1 



SHIPS AND SHIPPING. 



SHIPS AND SHIPPING. 



t to this article, in which every help i offered to a complete 

 f th principles of the law, and their application to 

 The hading rule*, however, of the law on thu subject may here 

 be Mceinctly set down. Than of tlie general maritime law are these, 

 namely, 1, when the injury oooanonad is the remit of pure accident, 

 the lots lie* where it fell ; 8, if both parties are to blame, the lorn it 

 divided between them; 8, if it happen through misconduct of tlio 

 MilferinK party only, he been hu own burden ; 4, if it be entirely the 

 fault of the other vessel, the sufferer U entitled to complete com- 

 pensation for hu loss. 



By the Merchant Shipping Aet of 1854, theie rules underwent con- 

 KkJerablo modification, and since then the British maritime law, which 

 had previously differed from the eommon law on the nibject of negli- 

 u now identical with it At common law, a person cannot 

 for damage sustained from the negligence of another if his 

 own Bfgtiynfff contributed to the event, or if he might have avoided 

 it by the serein of ordinary care and skill ; but if the other who is 

 sued might, by ordinary care and skill, have avoided the accident, he 

 U tiabl*, notwithstanding there be negligence in the plaintiff remotely 

 connected with the event. 



In case of damage done to a ship by another vessel that is In fault, 

 the maritime law gives to the sufferer a lien on the ship that does the 

 wrong. In virtue of that lien, she may be arrested under process of 

 the Admiralty Court, condemned, and sold, and so much of the pro- 

 ceeds of sale applied as is necessary to compensate the owner of the 

 damaged ship ; and in cane the produce of the sale is nut sufficient, the 

 lien extends to the freight being carried by the vessel at the time, and 

 that too may be ordered to be brought into the treasury of the court 

 for adjudication and distribution, pursuant to the law and facts of the 

 cue. We have already seen that the liability of British owners u 

 limited, under the supposed circumstances, to the value of the ship 

 and the amount of the freight. 



Pilotage; Ttmxayt. Immediately connected with the subject of 

 damage by collision is the law of the local pilot. The legislature has 

 made it compulsory on vessels passing over certain pilotage grounds to 

 take one of the local licensed pilots on board, and has at the same 

 time conferred upon the owner, who was thus deprived of his option, 

 an immunity from liability for any damage caused by the ship while 

 she is under the management of such pilot, provided the damage is in 

 no degree attributable to misconduct in the master and crew, or insuf- 

 ficiency of the ship's equipment. The institution of pilots in this 

 country dates from the time of Henry VIII. ; and their government is 

 entrusted to the Trinity House, and to certain other pilotage autho- 

 rities throughout the United Kingdom. It is binding on a pilot to 

 take charge of a ship when required, and on a maitter to receive such 

 pilot on board when he offers within the pilotage ground, there being 

 at the time no licensed pilot on board. When the pilot takes charge 

 of the ship he is supreme, the master and crew being bound to obey him 

 in all reasonable orders and demands. If the ship is at the time in 

 tow, the tug also is under the orders of the same pilot ; and it may be 

 presumed concerning the tug in tow, that if she obey exactly the 

 unlm of the licensed pilot in the ship, the owners of the tug are not 

 liable for any damage resulting in consequence. Under these circum- 

 stances, it is the pilot who is liable, and his liability in the Trinity 

 House district is limited by Parliament to the amount of his bond, 

 namely, 1601. The duty of taking such pilot on board in these par- 

 ticular localities being compulsory on foreign as well as British ships, 

 they participate also in the immunity conferred on the others. [PILOT.] 



3. Tkr Permu vka Karlijatt Itrititk f&ipt. Quaiijicativn of Officer*. 

 A very important change was introduced into the mercantile marine 

 <>f this country by the Merchant Shipping Act of 1S54 : the officers of 

 that service are now intrusted with command only upon satisfactory 

 evidence of their qualifications and fitness. Upon testimonials of 

 service, experience, and character, and upon personal examination of 

 the candidates in various departments of knowledge proper to their 

 calling, do the local marine boards distributed throughout the United 

 Kingdom, at all ports of any note, determine week by week upon 

 giving or refusing certificates of fitness to be masters, mates, or first or 

 second mate* of foreign-going ships or home-trade passenger ships. 

 These are certificates of competency. Certificates of sen-ice as master 

 or mate in British foreign going ships before the 1st of January, 1851, 

 or a* master or mate of a home-trade pnaaenger ship before the 1st of 

 January, 1854, entitle the holders still to serve in the like capacities. A 

 lieutenant, master, pasaed mate, or second master, or one of any higher 

 rank in her majesty's service, or that of the East India Company, is 

 ntitled to serve as master of a British ship. A certificate proper to 

 the rank in which be serves must be held by and be in the possession 

 f the master and first and second or only mate of every foreign-going 

 British ship, and the master and first or only mate of every home-trade 

 passenger ship proceeding to sea from the United Kingdom, otherwise 

 she oomaoi clear out Ami' in every such vessel of 100 tons burden 

 nod. upward* there must be at least one officer besides the master who 

 poiSBHH a legal valid certificate appropriate to the grade of first or 

 only mate of such vessel, or to a higher grade. A penalty of SO/, is 

 laid on every one who goes to sea aa officer without an appropriate 

 ate, and on every person who employs anyone to go to sea in such 

 capacity without first ascertaining whether he is so qualified. 



