceeding five hundred rupees may be recovered under this Act: Provided that the wife of a seaman, if she deserts her children, or so misconducts herself as to be undeserving of support from her husband, shall forfeit all right to further payments under any allotment made in her favour.

(2) In any proceeding for such recovery as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section it shall be sufficient for the claimant to prove that he is the person mentioned in the note, and that the note was given by the owner or by the master or some other authorized agent; and the seaman shall be presumed to be duly earning his wages, unless the contrary is shown to the satisfaction of the court, either-

(1) A seaman belonging to a Ceylon ship shall not by any agreement forfeit his lien on the ship, or be deprived of any remedy for the recovery of his wages, to which in the absence of the agreement he would be entitled, and shall not by any agreement abandon his right to wages in case of the loss of the ship, or abandon any right that he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage ; and every stipulation in any agreement inconsistent with any provisions of this Act or of the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom shall be void.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to a stipulation made by the seamen belonging to any Ceylon ship, which according to the terms of the agreement is to be employed on salvage service, with respect to the remuneration to be paid to them for salvage services to be rendered by that ship to any other ship.

(1) The right of a seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon ship to wages shall not depend on the earning of freight ; and every such seaman and apprentice who would be entitled to demand and recover any wages, if the ship in which he has served had earned freight, shall, subject to all other rules of law and conditions applicable to the case, be entitled to demand and recover the wages, notwithstanding that freight has not been earned; but in all cases of wreck or loss of the ship, proof that the seaman has not exerted himself to the utmost to save the ship, cargo, and stores shall bar his claim to wages.

(2) Where a seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon ship who would, but for death, be entitled by virtue of this section to demand and recover any wages dies before the wages are paid, the wages shall, where the ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, be paid and applied in the manner provided by this Act with respect to the wages of a seaman who dies during a voyage.

(1) As respects wages due or accruing to a seaman or apprentice to the sea service belonging to a Ceylon ship-

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes.

(a) where the owner of the ship is adjudged insolvent ; or

(b) where the ship is under arrest or is sold by the authority of any court; or

(c) where a Court of Requests acting under the authority of this Act refers the claim to the Colonial Court of Admiralty ; or

(d) where neither the owner nor the master of the ship is or resides within twenty miles of the place where the seaman or apprentice is discharged or put ashore.

(1) The master of a ship shall, so far as the case permits, have the same rights, liens, and remedies for the recovery of his wages as a seaman has under this Act or by any law or custom.

(2) The master of a ship, and every person lawfully acting as master of a ship by reason of the decease or incapacity from illness of the master of the ship, shall, so far as the case permits, have the same rights, liens and remedies for the recovery of disbursements or liabilities properly made or incurred by him on account the ship as a master has for the recovery of his Wages.

(3) If in any admiralty proceeding in any court having admiralty jurisdiction touching the claims of a master of a ship in respect of wages, or of such disbursements or liabilities as aforesaid, any right of set-off or counter-claim is set up, the court may enter into and adjudicate upon all questions and settle all accounts then arising or outstanding and unsettled between the parties to the proceeding, and may direct payment of any balance found to be due.

(1) If any seaman or apprentice to the sea service belonging to a Ceylon or Commonwealth, ship (whether a foreign-going or home-trade ship) the crew of which are to be discharged, or the final port of destination of which is, in Ceylon dies during the voyage, the master of the ship shall take charge of any money or effects belonging to the seaman or apprentice which are on board the ship.

(2) The master may, if he thinks fit, cause any of the effects to be sold by auction at the mast or otherwise by public auction.

(3) The master shall enter in the official log-book the following particulars : –

(4) The entry shall be signed by the master and attested by a mate and some other member of the crew.

(5) The said money, effects, proceeds of sale of effects, and balance of wages are in this Act referred to as the property of the seaman or apprentice.

(1) Where a seaman or apprentice dies as aforesaid, the master shall, within forty-eight hours after the arrival of the ship at its port of destination in Ceylon, deliver and pay the property of such seaman or apprentice to the shipping master at that port.

(2) In all cases where a seaman or apprentice dies during the progress of a voyage or engagement, the master shall give to the shipping master to whom delivery and payment is made as aforesaid such account as he requires of the property of the deceased, in such form as the Minister may prescribe.

(3) A deduction claimed by the master in the account given under subsection (2) of this section shall not be allowed unless verified, if an official log-book is required to be kept, by an entry in that book made and attested as required by this Act, and also by such other vouchers (if any) as may reasonably be required by the shipping master to whom the account is given.

(4) A shipping master shall grant to a master, upon due compliance with such provisions of this section as relate to acts to be done at the port of destination, a certificate to that effect ; and an officer of customs shall not clear inwards a foreign-going ship without the production of that certificate.

(1) If the master of any Ceylon or Commonwealth ship the crew of which are to be discharged, or the final port of destination of which is, in Ceylon fails to comply with the provisions of this Act with respect to taking charge of the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice to the sea service, or to making in the official log-book the proper entries relating thereto, or to procuring the proper attestation of those entries as required by this Act, or to the payment or delivery of the property, he shall be accountable for the property to the Director and shall pay and deliver the same accordingly and shall in addition be guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction thereof after summary trial, to a fine not exceeding treble the value of the property not accounted for or, if such value is not ascertained, not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(2) If any property referred to in subsection (1) of this section is not duly paid, delivered, or accounted for by the master, the owner of the ship shall pay, deliver, and account for such property and it shall be recoverable from him accordingly, and if he fails to account for and deliver or pay the same he shall, in addition to his liability for the same, be guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction thereof after summary trial, to a fine not exceeding treble the value of the property not accounted for, not delivered, or not paid over or, if such value is not ascertained, not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(3) The property may be recovered in the same court and manner in which, the wages of seamen may be recovered under this Act.

(1) Where a seaman or apprentice belonging to Ceylon or Commonwealth ship the crew of which are to be discharged, or the final port of destination of which is, in Ceylon is lost with the ship to which he belongs, the Director may recover the wages due to him from the owner of the ship, in the same court and in the same manner in which the wages of seamen are recoverable under this Act, and shall deal with those wages in the same manner as with the wages of other deceased seamen and apprentices under this Act.

(2) In any proceeding for the recovery of the wages referred to in subsection (1) of this section, if it is shown by some official return produced out of the custody of the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen, or by other evidence, that the ship has twelve months or upwards before the institution of the proceeding left a port of departure, she shall, unless it is shown that she has been heard of within twelve months after that departure, be deemed to have been lost with all hands on board, either immediately after the time when she was last heard of or at such later time as the court hearing the case may think probable.

(3) Any duplicate agreement made out, or statement of a change of the crew delivered, under this Act or under the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom, at the time of the last departure of the ship from Ceylon, or a certificate purporting to be a certificate from a consular or other public officer at any port out of Ceylon stating that certain seamen and apprentices were shipped in the ship from the said port, shall, if produced out of the custody of the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen or of the Director, be, in the absence of proof to the contrary, sufficient that the seamen and apprentices therein named as belonging to the ship were on board at the time of the loss.

(1) Where any property of a deceased seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon or Commonwealth ship the crew of which are or are to be discharged, or the final port of destination of which is, in Ceylon comes into the hands of the Director, or of any person on behalf of the Director, the Director, after deducting for expenses incurred in respect of that seaman or apprentice or of his property such sum as the Director thinks proper to allow, shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, deal with the residue as follows : –

(2) Every person to whom any residue referred to in subsection (1) of this section is so paid or delivered shall apply it in due course of administration.

(1) Where a deceased seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon or Commonwealth ship the crew of which are or are to be discharged, or the final port of destination of which is, in Ceylon has left a will, the Director may refuse to pay or deliver any residue under section 79-

(2) Where the Director refuses under this section to pay or deliver any residue under section 79 to a person claiming under a will, such residue shall be dealt with as if no will had been made.

(1) A creditor shall not be entitled to claim from the Director the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice received by the Director under this Act or any part thereof, by virtue of representation obtained as creditor.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in any written or other law to the contrary, a creditor shall not be entitled by any means whatever to obtain payment of his debt out of the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice as aforesaid, if the debt accrued more than three years before the death of the deceased, or if the demand is not made within two years after the death.

(3) The demand shall be made by the creditor delivering to the Director an account in writing in a form approved by the Director, stating the particulars of his demand and the place of his abode, and signed by him and verified by an affidavit.

(4) If before the demand is made any claim to the property of the deceased made by any person has been allowed, the Director shall give notice to the creditor of the allowance of such claim.

(5) If no claim has been allowed, the Director shall investigate the creditor’s account, and may for that purpose require him to prove the debt, and to produce all books, accounts, vouchers, and papers relating thereto ; and if by means of them the creditor satisfies the Director of the justice of the demand, either in the whole or in part, the same shall be allowed and paid accordingly, so far as the property then in the hands of the Director will extend for that purpose, and the Director shall thereby be discharged from all further liability in respect of money so paid; but if the Director is not satisfied as to the claim, or if such books, accounts, vouchers, or papers as aforesaid are not produced, and sufficient reason is not given for their non-production, the demand shall be disallowed.

