Post Office Act 1953

27 Owners' letters

(1) The two next following subsections shall apply to any letter addressed to the owner, charterer or consignee of a ship or aircraft inward bound or to the owner, consignee or shipper of any goods carried in such a ship or aircraft, being a letter which, not being excepted from the exclusive privilege of the Postmaster-General, complies with the following conditions, that is to say—

(a) that the addressee is described in the address or superscription on the letter as such owner, charterer, consignee or shipper; and

(b) in the case of a letter addressed to an owner, consignee or shipper of goods, that it also appears by the ship's; manifest or by the manifest and declaration of the aircraft that the addressee has goods on board the ship or aircraft.

(2) Any such letter required to be delivered to a person at the place of arrival of the ship or aircraft shall be delivered to that person by the master of the ship or the commander of the aircraft free of inland postage and that person shall be entitled to the delivery thereof before the delivery of any other postal packets to the Post Office.

(3) Any such letter required to be delivered to a person at any other place in the British postal area shall be delivered by post on payment of inland postage only.

(4) If any person with intent to evade any postage falsely superscribes any letter as being for the owner, charterer or consignee of the ship or aircraft conveying the letter or for the owner, consignee or shipper of goods carried in that ship or aircraft, he shall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.