Merchant Shipping Act 1894

186 Discharge of seamen in foreign countries.

(1) In the following cases; namely,—

(a) where a British ship is transferred or disposed of at any port out of Her Majesty's dominions, and a seaman or apprentice belonging thereto does not in the presence of some British consular officer, or, if there is no such officer there, in the presence of one or more respectable British merchants residing at the port and not interested in the ship, signify his consent in writing to complete the voyage if continued, and

(b) where the service of any seaman or apprentice belonging to any British ship terminates at any port out of Her Majesty's dominions,

the master shall give to that seaman or apprentice a certificate of discharge in a form approved by the Board of Trade, and in the case of any certificated officer whose certificate he has retained shall return such certificate to him.

(2) The master shall also besides paying the wages to which the seaman or apprentice is entitled, either—

(a) provide him with adequate employment on board some other British ship bound to the port in Her Majesty's dominions at which he was originally shipped, or to a port in the United Kingdom agreed to by the seaman, or

(b) furnish the means of sending him back to some such port, or

(c) provide him with a passage home, or

(d) deposit with the consular officer or merchants as aforesaid such a sum of money as is by the officer or merchants deemed sufficient to defray the expenses of his maintenance and passage home.

(3) The consular officer or merchants shall endorse upon the agreement with the crew of the ship which the seaman or apprentice is leaving the particulars of any payment, provision, or deposit made under this section.

(4) If the master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with any requirement of this section, the expenses of maintenance or passage home,—

(a) if defrayed by the seaman or apprentice shall be recoverable as wages due to him ; and

(b) if defrayed by the consular officer or by any other person shall (unless the seaman or apprentice has been guilty of barratry) be a charge upon the ship to which the seaman or apprentice belonged and upon the owner for the time being-thereof and may be recovered against the owner, with costs; at the suit of the consular officer or other person defraying the expenses, or, in case they have been allowed to him out of public money, as a debt to the Crown, either by ordinary process of law, or in the manner in which wages can be recovered under this Act.