(6) In any case whatever the Director may delay the investigation of any demand made by a creditor under this section for the payment of his debt for a period of one year from the time of the first delivery of the demand ; and if in the course of that period a claim to the property of the deceased is made by any person as widow, next of kin, or legatee, and allowed by the Director under this Act, the Director may pay and deliver the property to that person.

(7) Where the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice has been paid and delivered by the Director to any person as widow, next of kin, or legatee of the deceased, whether before or after a demand has been made by a creditor under this section, any creditor of the deceased shall have the same rights and remedies against such person as if such person had received the property as the legal personal representative of the deceased.

(1) Where no claim to the property of a deceased seaman or apprentice received by the Director under this Act is substantiated within one year from the date of the receipt of the property by the Director, the Director shall pay the property, or the proceeds thereof, into the Consolidated Fund.

(2) If, after the property, or the proceeds thereof, has or have been paid into the Consolidated Fund as aforesaid, any claim is made thereto and is substantiated to the satisfaction of the Director, the amount paid into the Consolidated Fund under subsection (1) of this section, or so much thereof as appears to be due to the claimant, shall be paid to him from the Consolidated Fund :

Provided that no such claim shall be entertained after the expiration of six years from the date of the receipt of the property by the Director, except with the Minister’s sanction.

(3) Any person who is aggrieved by the decision of the Director in respect of any matter under this section may appeal to the Minister, whose decision in respect of such matter shall be final.

(1) If three or more members of the crew of a Ceylon ship, where such ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, consider that the provisions or water for the use of the crew are of bad quality, unfit for use, or deficient in quantity they may complain thereof to a shipping master or a chief officer of customs, and such shipping master or chief officer of customs may either examine or cause the examination of the provisions or water complained of.

(2) If the shipping master or chief officer of customs or other person making the examination finds that the provisions or water are or is of bad quality and unfit for use, or deficient in quantity, he shall signify it in writing to the master of the ship, and if the master of the ship does not thereupon provide other proper provisions or water in lieu of any so signified to be of bad quality and unfit for use, or does not procure the requisite quantity of any provisions or water so signified to be deficient in quantity, or uses any provisions or water so signified to be of bad quality and unfit for use, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(3) The shipping master or chief officer of customs directing, or the person making, the examination shall enter a statement of the result of the examination in the official log-book of the ship, and shall send a report thereof to the Director and that report shall be admissible in evidence in the manner provided by this Act.

(4) If the shipping master or chief officer of customs directing, or the person making, the examination certifies in the statement entered in the official logbook that the complaint was frivolous, each of the complainants shall be liable to forfeit to the owner out of his wages a sum not exceeding one week’s wages.

(1) An inspecting officer may inspect (either on board the ship or before shipment) any provisions (other than provisions provided by the crew themselves) or water intended for the use of the crew of any British ship which is going from any port in Ceylon and for which an agreement with the crew is required either under this Act or under the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom and if he finds that the provisions or water are in any respect deficient in quality, the ship shall be detained until the defects are remedied to his satisfaction :

Provided that any inspection of provisions or water under this section shall be made before shipment whenever practicable, and if the owner, agent, or master of a ship gives notice to the inspecting officer that any provisions or wafer for the ship are ready for inspection, the inspecting officer shall not have power to inspect any such provisions or water under this section, if they are at a convenient place for inspection, except within forty-eight hours after the notice is given, without prejudice to the power of the inspecting officer to inspect any provisions or water not specified in the notice or, without unnecessarily delaying the ship, to proceed on board the ship in order to satisfy himself that there has been no evasion of the requirements of this section by the substitution of other provisions or water for those which have been inspected on shore or specified in a notice as being the provisions or water for the ship, or otherwise.

(2) Where any provisions or water are found deficient in quality under this section, the master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, unless the court before which the case is tried thinks that the finding of the inspecting officer was not justified ; but if the master of the ship shows to the satisfaction of the court that the responsibility for the defects in the provisions or water rests either with the owner of the ship, or any agent of the owner of the ship, or with the person who has supplied the provisions or water, that owner, agent, or person shall be liable to conviction for the offence instead of the master, and the master shall be exempt.

(3) The master of the ship and any other person having charge of any provisions or water liable to inspection under this section shall give the inspecting officer every reasonable facility for the purpose of his inspection under this section, and, if he refuses or fails to do so, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(4) Where any provisions are inspected under this section either before shipment or on board a ship, there shall be payable in respect of such inspection the fees specified in Part VI of the First Schedule to this Act: Provided that, where provisions which have been inspected and sealed by an inspecting officer are found on board any ship within such time as may be prescribed by the Director as the time for which the seals are to hold good, no fee shall be charged for the verification of the seals.

(5) There may be appointed officers for the purposes of any inspection under this section, and the expression ” inspecting officer “, wherever used in this section, means an officer so appointed.

(i) if during a voyage of a Ceylon ship, where such ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, the allowance of any of the provisions for which a seaman has by his agreement stipulated is reduced (except in accordance with any regulations for reduction by way of punishment contained in the agreement with the crew, and also except for any time during which the seaman wilfully and without sufficient cause refuses or neglects to perform his duty, or is lawfully under confinement for misconduct either on board or on shore) ; or

(ii) if it is shown that any of those provisions are or have been, during a voyage of a Ceylon ship as aforesaid, bad in quality and unfit for use,

(1) The master of a Ceylon ship shall keep on . board proper weights and measures for determining the quantities of the several provisions and articles served out, and shall allow the same to be used at the time of serving out the provisions and articles in the presence of a witness whenever any dispute arises about the quantities.

(2) If the master of a Ceylon ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) The Director shall issue scales of medicines and of medical stores and appliances suitable for different classes of ships and voyages.

(2) The owner or master of every British ship of more than fifty tons net register tonnage which begins its voyage from any port in Ceylon (other than a ship to which subsection (2) of section 200 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, of the United Kingdom, applies) shall provide and cause to be kept on board a supply of medicines and of medical stores and appliances according to the scale issued under subsection (1) of this section appropriate to the ship and the intended voyage.

(3) If any requirement of subsection (2) of this section is not complied with in the case of any ship, the owner or master of the ship shall, unless he can prove that the noncompliance was not due to his inattention, neglect, or wilful default, be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) Any port health officer may inspect any medicines or medical stores or appliances with which any ship is under the provisions of this Part of this Act required to be provided, and for the purposes of such inspection shall have all the powers of an inspector under this Act.

(2) If the port health officer is of opinion that the articles inspected are deficient in quantity or quality, or are placed in improper receptacles, he shall give notice in writing to the chief officer of customs of the port where the ship is lying, and also to the master, owner, or consignee of the ship, and the master of the ship, before proceeding to sea, shall produce to the chief officer of customs a certificate under the hand of the port health officer that the default found by him has been remedied, and if that certificate is not so produced, the ship shall be detained until the certificate is produced, and if the ship proceeds to sea, the owner, master, or consignee of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) If the master of, or a seaman or apprentice belonging to, a Ceylon ship receives any hurt or injury in the service of the ship, or suffers from any illness (not being an illness due to his own wilful act or default or to his own misbehaviour), the expense of providing the necessary surgical and medical advice and attendance and medicine, and also the expenses of the maintenance of the master or seaman or apprentice until he is cured, or dies, or is returned either to the port at which he was shipped or to a port in the country to which he belongs, and of his conveyance to such port, and in the case of death the expense (if any) of his burial, shall be defrayed by the owner of the ship, without any deduction on that account from his wages.

(2) If a master or seaman or apprentice as aforesaid is on account of any illness temporarily removed from his ship for the purpose of preventing infection, or otherwise for the convenience of the ship, and subsequently returns to his duty, the expense of the removel and of providing the necessary advice and tendance and medicine, and of his maintenance while away from the ship, shall be defrayed in the aforesaid manner.

(3) The expense of all medicines, surgical and medical advice, and attendance given to a master or seaman or apprentice as aforesaid whilst on board his ship shall be defrayed in the aforesaid manner.

(4) In all other cases any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner of a Ceylon ship for any seaman or apprentice in respect of illness, and also any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner of a Ceylon ship as aforesaid in respect of the burial of any seaman or apprentice who dies whilst on service, shall, if duly proved, be deducted from the wages of the seaman or apprentice.

(1) If any of the expenses attendant on the illness, hurt, or injury of a seaman or apprentice, which are to be paid under this Act by the master or owner of the ship to which such seaman or apprentice belongs, are paid by any authority on behalf of the Government of Ceylon, or if any other expenses in respect of the illness, hurt, or injury of any seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon ship, whose wages are not accounted for under this Act to that authority, are so paid, those expenses shall be repaid to that authority by the master or owner of the ship.

(2) If any expenses are not repaid as required by subsection (1) of this section, the amount thereof, with costs, shall be a charge upon the ship and shall be recoverable from the master or from the owner of the ship for the time being, or where the ship has been lost from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to some person not being a British subject, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer, as a debt due to the Government of Ceylon, either by ordinary process of law or in the court and in the manner in which wages may under this Act be recovered by seamen and apprentices to the sea service.

