Merchant Shipping Act 1894

124 Engagement of seamen in colonial and foreign ports.

(1) With respect to the engagement of seamen abroad, the following provisions shall have effect:—

Where the master of a ship engages a seaman in any British possession other than that in which the ship is registered or at a port in which there is a British consular officer, the provisions of this Act respecting agreements with the crew made in the United Kingdom shall apply subject to the following modifications :—

(a) In any such British possession the master shall engage the seaman before some officer being either a superintendent or, if there is no such superintendent, an officer of customs;

(b) At any such port having a British consular officer, the master shall, before carrying the seaman to sea, procure the sanction of the consular officer, and shall engage the seaman before that officer;

(c) The officer shall endorse upon the agreement an attestation to the effect that the agreement has been signed in his presence and otherwise made as required by this Act, and also, if the officer is a British consular officer, that it has his sanction, and if the attestation is not made the burden of proving that the engagement was made as required by this Act shall lie upon the master.

(2) If a master fails to comply with this section he shall be liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding five pounds.