[8. 4655]

AN ACT

Relative to limitation of shipowners' liability.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4283 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 183; Supp. I, title 46, sec. 183), is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4283. (a) The liability of the owner of any vessel, whether American or foreign, for any embezzlement, loss, or destruction by any person of any property, goods, or merchandise shipped or put on board of such vessel, or for any loss, damage, or injury by collision, or for any act, matter, or thing, loss, damage, or forfeiture, done, occasioned, or incurred, without the privity or knowledge of such owner or owners, shall not, except in the cases provided for in subsection (b) of this section, exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner in such vessel, and her freight then pending. "(b) In the case of any seagoing vessel, if the amount of the owner's liability as limited under subsection (a) is insufficient to pay all losses in full, and the portion of such amount applicable to the payment of losses in respect of loss of life or bodily injury is less than $60 per ton of such vessel's tonnage, such portion shall be increased to an amount equal to $60 per ton, to be available only for the payment of losses in respect of loss of life or bodily injury. If such portion so increased is insufficient to pay such losses in full, they shall be paid therefrom in proportion to their respective

amounts.

"(c) For the purposes of this section the tonnage of a seagoing steam or motor vessel shall be her gross tonnage without deduction on account of engine room, and the tonnage of a seagoing sailing vessel shall be her registered tonrage: Provided, That there shall not be included in such tonnage any space occupied by seamen or apprentices and appropriated to their use.

"(d) The owner of any such seagoing vessel shall be liable in respect of loss of life or bodily injury arising on distinct occasions to the same extent as if no other loss of life or bodily injury had arisen.

"(e) In respect of loss of life or bodily injury the privity or knowledge of the master of a seagoing vessel or of the superintendent or managing agent of the owner thereof, at or prior to the commencement of each voyage, shall be deemed conclusively the privity or knowledge of the owner of such vessel.

"(f) As used in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section and in section 4283A, the term 'seagoing vessel' shall not include pleasure yachts, tugs, towboats, towing vessels, tank vessels, fishing vessels or their tenders, self-propelled lighters, nondescript selfpropelled vessels, canal boats, scows, car floats, barges, lighters, or

nondescript non-self-propelled vessels, even though the same may be seagoing vessels within the meaning of such term as used in section 4289 of this chapter, as amended.'

SEO. 2. Chapter 6 of title 48 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, is hereby amended by inserting after section 4283A the following new section:

"SEC. 4283B. STIPULATIONS LIMITING LIABILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE INVALID.-It shall be unlawful for the manager, agent, master, or owner of any vessel transporting passengers between ports of the United States or between any such port and a foreign port to insert in any rule, regulation, contract, or agreement any provision or limitation (1) purporting, in the event of loss of life or bodily injury arising from the negligence or fault of such owner or his servants, to relieve such owner, master, or agent from liability, or from liability beyond any stipulated amount, for such loss or injury, or (2) purporting in such event to lessen, weaken, or avoid the right of any claimant to a trial by court of competent jurisdiction on the question of liability for such loss or injury, or the measure of damages therefor. All such provisions or limitations contained in any such rule, regulation, contract, or agreement are hereby declared to be against public policy and shall be null and void and of no effect." SEC. 3. Section 4285 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 185) is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4285. The vessel owner, within six months after a claimant shall have given to or filed with such owner written notice of claim, may petition a district court of the United States of competent jurisdiction for limitation of liability within the provisions of this chapter, as amended, and the owner (a) shall deposit with the court, for the benefit of claimants, a sum equal to the amount or value of the interest of such owner in the vessel and freight, or approved security therefor, and in addition such sums, or approved security therefor, as the court may from time to time fix as necessary to carry out the provisions of section 4283, as amended, or (b) at his option shall transfer, for the benefit of claimants, to a trustee to be appointed by the court his interest in the vessel and freight, together with such sums, or approved security therefor, as the court may from time to time fix as necessary to carry out the provisions of section 4283, as amended. Upon compliance with the requirements of this section all claims and proceedings against the owner with respect to the matter in question shall cease."

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SEO. 4. Section 4289 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 188), is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 4289. Except as otherwise specifically provided therein, the provisions of the nine preceding sections and of section 18 of the Act entitled 'An Act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade and for other purposes', approved June 26, 1884 (23 Stat. 57; U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 189), shall apply to all seagoing vessels, and also to all vessels used on lakes or rivers or in inland navigation, including canal boats, barges, and lighters."