(3) In any proceeding for the recovery of any amount under subsection (2) of this section, a certificate of the facts, signed by the authority mentioned in subsection (1) of this section together with such vouchers (if any) as the case requires, shall be sufficient proof that the expenses in respect of which the proceeding has been instituted were duly paid by that authority.

(1) Every place in any Ceylon ship occupied by seamen or apprentices, and appropriated to their use, shall have for each of those seamen or apprentices a space of not less than one hundred and twenty cubic feet and of not less than fifteen superficial feet measured on the deck or floor of that place, and shall be subject to the regulations in the Second Schedule to this Act, and those regulations shall have effect as part of this section ; and if any of the foregoing requirements of this section is not complied with in the case of any Ceylon ship, the owner of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a. fine not exceeding two hundred rupees :

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring the giving for each seaman or apprentice of a space exceeding seventy-two cubic feet and twelve superficial feet measured on the deck or floor in the case of any place in any Ceylon ship occupied solely by lascars and appropriated to their use or in the case of any place occupied by seamen or apprentices and appropriated to their use in any such ship which was registered before the 21st day of December, 1906, or was in course of construction on the 1st day of January, 1907, or in any such ship which of not more than three hundred tons net register tonnage.

(2) Every place occupied and appropriated as aforesaid shall be kept free from goods and stores of any kind not being the personal property of the crew in use during the voyage, and if any such place is not so kept free, the master shall forfeit and pay to each seaman or apprentice lodged in that place the sum fifty cents for each day during which, after plaint has been made to him by any two or more the seamen so lodged, it is not so kept free.

(3) In estimating the space available for the proper accommodation of seamen and apprentices in any Ceylon ship of more than three hundred tons net register tonnage which was registered after the 21st day of December, 1906, or the construction of which was begun after the 1st day of January, 1907, there may be taken into account the space occupied by any mess rooms, bath rooms, or washing places appropriated exclusively to the use of those seamen and apprentices, so, however, that the space in any place appropriated to the use of seamen or apprentices in which they sleep is not less than seventy-two cubic feet and twelve superficial feet for each seaman or apprentice.

(4) Such fees as the Director may determine, not exceeding the fees specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, shall be paid in respect of an inspection for the purposes of this section.

(1) If a seaman or apprentice whilst on board a Ceylon ship states to the master of the ship his desire to make a complaint to a shipping master or a Magistrate against the master or any of the crew, the master shall, as soon as the service of the ship will permit-

(2) If the master of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) If a person receives or takes into his possession or under his control any money or effects of a seaman or apprentice to the sea service, and does not return the money or effects or pay the value thereof, when required by the seaman or apprentice, subject to such deduction as may be justly due to him from the seaman or apprentice in respect of board or lodging or otherwise, or absconds therewith, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(2) Notwithstanding any limitation of the ordinary jurisdiction of any court by which an offence under subsection (1) of this section is tried-

(a) goes on board the ship, without the permission of the master, before the seamen lawfully leave the ship at the end of their engagement or are discharged (whichever last happens) ; or

(b) being on board the ship, remains there after being warned to leave by the master, or by a police officer, or by a shipping master or an officer of customs,

(a) does any act tending to the immediate loss, destruction, or serious damage of the ship, or tending immediately to endanger the life or limb of a person belonging to or on board the ship ; or

(b) refuses or omits to do any lawful act proper and requisite to be done by him for preserving the ship from immediate loss, destruction, or serious damage, or for preserving any person belonging to or on board the ship from immediate danger to life or limb,

(a) if he deserts from his ship he shall be guilty of the offence of desertion and be liable to forfeit all or any part of the effects he leaves on board and of the wages which he has then earned, and to satisfy any excess of wages paid by the master or owner of the ship to any substitute engaged in his place at a higher rate of wages than the rate at which wages have been stipulated to be paid to him ; and he shall also be liable to imprisonment, which may be of either description, for a term not exceeding twelve weeks ;

(b) if he neglects, or refuses without reasonable cause, to join his ship, or to proceed to sea in his ship, or is absent without leave at any time within the period of twenty-four hours next before the ship’s sailing from a port, either at the commencement or during the progress of a voyage, or is absent at any time without leave and without sufficient reason from his ship or from his duty, he shall, if the offence does not amount to desertion, or is not treated as such by the master, be guilty of the offence of absence without leave, and be liable to forfeit out of his wages a sum not exceeding two days’ pay, and in addition, for every twenty-four hours of absence, either a sum not exceeding six days’ pay or any expenses properly incurred in hiring a substitute ; and he shall also be liable to imprisonment, which may be of either description, for a term not exceeding ten weeks.

(1) Where a seaman belonging to a Ceylon ship, who has been lawfully engaged and has received under his agreement an advance note, after negotiating his advance note wilfully or through misconduct fails to join his ship or deserts therefrom before the note becomes payable, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment, which may be of either description, for a term not exceeding twenty-one days ; but nothing in this section shall take away or limit any remedy by action or otherwise which any person would otherwise have in respect of the negotiation of the advance note, or which an owner or master would otherwise have for breach of contract.

(2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of a shipping master that a seaman belonging to a Ceylon ship and lawfully engaged has wilfully or through misconduct failed to join his ship, the shipping master shall report the matter to the Director, and the Director may order that any of the seaman’s certificates of discharge shall be withheld for such period as he may think fit, and while a seaman’s certificate of discharge is so withheld the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen, and any other person having the custody of the necessary documents, may, notwithstanding anything in this Act or any other law, refuse to furnish copies of any of the seaman’s certificates of discharge or certified extracts of any particulars of service or character.

(1) If in Ceylon a seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon ship is guilty of the offence of desertion or of absence without leave, or otherwise absents himself from his ship without leave, the master or any mate, or the owner, agent, or consignee, of the ship nay, with or without the assistance of the local police officers, convey him on board his ship, and those officers are hereby directed to give assistance if required :

Provided that if the seaman or apprentice so requires he shall first be taken before some court having jurisdiction in respect of the matter, to be dealt with according to law.

(2) If it appears to the court before which the case is brought that the seaman or apprentice has been conveyed on board or taken before the court on improper or insufficient grounds, that court may, notwithstanding any limitation of its ordinary jurisdiction, inflict on the master, mate, owner, agent, or consignee, as the case may be, a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees ; but the infliction of that fine shall be a bar to any action for false imprisonment in respect of the arrest.

(1) Where a seaman or apprentice belonging to a Ceylon ship is brought before a court on the ground of the offence of desertion, or of absence without leave, or of otherwise absenting himself without leave, the court, if the master or the owner or his agent so requires, may, in lieu of committing him to prison, cause him to be conveyed on board his ship for the purpose of proceeding on the voyage or deliver him to the master or any mate of the ship, or the owner or his agent, to be by them so conveyed, and may in such case order any costs and expenses properly incurred by or on behalf of the master or owner by reason of the offence to be paid by the offender, and, if necessary, to be deducted from any wages which he has then earned or by virtue of his then existing engagement may afterwards earn.

(2) If in Ceylon a seaman or apprentice as aforesaid intends to absent himself from his ship or his duty, he may give notice of his intention, either to the owner or to the master of the ship, not less than forty-eight hours before the time at which he ought to be on board his ship ; and in the event of that notice being given, the court shall not exercise any of the powers conferred by this section for causing the offender to be conveyed on board his ship if the grounds for his absence as set out in the notice appear to the court to be reasonable.

(1) If a seaman lawfully engaged, or an apprentice to the sea service, belonging to a Ceylon ship, commits any of the following offences (in this Act referred to as “offences against discipline”), he shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to be punished as follows : –

(2) Any imprisonment under this section may be of either description.

(1) If a seaman on or before being engaged wilfully and fraudulently makes a false statement of the name of his last ship or alleged last ship, or wilfully and fraudulently makes a false statement of his own name, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(2) The fine may be deducted from any wages which the seaman may earn by virtue of his engagement as aforesaid, and shall, subject to any reimbursement under, section 221 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, of the United Kingdom, of any loss and expenses occasioned by any desertion previous to the engagement, be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

(a) an entry of the offence or act shall be made in the official log-book and signed by the master and also by the mate or one of the crew ; and

(b) the offender, if still in the ship, shall, before the next subsequent arrival of the ship at any port, or if she is at the time in port before her departure therefrom, either be furnished with a copy of the entry or have the same read over distinctly and audibly to him, and may thereupon make such reply thereto as he thinks fit; and

(c) a statement of a copy of the entry having been so furnished, or of the entry having been so read over, and, in either case, the reply (if any) made by the offender, shall likewise be entered and signed in the manner aforesaid ; and

(d) in any subsequent legal proceeding the entries by this section required shall, if practicable, be produced or proved, and in default of that production or proof the court hearing the case may, in its discretion, refuse to receive evidence of the offence or act of misconduct.

(1) Whenever a question arises whether the wages of any seaman or apprentice are forfeited under this Part of this Act for desertion from a Ceylon ship it shall be sufficient for the person insisting on the forfeiture to show that the seaman or apprentice was duly engaged in or belonged to the ship, and that he left the ship before the completion of the voyage or engagement, and that an entry of his desertion has been duly made in the official log-book.

