Pt. I. 16-18. Penalty for use of improper A pledge of a certificate of registry is, by virtue of this provision, illegal and void; and where the master, who was also sole owner, had pledged the certificate, he was held entitled to recover it by action from the pledgee for the purposes of navigation. Wiley v. Crawford (1861), 30 L. J. Q. B. 319; 1 B. & S. 253. Where the master of a ship, at the port of discharge, and before the completion of the discharge, refused to deliver up the certificate to the managing owner, who demanded it without giving any reason and without dismissing the master, it was held that there was reasonable ground for the master's refusal. Arkle v. Henzell (1858), 27 L. J. M. C. 110; 8 E. & B. 828. See also R. v. Walsh (1834), 3 N. & M. 632; 1 A. & E. 481 (conviction under 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 55, 8. 27 (registry of vessels), for detaining certificate). 16. If the master or owner of a ship uses or attempts to use for her navigation a certificate of registry not legally granted in respect of the ship, he shall, in respect of each offence, be guilty [1854, s. 52.] of a misdemeanor, and the ship shall be subject to forfeiture certificate. under this Act. For provisions as to forfeiture, see s. 76. 17. The registrar of the port of registry of a ship may, with the approval of the Commissioners of Customs, and on the delivery up to him of the certificate of registry of a ship, grant a new certificate in lieu thereof. 18.(1.) In the event of the certificate of registry of a ship being mislaid, lost, or destroyed, the registrar of her port of registry shall grant a new certificate of registry in lieu of her original certificate. (2.) If the port (having a British registrar or consular officer) at which the ship is at the time of the event, or first arrives after the event (a.) is not in the United Kingdom, where the ship is registered in the United Kingdom; or, (b.) is not in the British possession in which the ship is registered; or, (c.) where the ship is registered at a port of registry established by Order in Council under this Act, is not that port; then the master of the ship, or some other person having knowledge of the facts of the case, shall make a declaration stating the facts of the case, and the names and descriptions of the registered owners of such ship to the best of the declarant's knowledge and belief, and the registrar or consular officer, as the case may be, shall thereupon grant a provisional certificate, containing a statement of the circumstances under which it is granted. (3.) The provisional certificate shall within ten days after the first subsequent arrival of the ship at her port of discharge in the United Kingdom, where she is registered in the United Kingdom, or in the British possession in which she is registered, or where she is registered at a port of registry established by Order in Council under this Act at that port, be delivered up to the registrar of her port of registry, and the registrar shall thereupon grant the new certificate of registry; and if the master without reasonable cause fails to deliver up the provisional certificate within the ten days aforesaid, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds. These provisions as to foreign ports of registry were new. See s. 88. Pt. I. 19-20. 19. Where the master of a registered British ship is changed, Endorsement each of the following persons, that is to say [1854, s. 46; of change of master on (a.) if the change is made in consequence of the sentence of certificate. a naval court, the presiding officer of that court (a); and (b.) if the change is made in consequence of the removal of the master by a court under Part VI. of this Act (b), the proper officer of that court; and (c.) if the change occurs from any other cause, the registrar, or if there is none the British consular officer, at the port where the change occurs, shall endorse and sign on the certificate of registry a memorandum of the change, and shall forthwith report the change to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen; and any officer of customs at any port in Her Majesty's dominions may refuse to admit any person to do any act there as master of a British ship unless his name is inserted in or endorsed on her certificate of registry as her last appointed master (c). (a) See ss. 481, 483, for constitution and powers of naval courts. (b) See s. 472 as to removal of master by admiralty courts. (c) As to admissibility of endorsements on certificates in evidence, see s. 64. 35 & 36 Vict. c. 73, s. 4.] 20.