Matter,' />(*, fatten, and .%<. In the responsible situation 



of master of a British merchant ship, his duties are very numen .us, 

 onerous, and important. The ship and her cargo are committed to his 

 care, and he is to see that neither lake any damage, so far as provident 

 skill and vigilance can prevent or the use of vigorous means can 

 repel. But when prevention is already become impossible, he is then 

 to use all diligence and means in his power to repair the damage, as 

 any judicious man would do for his own property. He keeps his 

 owners constantly informed of his whereabouts, and of th> 

 incidents of the voyage, enabling them on each occasion to take 

 measures for their own protection and benefit, as they might be 

 advised. He is to give his whole time to their service, and account to 

 them faithfully on his return. The ship's log and official log must be 

 kept under his supervision. 



It is his duty to provide for the sustenance, comfort, and health of 

 all persons on board ; and if injury accrue through negligence of hi- in 

 not providing stores, medicines, or proper accommodation, he in liable 

 to an action. His authority on board while at sea is supreme and 

 despotic ; and if there be disobedience on the part of the crew, he 

 may correct them in a reasonable manner. On all occasions \\hen 

 discipline is infringed, he will be careful to Inquire and inform himself 

 of the true state of the facts before he visit any one with ; 

 unless the breach of duty or discipline is obvious to his eyes, and the 

 offence is of that mutinous character which must be checked on the 

 instant with force. He is responsible on his return* for all his conduct 

 on board towards others, either on prosecution by public law or at the 

 suits of private persons who have suffered injury at his hands. 



His conduct is also liable to be inquired into by the Board of Trade, 

 who have power, if there be occasion, to withdraw his certificate, or by 

 a naval court on the high seas or abroad, who may discharge him and 

 put another in his place. 



For his wages, he now has the some lien on the ship and remedies aa 

 a common seaman. His disbursements, however, form a mere j 

 debt. His powers as agent of the owners have already been noticed 

 under the first division of this article. 



The Stamen. Ship's Arliclet. Apprentices ore to be indent 

 seamen for foreign-going ships must and seamen for home-trade ships 

 may be engaged and discharged before a shipping-master. The 

 agreement of hiring is to be in writing, according to the form, and 

 containing at least all the stipulations, prescribed by the statute. 

 Other stipulations may be added by the consent of both parties ; but 

 " no seaman shall by any agreement forfeit his lien upon the ship, or 

 be deprived of any remedy for the recovery of his wages to which he 

 would otherwise have been entitled; and every stipulation in any 

 agreement inconsistent with any provision in this Act (17 A 18 Viet., 

 c. 104), and every stipulation by which any seaman consents to abandon 

 his right to wages in the owe of the loss or the ship, or to abandon any 

 right which he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage, shall be 

 wholly inoperative." Although this agreement is in writing, and 

 signed by the seaman, he may prove his case in a court of law without 

 producing or giving notice to produce it; and any erasure, inter- 

 lineation, or alteration in it, not proved to have been made with the 

 consent of all the persons interested in the change by the written 

 attestation, if made In her majesty's dominions, of some shipping-master, 

 justice, officer of customs, or other public functionary, or, if made out 

 of her majesty's dominions, of a British consular oilicei-. or v here there 

 is no such officer of two respectable British merchants, is wholly 

 inoperative. Allotment notes must be stipulated for if required, and 

 may only be granted in favour of the seaman's wife, father, mother, 

 grandfather, grandmother, child or grandchild, or sister or 1 >i 

 the statute expressly providing that these and these only shall have a 

 right of action on the note. The agreement must contain the following 

 particulars, namely (1), the nature nnd, as far as practicable, the 

 duration of the intended voyage or engagement; (2), the numl > 

 d<>. ription of the crew,-8pecifying how many are engaged as snilois : 

 (8), the time at which such seaman is to be on board, or t 

 work ; (4), the capacity in which each seaman is to serve ; (5), the 

 amount of wages that each seaman is to receive; (6), a scale of the 

 provisions which ore to be furnished to each seaman; (7 

 lotions ss to conduct on board, and as to fines, short allowances of 

 provisions, or other lawful punishments for misconduct, which have 

 been sanctioned by the Board of Trade as regulations proper to be 

 adopted, and which the Arties agree to adopt. Any fresh stipulation 

 on the part of the seamen with the master in the course of tin 

 voyage for an advance in the rate of wages, or for any -t uity , 



cannot be enforced, unless the circumstances existing at the time be 

 such as to have cancelled the agreement already made. 



tt'agu. Wages are no longer dependent on the earning of freight. 

 They may not be attached ; and payment of ih.ni to the seaman is 

 valid and effectual, nut withstand he.- any prior attachment, incuuil 

 or arrestment thereon, or assignment thereof. 



The amount of wages due to the seaman if h fulfil his contract 

 in the full amount originally stipulated therein to ! p. ml him. The 

 voyage, however, is liable to interruption by various casualties ; the 

 service of the seaman is subject to discontinuance before the termi- 

 nation contemplated originally on both sides; and it is not a very 

 easy matter in general language to lay down the law which is appli- 

 cable to each case before it arises. It is not in the power ot tin' 

 master, by wrongfully dismissing any of his crew in the course of tho 