(2) The desertion shall thereupon, so far as relates to any forfeiture of wages under this Part of this Act, be deemed to be proved, unless the seaman or apprentice can produce a proper certificate of discharge, or can otherwise show to the satisfaction of the court that he had sufficient reasons for leaving his ship.

(1) Where any wages or effects are under this Act forfeited for desertion from a ship, those effects may be converted into money, and those wages and effects, or the money arising from the conversion of the effects, shall be applied towards reimbursing the expenses caused by the desertion to the master or owner of the ship, and subject to that reimbursement shall be paid into the public revenue.

(2) Where wages are forfeited under the foregoing provisions of this Act in any case other than for desertion, the forfeiture shall, in the absence of any specific provision to the contrary, be for the benefit of the master or owner by whom the wages are payable.

(1) Every fine imposed on a seaman belonging to a Ceylon ship for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted as follows: –

(2) Every fine deducted under subsection (1) of this section shall be paid to the shipping master before whom the offender is discharged, or to the shipping master at or nearest to the place at which the offender enters Her Majesty’s naval service, as the case may be.

(3) If a master or owner of a ship fails without reasonable cause to pay any fine as required by this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

(4) An act of misconduct for which any fine has been inflicted and paid by, or deducted from the wages of, the seaman shall not be otherwise punished under this Act.

(1) If a person by any means whatever persuades or attempts to persuade a seaman or apprentice to neglect or refuse to join or proceed to sea in, or to desert from, his ship, or otherwise to absent himself from his duty, he shall be guilty of an offence in respect of each seaman or apprentice whom he persuades or attempts to persuade as aforesaid and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(2) If a person wilfully harbours or secretes a seaman or apprentice who has wilfully neglected or refused to join, or has deserted from, his ship, knowing or having reason to believe the seaman or apprentice to have so done, he shall be guilty of an offence in respect of every seaman or apprentice so harboured or secreted and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) An official log shall be kept in every Ceylon ship in the appropriate form for that ship approved by the Director.

(2) The Director shall approve forms of official logbooks, which may be different for different classes of ships, so that each such form shall contain proper spaces for the entries required by this Act.

(3) The official log may, at the discretion of the master or owner, be kept distinct from, or united with, the ordinary ship’s log, so that in all cases the spaces in the official log-book be duly filled up.

(4) An entry required by this Act in an official logbook shall be made as soon as possible after the occurrence to which it relates, and if not made on the same day as that of the occurrence shall be made and dated so as to show the date of the occurrence and of the entry respecting it; and if made in respect of an occurrence happening before the arrival of the ship at her final port of discharge shall not be made more than twenty-four hours after that arrival.

(5) Every entry in the official log-book shall be signed by the master and by the mate or some other member of the crew, and also-

(6) Every entry made in an official log-book in the manner provided by this Act shall be admissible in evidence.

(a) every conviction by a legal tribunal of a member of his crew, and the punishment inflicted ;

(b) every offence committed by a member of his crew for which it is intended to prosecute, or to enforce a forfeiture, or to exact a fine, together with such statement concerning the copy or reading over of that entry, and concerning the reply (if any) made to the charge, as is by this Act or by the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom, as the case may be, required ;

(c) every offence for which punishment is inflicted on board and the punishment inflicted ;

(d) a statement of the conduct, character, and qualifications of each member of his crew, or a statement that he declines to give an opinion of those particulars ;

(e) every case of illness or injury happening to a member of the crew, with the nature thereof, and the medical treatment adopted (if any) ;

(f) every marriage taking place on board, with the names and ages of the parties ;

(g) the name of every seaman or apprentice who ceases to be a member of the crew, otherwise than by death, with the place, time, manner, and cause thereof;

(h) the wages due to any seaman who enters Her Majesty’s naval service during the voyage ;

(i) the wages due to any seaman or apprentice who dies during the voyage, and the gross amount of all deductions to be made therefrom ;

(j) the sale of the effects of any seaman or apprentice who dies during the voyage, including a statement of each article sold, and the sum received for it;

(k) every collision with any other ship, and the circumstances under which it occurred ;

(l) every accident sustained or caused by the ship which has occasioned any loss of life or any serious injury to any person or any material damage to the ship affecting her seaworthiness or her efficiency in her hull, equipments, or machinery, and every grounding of the ship ; and

(m) any other matter directed by this Act or by the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom to be entered.

(1) If an official log-book required by this Act to be kept is not kept in the manner required by this Act, or if an entry directed by this Act or by the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom to be made therein is not made at the time and in the manner directed by this Act or by the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom, as the case may be, the master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence in respect of each such failure to keep an official log-book or to make an entry as aforesaid and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to the specific fine in this Act mentioned in respect of such offence or, where there is no such specific fine, to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(2) If any person makes, or procures to be made, or assists in making, any entry in an official log-book as aforesaid, in respect of any occurrence happening previously to the arrival of the ship at her final port of discharge, more than twenty-four hours after that arrival, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding three hundred rupees.

(3) If any person wilfully destroys or mutilates or renders illegible any entry in an official log-book required by this Act to be kept, or wilfully makes or procures to be made or assists in making a false or fraudulent entry in or omission from any such official log-book, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months :

Provided that if in any case the Attorney-General by order under his hand directs that proceedings be taken under Chapter XVI of the Criminal Procedure Code in respect of an offence under this subsection, such offence shall be triable upon indictment, and shall in such case be punishable with a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding two years.

(1) The master of every Ceylon foreign-going ship shall, within forty-eight hours after the ship’s arrival at her final port of destination in Ceylon or upon the discharge of the crew, whichever first happens, deliver the official log-book of the voyage to the shipping master before whom the crew is discharged.

(2) The master or owner of every Ceylon home-trade ship shall, within twenty-one days after the thirtieth day of June and the thirty-first day of December in every year, transmit or deliver the official logbook for the preceding half-year to some shipping master.

(3) Upon the delivery or transmission of an official log-book to a shipping master under the provisions of this section the shipping master shall give to the master or owner of the ship a certificate of such delivery or transmission, and any Ceylon foreign-going ship or Ceylon home-trade ship may be detained until a certificate given under the provisions of this subsection is produced, and an officer of customs shall not clear a Ceylon foreign-going ship until a certificate as aforesaid is produced.

(4) If the master or owner of a ship fails without reasonable cause to deliver or transmit any official logbook as required by this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) Where by reason of transfer of ownership or change of employment of a Ceylon ship the official log ceases to be required in respect of the ship or to be required at the same date, the master or owner of the ship shall, if the ship is then in Ceylon, within one month, and if she is elsewhere within six months, after the cessation deliver or transmit to the shipping master at the port to which the ship belonged the official log-book duly made out to the time of the cessation.

(2) If a Ceylon ship is lost or abandoned, the master or owner thereof shall, if practicable, and as soon as possible, deliver or transmit to the shipping master at the port to which the ship belonged the official logbook duly made out to the time of the loss or abandonment.

(3) If the master or owner of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with any requirement of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) There may be appointed-

(2) The chief shipping master may exercise, perform or discharge all or any of the powers, duties or functions, conferred or imposed on or assigned to a shipping master by or under this Act.

(3) A shipping master shall exercise, perform or discharge the powers, duties or functions conferred, imposed or assigned by or under the Act, subject to the control of the chief shipping master.

(4) A deputy shipping master or assistant shipping master shall in the exercise of his powers and performance of his duties be subject to the general direction and control of the chief shipping master.

(1) It shall be the duty of a shipping master-

(2) Any act done by, to or before a deputy shipping master shall have the same effect as if done by, to or before a shipping master.

(3) The fees specified in the Third Schedule to this Act shall be payable by the masters or owners of ships to the shipping masters in respect of the matters specified therein.

(1) The Registrar of Shipping and Seamen shall by means of documents transmitted to him in pursuance of this Act and by any other means in his power, keep at his office a register-

(2) The Registrar of Shipping and Seamen shall cause copies of the certificates produced by Ceylon seamen under subsection (1) to be kept at his office.

(3) Where any seaman proves to the satisfaction of a shipping master that he has, without fault on his part, lost, or been deprived of, a certificate of discharge granted to him, the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen shall, if the name of such seaman has been registered, issue to him a certified copy of such certificate on payment of a fee of fifty cents in respect of each voyage.

(1) The master of every Ceylon ship and of every British sea-going ship the managing owners of which are resident in Ceylon and which is exempt from registration under section 3 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, of the United Kingdom, shall, as soon as may be after the occurrence of the birth of a child or the death of a person happening on board his ship, record in his log-book or otherwise the fact of the birth or death, and the particulars required by the Fourth Schedule to this Act to be registered concerning the birth or death, or such of them as may be known to him.

(2) The master of every ship as aforesaid, upon its arrival at any port in Ceylon, shall deliver or transmit, in such form as the Director may direct, a return of the facts recorded by him in respect to the birth of a child or the death of a person on board such ship, to the Registrar of Shipping and Seamen.

