Merchant Shipping Act 1894

235 Deduction from wages, and payments to superintendents, &c of fines.

(1) Every fine imposed on a seaman for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted and paid as follows ; (that is to say,)

(a) If the offender is discharged in the United Kingdom, and the offence, and the entry in the log-book required by this Act in respect thereof, are proved to the satisfaction, in the case of a foreign-going ship, of the superintendent before whom the offender is discharged, and in the case of a home trade ship of the superintendent at or nearest the port at which the crew are discharged, the master or owner shall deduct the fine from the wages of the offender, and pay it to the superintendent;

(b) If the offender enters Her Majesty's naval service or is discharged abroad before the final discharge of the crew in the United Kingdom, and the offence and the entry as aforesaid are proved to the satisfaction of the officer in command of the ship he so enters, or of the consular officer or other person by whose sanction he is discharged, as the case may be, the fine shall be deducted as aforesaid and an entry made in the official log-book of the ship and signed by the officer or other person to whose satisfaction the offence is proved ; and

(c) On the return of the ship to the United Kingdom the master or owner shall pay the fine to the superintendent before whom the crew is discharged or in the case of a home trade ship to the superintendent at or nearest the port at which the crew are discharged.

(2) If a master or owner fails without reasonable cause so to pay the fine, he shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

(3) 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.