SEO. 5. Section 2 of the Act entitled "An Act relative to limitation of shipowners' liability", approved August 29, 1935 (U. S. C., 1934 ed., Supp. I, sec. 183a), is hereby repealed.

Approved, June 5, 1936.

[8. 2127]

AN ACT

To ainend section 4471 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4471 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended (U. S. C., title 46, sec. 464), be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto the following new paragraph:

"On and after July 1, 1937, every passenger vessel with berthed or stateroom accommodation for fifty or more passengers shall be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, which shall be in addition to any other device or devices for fire protection, of a type prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. All enclosed portions of such vessels accessible to passengers or crew (except cargo holds, machinery spaces, and, when of fire-resisting construction, toilets, bathrooms, and spaces of similar construction) shall be protected by an automatic sprinkler system: Provided, That if after investigation the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection finds in the case of a particular vessel the application of this Act is unnecessary properly to protect life on such vessel, an exception may be made. The Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection shall cause to be made suitable tests and inspections as will insure the proper working of such systems. In carrying out the provisions of this paragraph the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection is hereby authorized and directed to prescribe the particular approved type, character, and manner of installation of systems to be fitted. The term 'type' as herein used shall be considered to mean any system which will give a prescribed or required efficiency and shall not mean some peculiar shape or design and shall not be confined to some certain brand or make."

Approved, June 20, 1936.

(H. R. 11915]

AN ACT

To amend the Coastwise Load Line Act, 1935.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the Coastwise Load Line Act, 1935, approved August 27, 1935 (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. I, title 46, sec. 88a), be amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized and directed in respect of the vessels defined above to establish by regulations from time to time the load-water lines and marks thereof indicating the maximum depth to which such vessels inay safely be loaded and in establishing such load lines due consideration shall be given to, and differentials made for, the various types and character of vessels and the trades in which they are engaged. In establishing load-water lines on passenger vessels due consideration shall be given to, and differentials shall be made for, the age and condition of the vessel, its subdivision and efficacy thereof, and the probable stability of the vessel if damaged: Provided, That the load-line provisions of this Act shall apply to the Great Lakes and that no load line shall be established or marked on any vessel which load line gives a lesser freeboard and less buoyance than the load line established by the International Treaty on Load Lines of 1930, and tha. the regulations established under this proviso shall have the force of law: Provided further, That in applying the load lines to vessels on the Great Lakes and to steam colliers, tugs, barges, and self-propelled barges engaged in special services on inter-island voyages and on coastwise voyages from port to port in the continental United States the Secretary of Commerce is vested with discretion to vary the load-line marks from those established by said treaty when in his opinion the changes made by him will not be above the actual line of safety." Approved, June 20, 1936.

[H. R. 12419]

AN ACT

To apply laws covering steam vessels to seagoing vessels of three hundred gross tons and over propelled by internal-combustion engines.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That existing laws covering the inspections of steam vessels be, and they are hereby, made applicable to seagoing vessels of three hundred gross tons and over propelled in whole or in part by internal-combustion engines to such extent and upon such conditions as may be required by the regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce: Provided, That this Act shall not apply to any vessel engaged in fishing, oystering, clamming, crabbing, or any other branch of the fishery or kelp or sponge industry: Provided further, That as to licenses required for masters and engineers operating vessels propelled by internalcombustion engines operating exclusively in the district covering the Hawaiian Islands, said masters and engineers shall be under the jurisdiction of the hull and boiler inspectors having jurisdiction over said waters, who shall make diligent inquiry as to the character, merits, and qualifications, and knowledge and skill of any master or engineer applying for a license. If the said inspectors shall be satisfied from personal examination of the applicant and from other proof submitted that the applicant possesses the requisite character, merits, qualifications, knowledge, and skill, and is trustworthy and faithful, they shall grant him a license for the term of five years to operate such vessel under the limits prescribed in the license.

SEO. 2. The term "seagoing vessels" as used in the preceding section shall be construed to mean vessels which in the usual course of their employment proceed outside the line dividing the inland waters from the high seas as designated and determined under the provisions of section 2 of the Act of February 19, 1895. Approved, June 20, 1936.