(3) The Registrar of Shipping and Seamen shall send a certified copy of the returns relating to such births and deaths to the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths appointed under the Births and Deaths Registration Act, who shall cause such copy to be filed and preserved, or the contents thereof to be copied, in a hook to be kept by him for the purpose and to be called the marine register book; and the said marine register book shall, for the purposes of section 56 of the aforesaid Act, be deemed to be a book kept under that Act.

(4) If the master of any ship fails to comply with any requirements of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section-

(2) A passenger steamer as aforesaid attempting to ply or go to sea may be detained until such certificate as aforesaid is produced to the proper officer of customs.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding subsections of this section-

(1) Subject to the provisions of section 133, the owner, agent, or master of every passenger steamer which carries more than twelve passengers shall cause the steamer to be surveyed by a surveyor of ships and, in the case of a sea-going passenger steamer required by this Act to be provided with a wireless telegraph installation, by a wireless telegraphy surveyor.

(2) The surveyor shall if satisfied on the survey that he can with propriety do so, deliver to the owner, agent, or master, as the case may be, a declaration of survey in a form approved by the Director.

(3) The declaration of the surveyor of ships shall contain statements of the following particulars : –

(4) The declaration of the wireless telegraphy surveyor shall contain statements of the following particulars : –

(5) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing subsections of this section, where a valid Safety Convention certificate is produced in respect of a Safety Convention passenger steamer-

Provided that where there is produced in respect of any Safety Convention passenger steamer a valid Safety Convention certificate, and also a certificate issued by or under the authority of the Government of the country to which the steamer belongs showing the number of passengers which the steamer is fit to carry, and the Director is satisfied that the number has been determined substantially in the same manner as in the case of a British steamer registered in Ceylon, the Director may if he thinks fit dispense with the survey of the steamer mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection and direct that the last-mentioned certificate shall have effect as a passenger steamer’s certificate for the purposes of this Act.

(1) The owner, agent, or master of a passenger steamer surveyed shall within fourteen days after the receipt by him of a declaration of survey transmit it to the Director.

(2) If an owner, agent, or a master of a passenger steamer fails without reasonable cause so to transmit a declaration of survey, he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five rupees for every day during which the transmission is delayed, and any sum so forfeited shall be payable on the granting of a certificate in addition to the fee, and shall be applied in the same manner as the fee.

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the Director shall, on receipt of the declarations of survey and if he is satisfied that the requirements of this Part of this Act have been complied with, issue in duplicate a passenger steamer’s certificate, that is to say, a certificate stating such compliance and stating, according to the declarations –

(2) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, the Director may accept for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, in lieu of any statement required under this Act to be contained in any declaration of survey in respect of any matter, a certificate of partial survey granted in any prescribed country if such certificate relates to such matter and is substantially to the same effect as the statement which would otherwise under this Act be required to be contained in such declaration of survey, and if it is for the time being in force.

(3) On receipt of a declaration made by a surveyor of ships under paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 134, the Director shall issue a certificate containing only a statement of the particulars set out in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, and a certificate so issued shall have effect as a passenger steamer’s certificate for the purposes of this Act.

(4) Where a declaration of survey in respect of any steamer transmitted under section 135 states only that the hull of the steamer is sufficient for the service intended and in good condition and (where the hull will be sufficient for less than one year) the time for which the hull will be sufficient, the Director may, on receipt of such declaration of survey, issue a docking certificate in respect of the steamer in accordance with the terms of the declaration of survey ; but such docking certificate shall have effect only as a certificate in respect of the matters to which it relates and shall not have effect as a passenger steamer’s certificate for the purposes of this Act.

(1) If the owner, agent, or master of a steamer feels aggrieved by the declaration of survey of a surveyor of ships or of a wireless telegraphy surveyor, or by the refusal of such a surveyor to give such a declaration, he may appeal to the court of survey for the district within which the steamer for the time being is, in the manner directed by the rules of that court.

(2) On any such appeal the Judge of the court of survey shall report to the Director on the question raised by the appeal and the Director, when satisfied that the requirements of the report and of the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act have been complied with, may grant a passenger steamer’s certificate.

(3) Subject to any order made by the Judge of the court of survey, the costs of and incidental to the appeal shall follow the event.

(4) A surveyor of ships or wireless telegraphy surveyor, in making a survey of a steamer for the purposes of a declaration of survey, shall, if the owner, agent, or master of the steamer so requires, be accompanied on the survey by some person appointed by the owner, agent, or master, and in that case, if the surveyor and the person so appointed agree, there shall be no appeal under this section to the court of survey.

(1) The Director shall transmit the passenger steamer’s certificate in duplicate, or the docking certificate, as the case may be, to the shipping master or some other public officer at the port mentioned by the owner, agent, or master of the steamer for the purpose, or at the port where the owner, agent, or master, as the case may be, resides, or where the steamer has been surveyed or is for the time lying.

(2) The Director shall cause notice of the transmission of a passenger steamer’s certificate or a docking certificate to be given to the owner, agent, or master, and the officer to whom the certificate has been transmitted shall, on the owner, agent, or master applying and paying the proper fee and other sums (if any) mentioned in this Act as payable in that behalf, deliver to him both copies of the passenger steamer’s certificate or the docking certificate, as the case may be.

(3) In proving the issue of a passenger steamer’s certificate or docking certificate it shall be sufficient to show that the certificate was duly received by the said officer, and that due notice of the transmission was given to the owner, agent, or master.

(1) A passenger steamer’s certificate or docking certificate shall not be in force for more than one year from the date of its issue, or any shorter time specified in the certificate, nor after the Director has given notice to the owner, agent, or master of the steamer that he has cancelled the certificate.

(2) If a passenger steamer is absent from Ceylon at the time when her passenger steamer’s certificate expires, a fine shall not be incurred for want of a certificate until she first begins to ply with passengers after her next return to Ceylon.

(1) The owner, agent, or master of every passenger steamer, whether British or foreign, in respect of which any passenger steamer’s certificate issued under this Part of this Act is for the time being in force shall, as soon as possible after any alteration is made in the steamer’s hull, equipments, or machinery which affects the efficiency thereof or the seaworthiness of the steamer, give written notice to the Director containing full particulars of the alteration and, if notice is not so given, the owner, agent, or master of the steamer shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(2) If the Director has reason to believe that since the making of the last declaration of survey in respect of a passenger steamer to which this section applies-

he may, without prejudice to his powers under section 142, require the steamer to be again surveyed to such extent as he thinks fit, and, if such requirement is not complied with, may cancel any certificate issued in respect of the steamer under this Part of this Act.

(3) For the purposes of this section the expression ” alteration” in relation to the hull, equipments, or machinery of a steamer includes the renewal of any part thereof.

(1) The Director may cancel a passenger steamer’s certificate issued under this Part of this Act where he has reason to believe-

(2) In every case where a passenger steamer’s certificate is cancelled under subsection (1) of this section, the Director may require the owner, agent, or master of the steamer to have the hull, equipments, or machinery of the steamer again surveyed, and to transmit further declarations of survey, before he reissues the certificate or grants a fresh one in lieu thereof

(1) The Director may require a passenger steamer’s certificate or docking certificate issued under this Part of this Act, which has expired or been cancelled, to be delivered up as he directs.

(2) If any owner, agent, or master of a steamer fails without reasonable cause to comply with such requirement, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) A sea-going passenger steamer shall have her compasses properly adjusted from time to time, to the satisfaction of a surveyor of ships and according to such regulations as may be made by the Minister.

(2) A sea-going passenger steamer shall be provided, to the satisfaction of the Director-

(3) A home-trade passenger steamer shall be provided with such shelter for the protection of deck passengers (if any) as the Director, having regard to the nature of the passage, the number of deck passengers to be carried, the season of the year, the safety of the ship, and the circumstances of the case, requires.

(4) A passenger steamer shall be provided with a safety-valve on each boiler, so constructed as to be out of the control of the engineer when the steam is up, and, if the safety-valve is in addition to the ordinary valve, so constructed as to have an area not less, and a pressure not greater, than the area of and pressure on the ordinary valve.

(5) If a passenger steamer plies or goes to sea from a port in Ceylon without being equipped as required by this section, then, in respect of each matter in which default is made, the owner (if in fault) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, and the master (if in fault) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(1) In the case of a passenger steamer for which a passenger steamer’s certificate issued under this Part of this Act is in force or which, by virtue of subsection (3) of section 133, does not require a survey or certificate under that section, where such passenger steamer is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon-

such person shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty rupees, but that liability shall not prejudice the recovery of any fare payable by him.

(2) If any person on board any such steamer as aforesaid wilfully does or causes to be done anything in such a manner as to obstruct or injure any part of the machinery or tackle of the steamer, or to obstruct, impede, or molest the crew, or any of them, in the navigation or management of the steamer, or otherwise in the execution of their duty on or about the steamer, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(3) The master or other officer of any such steamer as aforesaid, and all persons called by him to his assistance, may, without any warrant, detain any person who commits any offence against this section and whose name and address are unknown to the master or officer, and convey the offender with all convenient despatch before a Magistrate to be dealt with according to law, and such Magistrate shall with all convenient despatch try the case summarily.

