Merchant Shipping Act 1894

460 Liability for costs and damages.

(1) If it appears that there was not reasonable and probable cause, by reason of the condition of the ship or the act or default of the owner, for the provisional detention of a ship under this Part of this Act as an unsafe ship, the Board of Trade shall be liable to pay to the owner of the ship his costs of and incidental to the detention and survey of the ship, and also compensation for any loss or damage sustained by him by reason of the detention or survey.

(2) If a ship is finally detained under this Act, or if it appears that a ship provisionally detained was, at the time of that detention, an unsafe ship within the meaning of this Part of this Act, the owner of the ship shall be liable to pay to the Board of Trade their costs of and incidental to the detention and survey of the ship, and those costs shall, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recoverable as salvage is recoverable.

(3) For the purpose of this section the costs of and incidental to any proceeding before a court of survey, and a reasonable amount in respect of the remuneration of the surveyor or officer of the Board of Trade, shall be part of the costs of the detention and survey of the ship, and any dispute as to the amount of those costs may be referred to one of the officers following, namely, in England or Ireland to one of the masters or registrars of the High Court, and in Scotland to the Auditor of the Court of Session, and the officer shall, on request by the Board of Trade, ascertain and certify the proper amount of those costs.

(4) An action for any costs or compensation payable by the Board of Trade under this section may be brought against the Secretary of that Board by his official title as if he were a corporation sole, and if the cause of action arises in Ireland, and the action is brought in the High Court, that Court may order that the summons or writ may be served on the Crown and Treasury Solicitor for Ireland in such manner and on such terms respecting extension of time and otherwise as the Court thinks tit, and that that service shall be sufficient service of the summons or writ upon the Secretary of the Board of Trade.