-(1.) Whenever a change occurs in the registered owner- Endorsement ship of a ship, the change of ownership shall be endorsed on her of change of ownership on certificate of registry either by the registrar of the ship's port of certificate. registry, or by the registrar of any port at which the ship arrives [1854, s. 45.] who has been advised of the change by the registrar of the ship's port of registry. (2.) The master shall, for the purpose of such endorsement by the registrar of the ship's port of registry, deliver the certificate of registry to the registrar, forthwith after the change if the change occurs when the ship is at her port of registry, and if it occurs during her absence from that port and the endorsement under this section is not made before her return then upon her first return to that port. (3.) The registrar of any port, not being the ship's port of registry, who is required to make an endorsement under this section may for that purpose require the master of the ship to deliver to him the ship's certificate of registry, so that the ship Pt. I. 21-22. Delivery up of certificate ceasing to be of ship lost or Britishowned. be not thereby detained, and the master shall deliver the same accordingly. (4.) If the master fails to deliver to the registrar the certificate of registry as required by this section he shall, for each offence (a) be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds. See note (c) to s. 19. (a) As to prosecution of offences, see s. 680. 21.-(1.) In the event of a registered ship being either actually or constructively lost (a), taken by the enemy, burnt, or broken up, or ceasing by reason of a transfer to persons not qualified to be owners of British ships (), or otherwise, to be a British ship, every owner of the ship or any share in the ship [1854, s. 53.] shall, immediately on obtaining knowledge of the event, if no notice thereof has already been given to the registrar, give notice thereof to the registrar at her port of registry, and that registrar shall make an entry thereof in the register book (c) and the registry of the ship in that book shall be considered as closed except so far as relates to any unsatisfied mortgages or existing certificates of mortgage entered therein (d). Provisional certificate for ships becoming Britishowned abroad. [1854, 8. 54; 35 & 36 Vict. c. 73, s. 4.] (2.) In any such case, except where the ship's certificate of registry is lost or destroyed, the master of the ship shall, if the event occurs in port immediately, but if it occurs elsewhere then within ten days after his arrival in port, deliver the certificate to the registrar, or, if there is none, to the British consular officer there, and the registrar, if he is not himself the registrar of her port of registry, or the British consular officer, shall forthwith forward the certificate delivered to him to the registrar of her port of registry (c). (3.) If any such owner or master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, he shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds. (a) For meaning of this term for insurance purposes, see Marine Insurance Act, 1906, s. 60. (b) The procedure on sale to a foreigner is for the owner to execute a bill of sale in the statutory form, and to give notice under this section to the registrar, who thereupon closes the registry (except as to unsatisfied mortgages) and, if required, gives a certificate to that effect to the purchaser. For qualification for ownership, see s. 1. (c) As to the re-registration of such ships, see s. 54. (d) The words in clarendon are to be read into sub-section (1) as if they were inserted there, see M. S. A. 1906, s. 52 (1). As to power of Courts to enforce unsatisfied mortgages on ships sold to foreigners, see ibid. s. 52 (2). 22.—(1.) If at a port not within Her Majesty's dominions and not being a port of registry established by Order in Council under this Act (a), a ship becomes the property of persons qualified to own a British ship, the British consular officer there may grant to her master, on his application, a provisional certificate (b), stating : (a.) the name of the ship; (b.) the time and place of her purchase, and the names of her purchasers; (c.) the name of her master; and (d.) the best particulars respecting her tonnage, build, and description which he is able to obtain; and shall forward a copy of the certificate at the first convenient opportunity to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen. (2.) Such a provisional certificate shall have the effect of a certificate of registry until the expiration of six months from its date, or until the ship's arrival at a port where there is a registrar (whichever first happens), and on either of those events. happening shall cease to have effect. (a) As to foreign ports of registry, see s. 88. (b) As to form, see s. 65, Part II. of 1st Schedule, and Appendix, p. 523. Pt. I. 23-24. of certificates 23. Where it appears to the Commissioners of Customs, or to Temporary the governor of a British possession, that by reason of special passes in lieu circumstances it would be desirable that permission should be of registry. granted to any British ship to pass, without being pre- [1854, s. 98.] viously registered, from any port in Her Majesty's dominions to any other port within Her Majesty's dominions, the Commissioners or the governor may grant a pass accordingly, and that pass shall, for the time and within the limits therein mentioned, have the same effect as a certificate of registry. Transfers and Transmissions. 