(4) If any person commits an offence against this section and on the application of the master of the steamer, or any other person in the employment of the owner thereof, refuses to give his name and address, or gives a false name or address, that person shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees, and the fine shall be paid to the owner of the steamer.

(1) Every foreign-going passenger steamer which proceeds from any port in Ceylon on any voyage prescribed under subsection (2) of this section carrying more than twelve passengers and having on board one hundred persons or upwards in all, shall carry on board as part of her complement a medical practitioner authorized by law to practise as a legally qualified medical practitioner in any country forming part of the British Commonwealth, or, in the case of a foreign passenger steamer, in the country to which the steamer belongs ; and if the requirement of this subsection is not complied with in the case of any passenger steamer, the master of the steamer shall be guilty of an offence an shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees.

(2) The Minister may make regulations prescribing the voyages on which foreign-going passenger steamers as aforesaid shall be required to carry a medical practitioner as aforesaid.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as applying to any ship to which either section 209 or section 303 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, of the United Kingdom, applies.

(1) No passenger sailing ship which carries more than twelve passengers shall ply or proceed to sea or on any voyage or excursion with any passengers on board, unless the master of the ship holds-

(2) A passenger sailing ship as aforesaid attempting to ply or go to sea may be detained until such licence and such certificate (where required) as aforesaid is or are produced to the proper officer of customs.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as applying to any ship to which the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts of the United Kingdom relating to emigrant ships and ships carrying steerage passengers on colonial voyages apply.

(1) Every passenger sailing ship’s licence shall specify-

and shall certify that the ship is seaworthy and properly equipped, fitted, and ventilated for the said voyages.

(2) Every passenger sailing ship’s licence shall be issued by the Director, and shall be in force for one year from the date of issue.

(3) No fee shall be payable by the grantee of a passenger sailing ship’s licence in respect of the issue to him of such licence.

(1) The owner, agent or master of every passenger sailing ship which carries more than twelve passengers, shall cause the same to be surveyed by a surveyor of ships.

(2) The surveyor shall, if satisfied on the survey that he can with propriety do so, deliver to the owner, agent or master, as the case may be, a declaration of survey in a form approved by the Director.

(3) Where doubts arise whether any passenger sailing ship in respect of which an application has been made for the issue of a passenger sailing ship’s licence is seaworthy or properly equipped, fitted, and ventilated for her intended voyages, or where a passenger sailing ship’s licence has been cancelled under section 152 and application is made for the reissue of such licence or for the grant of a fresh licence in lieu thereof, the Director may, before issuing or reissuing such licence, as the case may be, cause the ship in respect of which the application has been made to be surveyed by a surveyor of ships; and if such surveyor of ships reports that the ship is not seaworthy or is not properly equipped, fitted, and ventilated for her intended voyages, such licence shall not be issued or reissued, as the case may be, until the ship has been rendered seaworthy or equipped, fitted, and ventilated as aforesaid to the satisfaction of the surveyor of ships.

(4) The owner of every passenger sailing ship surveyed under subsection (1) of this section shall pay in respect of such survey such fees, not exceeding the fees specified in Part IV of the Fifth Schedule to this Act in respect of ships of the class to which such ship belongs, as the Director may determine.

(1) The Director may require a passenger sailing ship’s licence which has expired or been cancelled to be delivered up as he directs.

(2) If any owner or master of a passenger sailing ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with any such requirement, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) Every passenger sailing ship’s certificate shall be issued by a certifying officer and shall specify-

(2) There may be appointed persons to issue passenger sailing ships’ certificates for the purposes of this Part of this Act, and the expression ” certifying officer “, wherever used in this Part of this Act, means a person so appointed.

(1) The Minister may make regulations relating to passenger sailing ships carrying more than twelve passengers with respect to any or all of the following matters : –

(2) Any contravention of any regulation made under this section may, by regulation made under this section, be made punishable, on conviction after summary trial, with a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees and, where the contravention is a continuing contravention, with a further fine not exceeding fifty rupees for every day after the first day during which the contravention continues, or with imprisonment, which may be of either description, for a term not exceeding three months, or both with such fine and with such imprisonment.

(1) No passenger ship shall ply or proceed to sea or on any voyage or excursion carrying any passengers on board from, or take passengers on board or land or tranship passengers at, any port in Ceylon other than an appointed port.

(2) After any passenger ship has proceeded to sea on any voyage from any port in Ceylon and while such ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, except in the case of distress or emergency, no person shall be taken on board such ship as a passenger, and no passenger shall be landed from such ship, otherwise than at an appointed port.

(3) No vessel which has taken on board any passenger from a passenger ship lying outside the limits of any appointed port shall land such passenger at any such port, and no vessel shall convey any person from any appointed port to any passenger ship lying outside the limits of any such port, for the purpose of putting such person on board such ship as a passenger, without the written sanction, previously obtained, of the Master Attendant, or where there is no Master Attendant of the chief officer of customs, of the port at which such passenger is landed or from which such person is conveyed.

(4) If any passenger ship plies or proceeds to sea or on any voyage or excursion carrying any passengers on board, or takes any passenger on board, or tranships or lands any passenger, or if any vessel lands any passenger or conveys any person, in contravention of the provisions of this section, the master of such ship or the person in charge of such vessel, as the case may be, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or to imprisonment, which may be of either description, for a term not exceeding one month, for each passenger so carried, taken on board, transhipped, or landed, or for each person so conveyed, or both to such fine and to such imprisonment, but so that the aggregate term of imprisonment awarded under this section in respect of any one transaction shall not exceed six months.

(5) The Director may, by Order published in the Gazette, appoint any port in Ceylon to be a port from which passenger ships may ply or proceed to sea or on voyages or excursions carrying passengers on board, or at which passenger ships may take passengers on board or land or tranship passengers, and may in such Order define the limits of such port; and the expression ” appointed port”, wherever used in this section, means a port so appointed.

(1) The owner or master of every passenger steamer required by this Part of this Act to have a passenger steamer’s certificate, and the owner or master of every passenger sailing ship required by this Part of this Act to have a passenger sailing ship’s licence, shall forthwith on the receipt of the certificate or licence by him or his agent cause one of the duplicates of the certificate, or the licence, as the case may be to be put up in some conspicuous place on board the ship, so as to be legible to all persons on board, and to be kept so put up and legible while the certificate or licence, as the case may be, remains in force and the ship is in use.

(2) If the owner or master fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(3) If a passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship plies or goes to sea with passengers on board, and this section is not complied with, then the owner thereof shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, and the master shall also be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) The master of every passenger ship which carries passengers to any port in Ceylon from any port out, of Ceylon shall, if required by any police officer visiting the ship to do so, furnish to such police officer particulars of the name, nationality, and port of -embarkation of any passenger taken on board at the beginning of or during the ship’s voyage and not landed at any previous port of call.

(2) If the master of any passenger ship fails to comply with the requirements of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) The owner or agent of every passenger ship which carries passengers on any voyage from a port in Ceylon to a port out of Ceylon shall, if required so to do by a police officer not below the rank of Sergeant at the port of departure of the ship, not later than forty-eight hours after the departure of the ship furnish to such police officer particulars of the name, nationality, and intended port of disembarkation of any passenger taken on board the ship at such port of departure.

(2) If the owner or agent of any passenger ship fails to comply with the requirements of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(1) The owner or master of any passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship shall not receive on board thereof, or on or in any part thereof, any number of passengers which, having regard to the time, occasion, and circumstances of the case, is greater than the number allowed by the passenger steamer’s certificate or the passenger sailing ship’s licence for the time being in force in respect of such passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship, and if he does so, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees, and also to an additional fine not exceeding two rupees and fifty cents for every passenger above the number so allowed, or, if the fare of any passenger on board exceeds two rupees and fifty cents, not exceeding double the amount of the fares of all the passengers above the number so allowed, reckoned at the highest rate at which fare is payable by any passenger on board.

(2) The chief officer of customs at any port in Ceylon may cause any passengers carried by a passenger steamer or a passenger sailing ship in excess, having regard to the time, occasion, and circumstances of the case, of the number allowed by the passenger steamer’s certificate or the passenger sailing ship’s licence for the time being in force in respect of such passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship to disembark.

(3) For the purpose of any proceeding under subsection (1) of this section, any list of passengers delivered under the provisions of this Part of this Act shall be admissible in evidence, and every person ascertained to have been on board any passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship as a passenger at any time after such steamer’s or sailing ship’s departure from her last port of call shall be deemed to be still a passenger on such steamer or sailing ship upon her arrival at any port in Ceylon, whether such passenger is or is not found on board when such steamer or sailing ship is examined upon her arrival.

(4) If a passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship has on board at any port in Ceylon a number of passengers which, having regard to the time, occasion, and circumstances of the case, is greater than that allowed by the passenger steamer’s certificate or the passenger sailing ship’s licence for the time being in force in respect of such passenger steamer or passenger sailing ship, the owner or master of such steamer or sailing ship shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have received those passengers on board at that place.

