Merchant Shipping Act 1970

Documentation, reports and returns

68 Official log books

(1) Except as provided by regulations under this section an official log book in a form approved by the Board of Trade shall be kept in every ship registered in the United Kingdom.

(2) The Board of Trade may make regulations prescribing the particulars to be entered in official log books, the persons by whom such entries are to be made, signed or witnessed, and the procedure to be followed in the making of such entries and in their amendment or cancellation.

(3) The regulations may require the production or delivery of official log books to such persons, in such circumstances and within such times as may be specified therein.

(4) Regulations under this section may exempt ships of any description from any requirements thereof, either generally or in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations.

(5) Regulations under this section may make a contravention of any provision thereof an offence punishable on summary conviction with a fine not exceeding £20.

(6) If a person wilfully destroys or mutilates or renders illegible any entry in an official log book he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

69 Lists of crew

(1) Except as provided by regulations made under this section the master of every ship registered in the United Kingdom shall make and maintain a list of the crew containing such particulars as may be required by the regulations.

(2) The Board of Trade may make regulations—

(a) specifying the particulars to be entered in a list of the crew;

(b) limiting the time for which a list of the crew may remain in force;

(c) providing for the maintenance by such persons and either in such place as may be specified in the regulations or, if it is so specified, in the ship, of a copy or copies of each list of a crew, and for the notification to such persons of any changes therein;

(d) for the production of a list of the crew to such persons, in such circumstances and within such time as may be specified in the regulations ; and

(e) for the delivery to a superintendent or proper officer or the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations, of a list of the crew or a copy thereof maintained under the regulations and for the notification to him of any changes in such a list.

(3) Regulations under this section may enable a list of the crew to be contained in the same document as a crew agreement and may treat any particulars entered in the crew agreement as forming part of the particulars entered in the list.

(4) Regulations under this section may exempt from the requirements thereof such descriptions of ship as may be specified in the regulations and may make different provision for different circumstances.

(5) Regulations under this section may make a contravention of any provision thereof an offence punishable on summary conviction with a fine not exceeding £20.

70 British seamen's cards

(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations providing—

(a) for the issue to British seamen of cards (in this section referred to as " British seamen's cards ") in such form and containing such particulars with respect to the holders thereof and such other particulars (if any) as may be prescribed by the regulations, and for requiring British seamen to apply for such cards ;

(b) for requiring the holders of British seamen's cards to produce them to such persons and in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations;

(c) for the surrender of British seamen's cards in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations ;

(d) for any incidental or supplementary matters for which the Board think it expedient for the purposes of the regulations to provide;

and any provision of the regulations having effect by virtue of paragraph (a) of this subsection may be so framed as to apply to all British seamen or any description of them and as to have effect subject to any exemptions for which provision may be made by the regulations.

(2) Regulations under this section may make a contravention of any provision thereof an offence punishable on summary conviction with a fine not exceeding £10.

(3) In this section " British seamen " means persons who are not aliens within the meaning of the [1948 c. 56.] British Nationality Act 1948 and are employed, or ordinarily employed, as masters or seamen.

(4) If a person makes a statement which he knows to be false or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular for the purpose of obtaining for himself or another person a British seaman's card he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

71 Discharge books

(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations providing—

(a) for the issue to persons who are or have been employed in ships registered in the United Kingdom of discharge books in such form and containing such particulars with respect to the holders thereof and such other particulars (if any) as may be prescribed by the regulations and for requiring such persons to apply for such discharge books ;

(b) for requiring the holders of discharge books to produce them to such persons and in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations ;

(c) for the surrender of discharge books in such circum stances as may be prescribed by the regulations;

(d) for any incidental or supplementary matters for which the Board think it expedient for the purposes of the regulations to provide;

and any provision of the regulations having effect by virtue of paragraph (a) of this subsection may be so framed as to apply to all such persons as are mentioned in that paragraph or any description of such persons and as to have effect subject to any exemptions for which provision may be made by the regulations.

(2) Regulations under this section may make a contravention of any provision thereof an offence punishable on summary conviction with a fine not exceeding £10.

72 Returns of births and deaths in ships, etc.

(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations—

(a) requiring the master of any ship registered in the United Kingdom to make a return to a superintendent or proper officer for transmission to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen of any birth or death occurring in the ship and of the death, wherever occurring outside the United Kingdom, of any person employed in the ship, and to notify any such death to such person (if any) as the deceased may have named to him as his next of kin ; and

(b) requiring the master of any ship not registered in the United Kingdom which calls at a port in the United Kingdom in the course of or at the end of a voyage to make a return to a superintendent for transmission to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen o any birth or death of a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies which has occurred in the ship during the voyage.

(2) Regulations under this section may require the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen to send a certified copy o any return made thereunder to the Registrar General for England and Wales, the Registrar General of Births, Death and Marriages for Scotland or the Registrar General for Northern Ireland, as the case may require.

(3) The Registrar General to whom any such certified copies are sent shall record the information contained therein in a register kept by him for the purpose and to be called the marine register, and may also record in that register such additional information as appears to him desirable for the purpose of ensuring the completeness and correctness of the register; and the enactments relating to the registration of births and deaths in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland shall have effect as if the marine register were a register of births (other than stillbirths) or deaths or certified copies of entries in such a register and had been transmitted to the Registrar General in accordance with those enactments.

(4) Regulations under the preceding provisions of this section may make a contravention of any provision thereof an offence punishable on summary conviction with a fine not exceeding £20.

(5) Regulations under this section may contain provisions for authorising the registration of the following births and deaths occurring outside the United Kingdom in circumstances where no return is required to be made under the preceding provisions of this section—

(a) any birth or death of a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies which occurs in a ship not registered in the United Kingdom ;

(b) any death of a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who has been employed in such a ship which occurs elsewhere than in the ship ; and

(c) any death of a person who has been employed in a ship registered in the United Kingdom which occurs elsewhere than in the ship.

73 Reports of shipping casualties

(1) Where any such casualty as is mentioned in section 55(1) of this Act has occurred in the case of a ship or ship's boat and, at the time it occurred, the ship was registered in the United Kingdom, the owner or master of the ship shall, as soon as practicable, and in any case not later than twenty-four hours after the ship's arrival at the next port, report the casualty to the Board of Trade, giving a brief description of it and stating the time and place where it occurred, the name and official number of the ship, its position at the time of the report and the next port of call.

(2) If the owner or master of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with the preceding provisions of this section he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

74 Handing over of documents on change of master

If a person ceases to be the master of a ship registered in the United Kingdom during a voyage of the ship he shall deliver to his successor the documents relating to the ship or its crew which are in his custody ; and if he fails without reasonable cause to do so he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

75 Admissibility in evidence and inspection of certain documents

(1) The following documents shall be admissible in evidence and, when in the custody of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, shall be open to public inspection, that is to say.—

(a) crew agreements, lists of crews made under section 69 of this Act and notices given under this Act of additions to or changes in crew agreements and lists of crews;

(b) the official log book of any ship kept under section 68 of this Act and, without prejudice to section 695(2) of the [1894 c. 60.] Merchant Shipping Act 1894, any document purporting to be a copy of an entry therein and to be certified as a true copy by the master of the ship;

(c) documents purporting to be submissions to or decisions by superintendents or proper officers under section 10 of this Act;

(d) returns or reports under section 72 of this Act or under regulations made under section 19 of this Act.

(2) A certificate issued under section 43 of this Act shall be admissible in evidence.