INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. 305 



SUFFICIENT AND EFFICIENT CREWS. 



The convention lays upon the nations the following obligation in Article 15 : 



"Art. 1 5. The Governments of the High Contracting Parties undertake to maintain, or, 

 if it is necessary, to adopt measures for the purpose of insuring that, from the point of view 

 of safety of life at sea, vessels defined in Article 2 shall be sufficiently and efficiently manned." 



This article is identical in substance (so far as passenger ships in question are concerned) 

 with the following rule laid down by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, ninth cir- 

 cuit, May 2, 1904, In re Pacific Mail Steamship Co. (130 Fed. Rep., 82) : 



"There can, in our opinion, be no doubt that the crew of a ship must be not only suf- 

 ficient in numbers, but also competent for the duties it may be called upon to perform." 



In its relations to the entire convention Article 15 coincides even more closely with the 

 rule laid down In re Meyer (74 Fed., 885), quoted in the case just mentioned: 



"It is the duty of the owners of a steamer carrying goods and passengers not only to 

 provide a seaworthy vessel, but they must also provide the vessel with a crew adequate in 

 number and competent for their duty with reference to all the exigencies of the intended 

 route and with a competent and skillful master of sound judgment and discretion, etc." 



The rule of the courts may be invoked in the determination of damages after loss has 

 been incurred; the provisions of Article 15 of the convention, enforced through Article 65, 

 aim directly to prevent conditions which may lead to loss. Article 15 prescribes that from 

 the point of view of safety of life at sea vessels under the rules of the convention must 

 carry crews in all departments, the engine room, fire room, and the steward's department, , 

 as well as the deck department, sufficient in numbers and efficient in the various duties they 

 may be called upon to perform, and this requirement applies to the officers, who are all 

 (except the captain) included in the crew. The principal duties in connection with safety 

 (apart from those connected with the navigation of the vessel now performed on deck by 

 the deck officers, quartermasters, or wheelmen and lookouts, and below by the engineers) 

 are set forth in Article 56, and Articles XIX, XX, L, and LI. Article 64 of the convention 

 binds the contracting States to communicate mutually information which they possess so far 

 as manning on their own vessels for the purposes of safety is concerned as well as infor- 

 mation concerning construction and appliances. The interchange of such information is 

 clearly for the advantage of those who travel by sea. 



CERTIFICATED LIFEBOAT MEN. 



The convention aims to prevent disasters, particularly by messages to navigators of 

 impending sources of danger and by intercommunication between ships ; if, however, a dis- 

 aster should occur, the convention next aims to provide for a ship which will keep afloat the 

 longest possible time until it can reach port or until assistance may arrive. It then provides 

 for the general use of radiotelegraphy to enable the largest number of vessels practicable to 

 render assistance to a ship in distress, whether from external cause (collision, typhoon, etc.) 

 or internal cause (breaking of shafts or loss of propellers in storms, fire, etc.). Abandon- 