24.—(1.) A registered ship or a share therein (when disposed Transfer of of to a person qualified to own a British ship) shall be trans- ships or ferred by bill of sale. shares. (2.) The bill of sale shall contain such description of the ship [1954, 8. 55.] as is contained in the surveyor's certificate, or some other description sufficient to identify the ship to the satisfaction. of the registrar, and shall be in the form marked A. in the first part of the First Schedule to this Act, or as near thereto as circumstances permit, and shall be executed by the transferor in the presence of, and be attested by, a witness or witnesses. "Ship."-As to what vessels are included in this term, see s. 742, and Gapp v. Bond, infra, and cases there cited. The sale or mortgage of a "ship" includes everything then on board necessary for the prosecution of the voyage, or subsequently brought on board in substitution therefor. Coltman v. Chamberlain (1830), 59 L. J. Q. B. 563; 25 Q. B. D. 329; see also Salmon, In re, Ex parte Gould (1885), 2 Mor. Bky. Cas. 137; and Langton v. Horton (1842), 5 Beav. 9. The "A registered ship."-The section would seem not to apply to a ship which, though required to be registered by s. 2, has, in fact, not been registered. Union Bank of London v. Lenanton (1878), supra, s. 2. Nor to a vessel which has been registered though not required to be so. See s. 3. Benyon v. Cresswell (1848), 18 L. J. Q. B. 1; 12 Q. B. 899. bill A transfer or assignment of any ship or vessel, or share thereof, is not of sale within the Bills of Sale Acts, 1878 and 1882. Hence, that which is a "ship or vessel" within this exception, and yet not a "registered ship" within Pt. I. 25-26. Declaration of transfer. the present section, can be validly transferred without registration of the instrument of transfer under either Act. See The Union Bank of London v. Lenanton (1878), supra, s. 2; Gapp v. Bond (1887), 56 L. J. Q. B. 438; 19 Q. B. D. 200. A vessel used as a coal hulk and workshop may cease to be a ship, and the property in her may pass without a bill of sale. European and Australian Royal Mail Co. v. Peninsular and Oriental S. N. Co. (1864), 2 Mar. Law Cas. 351; 12 Jur. N. S. 909. In the case of Gapp v. Bond a dumb barge propelled by oars, which was not a "ship" within the M. S. A. 1854 or 1894, was held to be a vessel" within the exceptions in the Bills of Sale Acts, and, therefore, transferable without registration. "Transferred by bill of sale."-Apart from the registration required by s. 26, the execution of the bill of sale transfers the property as between the parties thereto. See cases in note to s. 26. Moreover, the section applies only to the actual instrument of transfer, and not to an agreement to transfer, and therefore, such an agreement may be enforced, under s. 57, by a registered owner, though it is not a bill of sale and not registered. Batthyany v. Bouch (1881), 50 L. J. Q. B. 421; 4 Asp. M. L. C. 380; see also notes to s. 26. As to the enforcement of equities generally, by or against the registered owner, see s. 57 and cases there cited. Form.-See the provisions of s. 65, and note "Form" to s. 31. Description of ship.-See note, "Mistake or variation of name," to s. 31. 25. Where a registered ship or a share therein is transferred, the transferee shall not be entitled to be registered as owner [1854, s. 56.] thereof until he, or, in the case of a corporation, the person Registry of transfer. authorised by this Act to make declarations on behalf of the corporation, has made and signed a declaration (in this Act called a declaration of transfer) referring to the ship, and containing (a.) a statement of the qualification of the transferee to own a British ship, or if the transferee is a corporation, of such circumstances of the constitution and business thereof as prove it to be qualified to own a British ship; and (b.) a declaration that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, no unqualified person or body of persons is entitled as owner to any legal or beneficial interest (a) in the ship or any share therein. As to the power of the registrar to dispense with declarations, see s. 60; as to declarations generally, ss. 61, 64; as to forms, s. 65, Part II. of 1st Schedule, and Appendix, p. 523. As to qualification for ownership, see s. 1. (a) For definition of "beneficial interest," see s. 57. 26.-(1.) Every bill of sale for the transfer of a registered ship or of a share therein, when duly executed, shall be pro[1851, s. 57.] duced to the registrar of her port of registry, with the declaration of transfer, and the registrar shall thereupon enter in the register book the name of the transferee as owner of the ship or share, and shall endorse on the bill of sale the fact of that entry having been made, with the day and hour thereof. |