(1) A surveyor of ships may inspect any ship, British or foreign, for the purpose of seeing that the ship is properly provided with lights and the means of making fog signals, in conformity with the collision regulations, and if the surveyor finds that the ship is not so provided, he shall give to the master or owner notice in writing, pointing out the deficiency and also what is, in his opinion, requisite in order to remedy the same.

(2) Every notice so given shall be communicated in the manner directed by the Director to the chief officer of customs at any port in Ceylon at which the ship may seek to obtain a clearance or coastwise permit; and the ship shall be detained, until a certificate under the hand of a surveyor of ships is produced to the effect that the ship is properly provided with lights and with the means of making fog signals, in conformity with the collision regulations.

(3) For the purpose of an inspection under this section a surveyor of ships shall have all the powers of an inspector under this Act.

(4) Where the certificate as to lights and fog signals is refused, an owner may appeal to the court of survey for the district where the ship for the time being is, in the manner directed by the rules of that court.

(5) On any such appeal the Judge of the court of survey shall report to the Director on the question raised by the appeal, and the Director, when satisfied that the requirements of the report and of the collision regulations as to lights and fog signals have been complied with, may grant, or direct a surveyor of ships or other person appointed by him to grant, the certificate.

(6) Subject to any order made by the Judge of the court of survey, the costs of and incidental to the appeal shall follow the event.

(7) A surveyor of ships, in making an inspection under this section, shall, if the owner of the ship so require, be accompanied on the inspection by some person appointed by the owner, and if, in that case, the surveyor of ships and the person so appointed agree, there shall be no appeal under this section to the court of survey.

(8) Such fees as the Director may determine shall be paid in respect of an inspection of lights and fog signals under this section, not exceeding those specified in Part I of the Sixth Schedule to this Act: Provided that where a ship’s lights and fog signals are inspected under this section and its life-saving appliances are inspected under section 172 in the course of one and the same inspection, the fees (if any) payable shall be the fees determined to be paid in respect of an inspection of the lights and fog signals, or the fees determined to be paid in respect of an inspection of the life-saving appliances, whichever may be the greater.

(1) Where any British ship, or any foreign ship carrying passengers between places in Ceylon, is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon and has sustained or caused any accident occasioning loss of life or any serious injury to any person, or has received any material damage affecting her seaworthiness or her efficiency either in her hull or in any part of her machinery, the owner or master shall, as soon as possible after the happening of the accident or damage, transmit to the Director, by letter signed by the owner or master, a report of the accident or damage, and of the probable occasion thereof, stating the name of the ship, her official number (if any), the port to which she belongs, and the place where she is.

(2) If the owner or master of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(1) If the owner or agent of any British ship registered in Ceylon has reason, owing to the non-appearance of the ship or to any other circumstance, to apprehend that the ship has been wholly lost, he shall, as soon as conveniently may be, send to the Director notice in writing of the loss and of the probable occasion thereof, stating the name of the ship, her official number (if any), and the port to which she belongs.

(2) If the owner or agent of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section within a reasonable time, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(a) the arranging of British ships, where such ships are within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, into classes, having regard to the services in which they are employed, to the nature and duration of their voyages, and to the number of persons carried ;

(b) the number, description, and mode of construction of the boats, lifeboats, life-rafts, line-throwing appliances, life-jackets, and lifebuoys to be carried by British ships, where such ships are within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, according to the classes in which they are arranged, and the equipments to be carried by the boats and rafts, and the methods to be provided to get the boats and other life-saving appliances into the water, which methods may include oil for use in stormy weather ;

(c) the quantity, quality, and description of buoyant apparatus to be carried on board British ships carrying passengers, where such ships are within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon, either in addition to or in substitution for boats, lifeboats, life-rafts, life-jackets, and life-buoys ;

(d) the marking of boats, lifeboats, life-rafts, and buoyant apparatus so as to show the dimensions thereof and the number of persons authorized to be carried thereon ;

(e) the manning of boats and lifeboats and the qualifications and certificates of lifeboat men ;

(f) the provision to be made for mustering the passengers and crew and for embarking them in the boats and lifeboats (including provision as to the lighting of, and as to the means of ingress to, and egress from, different parts of the ship) ;

(g) the practising of boat drills ;

(h) the assignment of specific duties to each member of the crew in the event of emergency ;

(i) the methods to be adopted and the appliances to be carried for the prevention, detection, and extinction of fire.

(1) In the case of any ship, other than a Safety Convention passenger steamer in respect of which a valid Safety Convention certificate is produced, which is required by the United Kingdom rules for life-saving appliances or by the regulations for life-saving appliances to be provided with such appliances, where such ship is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Government of Ceylon-

then the owner of the ship (if in fault) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, and the master of the ship (if in fault) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(2) Nothing in the foregoing enactments with respect to life-saving appliances shall prevent any person from being liable under any other provision of this Act, or otherwise, to any other or higher fine or punishment than is provided by those enactments, provided that a person shall not be punished twice for the same offence.

(3) If the court before which a person is charged with an offence punishable under subsection (1) of this section thinks that proceedings ought to be taken against him for the offence under any other provision of this Act, or otherwise, the court may adjourn the case to enable such proceedings to be taken.

(1) A surveyor of ships may inspect any ship, other than a Safety Convention passenger steamer in respect of which a valid Safety Convention certificate is Produced, for the purpose of seeing that the United Kingdom rules for life-saving appliances or the regulations for life-saving appliances, as the case may be, have been complied with in her case, and for the purpose of any such inspection shall have all the powers of an inspector under this Act.

(2) If the surveyor finds that the United Kingdom rules for life-saving appliances or the regulations for life-saving appliances, as the case may be, have not been complied with, he shall give written notice to the owner or master stating in what respect the said rules or regulations have not been complied with, and what, in his opinion, is required to rectify the matter.

(3) Every notice so given shall be communicated in the manner directed by the Director to the chief officer of customs of any port at which the ship may seek to obtain a clearance or coastwise permit, and a clearance or coastwise permit shall not be granted to the ship and the ship shall be detained until a certificate under the hand of a surveyor of ships is produced to the effect that the matter has been rectified.

(4) There shall be paid in respect of every inspection of a ship under this section such fees, not exceeding those specified in Part II of the Sixth Schedule to this Act, as the Director may determine :

Provided that where a ship’s life-saving appliances are inspected under this section and its lights and fog-signals are inspected under section 166 in the course of one and the same inspection, the fees (if any) payable shall be the fees determined to be paid in respect of an inspection of the life-saving appliances, or the fees determined to be paid in respect of an inspection of the lights and fog-signals, whichever may be the greater.

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, sections 169 to 172 shall apply to all foreign ships while such ships are within any port in Ceylon as they apply to British ships.

(2) The said sections shall not apply-

(1) Every British sea-going steamer, if employed to carry passengers, shall have her compasses properly adjusted from time to time.

(2) If any British sea-going steamer referred to in subsection (1) plies or goes to sea from any port in Ceylon and the requirement of that subsection is not complied with, then, the owner (if in fault) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, and the master (if in fault) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.

(1) The Minister shall make such regulations as appear to him to be necessary for determining the validity in Ceylon of certificates purporting to have been issued, in accordance with the Convention signed on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom in London on the 5th day of July, 1930, for promoting the safety of life and property at sea by establishing in common agreement uniform principles and rules with regard to the limits to which ships may be loaded (hereafter in this Act referred to as ” the Load Line Convention”), in respect of ships of one hundred and fifty tons gross tonnage and upwards belonging to the countries to which the Load Line Convention applies (hereafter in this Act referred to as “Load Line Convention ships “) ; and the expression ” a valid Load Line Convention certificate”, wherever used in this Act, means a certificate complying with such of the rules made under this section as are applicable in the circumstances.

(2) In this section, the expression ” countries to which the Load Line Convention applies” means-

(1) The following ships are exempt from the provisions of this Act relating to load lines, namely : –

(2) The Director may, on such conditions as he thinks fit, exempt from the provisions of this Act relating to load lines-

(1) No British load line ship registered in Ceylon, being a ship the keel of which was laid alter the 30th day of June, 1932, shall proceed to sea unless-

(2) No British load line ship registered in Ceylon, being a ship the keel of which was laid before the 1st day of July, 1932, shall proceed to sea unless-

(3) If any ship proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of this section, the master., or owner of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees.

(4) Any ship attempting to proceed to sea without being surveyed and marked as required by this section may be detained until she has been so surveyed and marked, and any ship which does not comply with the conditions of assignment to the extent required in her case by this section shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purpose of section 203.

(1) A British load line ship registered in Ceylon shall not be so loaded as to submerge in salt water, when the ship has no list, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship, that is to say, the load line indicating or purporting to indicate the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the load line regulations to be loaded.

(2) If any such ship is loaded in contravention of this section, the owner or master of the ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees and to such additional fine, not exceeding the amount hereafter in this section specified, as the court thinks fit to impose having regard to the extent to which the earning capacity of the ship was, or would have been, increased by reason of the submersion.

(3) The said additional fine shall not exceed one thousand rupees for every inch or fraction of an inch by which the appropriate load line on each side of the ship was submerged, or would have been submerged if the ship had been in salt water and had had no list.

