Merchant Shipping Act 1970

61 Inquiries into deaths of crew members and others. U.K.

(1) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, where—

(a) any person dies in a ship registered in the United Kingdom; or [F1 in a boat or life-raft from such a ship; or]

(b) the master of or a seaman employed in such a ship dies in a country outside the United Kingdom;

an inquiry into the cause of the death shall be held by a superintendent or proper officer at the next port where the ship calls after the death and where there is a superintendent or proper officer, or at such other place as the Board of Trade may direct.

[F2 (1A) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, where it appears to the Secretary of State that—

(a) in consequence of an injury sustained or a disease contracted by a person, when he was the master of or a seaman employed in a ship registered in the United Kingdom, he ceased to be employed in the ship and subsequently died; and

(b) the death occurred in a country outside the United Kingdom during the period of one year beginning with the day when he so ceased,

the Secretary of State may arrange for an inquiry into the cause of the death to be held by a superintendent or proper officer.

(1B) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, where it appears to the Secretary of State that a person may—

(a) have died in a ship registered in the United Kingdom or in a boat or life-raft from such a ship; or

(b) have been lost from such a ship, boat or life-raft and have died in consequence of having been so lost,

the Secretary of State may arrange for an inquiry to be held by a superintendent or proper officer into whether the person died as aforesaid and, if the superintendent or officer finds that he did, into the cause of the death.]

(2) The superintendent or proper officer holding the inquiry shall for the purpose of the inquiry have the powers conferred on an inspector by [F3 section 27 of the M1 Merchant Shipping Act 1979].

(3) The person holding the inquiry shall make a report of his findings to the Board of Trade and the Board shall make a copy of the report available—

(a) [F4 if the person to whom the report relates] was employed in the ship and a person was named as his next of kin in the crew agreement or list of the crew in which the [F4 name of the person to whom the report relates] last appeared, to the person so named;

(b) in any case, to any person requesting it who appears to the Board of Trade to be interested.

(4) No inquiry shall be held under this section in a case where, in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, a coroner’s inquest is to be held or, in Scotland, an inquiry is to be held under the [F5 M2 Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976].

Textual Amendments

F1 Words inserted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), s. 29(1)(a)

F2 S. 61(1A)(1B) inserted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), s. 29(1)(b)

F3 Words substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), s. 28(7)(b)

F4 Words substituted by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), s. 29(2)

F5 Words substituted by Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 (c. 14), Sch. 1 para. 2

Marginal Citations

M1 1979 c. 39.

M2 1976 c. 14.