(4) In any proceedings against an owner or master in respect of a contravention of this section, it shall be a good defence to prove that the contravention was due solely to deviation or delay, being deviation or delay caused solely by stress of weather or other circumstances which neither the master nor the owner nor the charterer (if any) could have prevented or forestalled.

(5) Without prejudice to any proceedings under the foregoing provisions of this section, any ship which is loaded in contravention of this section may be detained until she ceases to be so loaded.

(a) the owner or master of a British load line ship registered in Ceylon, which has been marked in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to load lines, fails without reasonable cause to keep the ship so marked ; or

(b) any person conceals, removes, alters, defaces, or obliterates, or suffers any person under his control to conceal, remove, alter, deface, or obliterate, any mark placed on any such ship in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to load lines, except with the authority of a person entitled under the load line regulations to authorize the alteration of the mark or except for the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy,

(1) Where a British load line ship registered in Ceylon has been surveyed and marked in accordance with the foregoing provisions, of this Act relating to load lines and complies with the conditions of assignment to the extent required in her case by those provisions, there shall be issued to the owner of the ship on his application and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed by the load line regulations a load line certificate (hereafter in this Act referred to as “a Ceylon load line certificate”).

(2) Every Ceylon load line certificate shall be issued either by the Director or by such other person as may be authorized in that behalf by the Director, and shall be issued in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the load line regulations.

(3) A Ceylon load line certificate issued by the Director may be signed on behalf of the Director by any person authorized by him for the purpose.

(4) Where a Ceylon load .line certificate, issued in pursuance of this section and for the time being in force, is produced in respect of a ship, such ship shall, for the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to load lines, be deemed to have been surveyed as required by those provisions, and, if the deck-line and load lines on the ship are of the number and description required by the load line regulations and the position of the deck-line and load lines corresponds with the position specified in the certificate, the ship shall be deemed to be marked as required by those provisions.

(1) Every Ceylon load line certificate issued by or under the authority of the Director shall, unless it is renewed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, expire at the end of such period, not exceeding five years from the date of its issue, as may be specified therein.

(2) A Ceylon load line certificate may, after a survey not less effective than the survey required by the load line regulations before the issue of the certificate, be renewed from time to time by the Director, or by any person authorized by the Director to issue a Ceylon load line certificate, for such period (not exceeding five years on any occasion) as the Director or other person renewing the certificate thinks fit.

(3) The Director shall cancel a Ceylon load line certificate in force in respect of any ship, if he has reason to believe that-

(4) The owner of every ship in respect of which a Ceylon load line certificate has been issued shall, so long as the certificate remains in force, cause the ship to be surveyed in such manner as may be prescribed by the load line regulations once at least in each year after the issue of the certificate for the purpose of seeing whether the certificate should remain in force, having regard to the last foregoing subsection, and if the ship is not so surveyed, the Director shall cancel the certificate :

Provided that the Director, if he thinks fit in any particular case, may extend the said period of one year.

(5) Where a Ceylon load line certificate has expired or been cancelled, the Director may require the owner or master of the ship to which the certificate relates to deliver up the certificate as he directs, and the ship may be detained until such requirement has been complied with, and if the owner or master fails without reasonable cause to comply with such requirement he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable “to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(6) On the survey of any ship in pursuance of this section there shall be paid by the owner of the ship such fee as may be prescribed by the load line regulations.

(1) No British load line ship registered in Ceylon shall proceed to sea unless there is in force in respect of the ship a Ceylon load line certificate.

(2) The master of every British load line ship registered in Ceylon shall produce to the officer of customs from whom any clearance or coastwise permit for the ship is demanded the certificate which is required by the foregoing provisions of this section to be in force when the ship proceeds to sea, and a clearance or coastwise permit shall not be granted, and the ship may be detained, until that certificate is so produced.

(3) The master of every ship which proceeds or attempts to proceed to sea in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees.

(1) Where a Ceylon load line certificate has been issued in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this Act relating to load lines in respect of a British load line ship registered in Ceylon-

(2) Before any British load line ship registered in Ceylon leaves any dock, wharf, harbour, or other place in Ceylon for the purpose of proceeding to sea, the master of such ship shall-

Provided that the Minister may by the said regulations exempt home-trade ships or any class of home-trade ships from the requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(3) If the master or owner of any British load line ship registered in Ceylon fails to comply with the provisions of this section he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) Before an agreement with the crew of any British load line ship registered in Ceylon, in respect of which a Ceylon load line certificate is in force, is signed by any member of the crew, the master of the ship shall insert in the agreement the particulars as to the position of the deck-line and load lines specified in the certificate, and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(2) In the case of a British load line ship registered in Ceylon, being a foreign-going ship, a shipping master shall not proceed with the engagement of the crew until-

(a) the said section shall not apply to a Load Line Convention ship, if a valid Load Line Convention certificate is produced in respect of the ship; and

(b) subject to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, a foreign ship which does not comply with the conditions of assignment to the extent required in her case by section 180 shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purpose of section 206.

(a) no Load Line Convention ship shall be detained, and no proceeding shall be taken against the owner or master thereof, by virtue of the said section, except after inspection by a surveyor of ships as hereafter in this Act provided ; and

(b) the expression ” the appropriate load line “, in relation to any ship not registered in Ceylon, shall mean –

(1) A surveyor of ships may go on board any Load Line Convention ship, when within any port in Ceylon, for the purpose of demanding the production of any load line certificate for the time being in force in respect of the ship.

(2) If a valid Load Line Convention certificate is produced to a surveyor of ships on any demand made under subsection (1) of this section, such surveyor’s power of inspecting the ship with respect to load line shall be limited to seeing-

and for the purpose of any such inspection such surveyor shall have all the powers of an inspector under this Act.

(3) If it is found on any inspection that the ship is loaded beyond the limits allowed by the certificate, the ship may be detained and proceedings may be taken against the master or owner thereof under section 190.

(4) If it is found on any inspection that the load lines on the ship are not in the position specified in the certificate, the ship may be detained until the matter has been rectified to the satisfaction of a surveyor of ships.

(5) If it is found on any inspection that the ship has been so materially altered in respect of the matters referred to in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (2) of this section that the ship is manifestly unfit to proceed to sea without danger to human life, the ship shall be deemed to be unsafe for the purpose of section 203 (in the case of a British ship) or for the purpose of section 206 (in the case of a foreign ship) :

Provided that where the ship has been detained under either of the last-mentioned sections, the Director shall order the ship to be released as soon as he is satisfied that the ship is fit to proceed to sea without danger to human life.

(6) If a valid Load Line Convention certificate is not produced to a surveyor of ships on such demand as aforesaid, such surveyor shall have the same power of inspecting the ship, for the purpose of seeing that the provisions of this Act relating to load lines have been complied with, as if the ship were a British ship registered in Ceylon.

(7) For the purposes of this section a ship shall be deemed to be loaded beyond the limits allowed by the certificate if she is so loaded as to submerge in salt water, when the ship has no list, the load line appearing by the certificate to indicate the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the Load Line Convention to be loaded.

(1) The provisions of this Act relating to the issue, effect, duration, renewal, and cancellation of Ceylon load line certificates shall apply to load line ships not registered in Ceylon as they apply to British load line ships registered in Ceylon, but so that the survey required for the purpose of seeing whether the certificate should remain in force shall take place when required by the Director.

(2) For the purpose of the provisions of this Act relating to load lines a United Kingdom load line certificate issued under section 47 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1932, of the United Kingdom shall have the same effect as a Ceylon load line certificate.

(3) Where Her Majesty has by Order in Council under subsection (2) of section 59 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety and Load Line Conventions) Act, 1932, of the United Kingdom directed that load line certificates issued in pursuance of the provisions of the law in force in any country forming part of the British Commonwealth other than the United Kingdom or Ceylon, or in any foreign country in which for the time being Her Majesty has jurisdiction, in respect of British ships (or any class or description of British ships) registered in that part of the British Commonwealth or in that foreign country, or in pursuance of the provisions of the law in force in any foreign country in respect of ships (or any class or description of ships) of that foreign country, as the case may be, shall have the same effect for the purpose of Part II of the aforesaid Act as United Kingdom load line certificates, any load line certificate so issued shall have the same effect, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to load lines, as a Ceylon load line certificate.

(1) The Minister may make regulations prescribing precautions to be taken in loading cargo as deck cargo.

(2) If any cargo is loaded as deck cargo in any ship, whether British or foreign, in contravention of any regulation made under subsection (1) of this section, the owner, agent, or master of such ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction thereof after summary trial, be liable to a fine exceeding one thousand rupees.

(3) Without prejudice to any proceedings under subsection (2) of this section, any ship, whether British or foreign, in which any cargo is loaded as deck cargo in contravention of any regulation made under subsection (1) of this section may be detained until she ceases to be so loaded.

(4) For the purpose of this section the expression ” deck cargo ” means any cargo loaded to be carried either in any uncovered space upon deck or in any covered space not included in the cubical contents forming the ship’s registered tonnage.