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Engagement of Seamen.

113. (1.) The master (a) of every ship (b), except ships of less than eighty tons registered tonnage exclusively employed in trading between different ports on the coasts of the United Kingdom, shall enter into an agreement (in this Act called the agreement with the crew (c)) in accordance with this Act with every seaman (d) whom he carries to sea (e) as one of his crew from any port in the United Kingdom (ƒ).

(2.) If a master of a ship carries any seaman to sea without entering into an agreement with him in accordance with this Act, the master in the case of a foreign-going ship, and the master or owner in the case of a home-trade ship (g), shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(a) Where the agreement is for service in two or more ships of the same owner, it may be made by the owner instead of the master. See s. 116 (3).

(b) See ss. 260-266, for ships to which Part II. of Act applies, and, as to fishing boats, see also ss. 399 et seq.

(c) This agreement had no specific name under the former statutes. It is commonly called the "ship's articles," and is still described by that name in ss. 303, 304.

As to the power of the Court to rescind any contract between the owner or master and any seaman, see s. 168.

(d) As to who are included in the term "seaman," see s. 742. As to medical officers, stewards, &c., see ss. 209, 303, 304; as to apprentices, s. 109.

(e) "Carries to sea."-The section does not enact that the agreement in writing
shall be entered into at the commencement of the engagement, but is directed
against the carrying of the seamen to sea without a written agreement. More.
over, both s. 113 and s. 115 are stipulations in favour of the seamen. Hence,
where seamen had been engaged for a voyage in a foreign-going ship by oral
agreement and were discharged in breach thereof before she went to sea, they
were held entitled as seamen to their wages and to a lien upon the ship in respect
thereof and to the advantage of the provisions of M. S. A. 1880, s. 4 (1894,
s. 134). Re The Great Eastern S.S. Co. (1885), 53 L. T. 594; 5 Asp. M. L. C.
511; and cf. note (a) to s. 162.

(f) As to engagement of seamen in colonial and foreign ports, see s. 124; as
to agreements with Lascars, s. 125; and as to apprentices, ss. 105–109.
(g) For definitions of "foreign-going" and "home-trade" ships, see s. 742.

114.-(1.) An agreement with the crew shall be in a form approved by the Board of Trade (a), and shall be dated at the time of the first signature thereof (b), and shall be signed by the master before a seaman signs the same (c).

(2.) The agreement with the crew shall contain as terms
thereof the following particulars:-

(a.) either the nature, and, as far as practicable, the duration
of the intended voyage or engagement (d), or the
maximum period of the voyage or engagement and the
places or parts of the world, if any, to which the
voyage or engagement is not to extend (e) :
(b.) the number and description of the crew, specifying how
many are engaged as sailors (f).

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(c.) the time at which each seaman is to be on board or to
begin work (g):

(d.) the capacity in which each seaman is to serve (h):
(e.) the amount of wages which each seaman is to receive (1):
(f.) a scale of the provisions which are to be furnished to each
seaman (i):

(g.) any regulations as to conduct on board, and as to fines (k),
short allowance of provisions, or other lawful punish-
ment for misconduct which have been approved by the
Board of Trade as regulations proper to be adopted,
and which the parties agree to adopt ().

(3.) The agreement with the crew shall be so framed as to admit of such stipulations, to be adopted at the will of the master and seaman in each case, whether respecting the advance and allotment of wages (m) or otherwise, as are not contrary to law (n).

(4.) If the master of a ship registered at a port out of the United Kingdom has an agreement with the crew made in due form according to the law of that port or of the port in which her crew were engaged, and engages single seamen in the United Kingdom, those seamen may sign the agreement so made, and it shall not then be necessary for them to sign an agreement in the form approved by the Board of Trade.

As to the power of the Court to rescind such contracts, see s. 168.

(a) Forms for agreements with the crew are supplied by the shipping offices of Board of Trade. As to forms generally and the effect of a deviation from the required form, see s. 720, and The Prince George (1837), 3 Hagg. 376 (omission to specify wages).

If in prescribed form, the agreement is exempt from stamp duty by s. 721 (c). (b) As to an alteration made by the master in the description of the voyage after agreement signed, see The Eliza (1823), 1 Hagg. 182.

(c) On signing the agreement the master is required to produce the certificates of competency of himself and the mates and engineers. See s. 103, sub-s. (1) (n). He is in certain cases required by s. 440, sub-s. (3), and M. S. A. 1906, s. 8, to enter a copy of the statement as to the load-line in the agreement before it is signed by any seaman.

(d) Where the agreement provided that the voyage was to end at such port (within named limits) as may be required by the master," it was held that the voyage was that of the ship, and not that of the cargo, and that this was not contrary to this section, and therefore a seaman was not entitled to his discharge at the port of final discharge of cargo within the named limits. The Scarsdale, 75 L. J. P. 31; [1906] P. 103.

Seamen who had signed on for a term of twelve months and back to a final port of discharge in the United Kingdom were held to be entitled to their discharge and to be sent home on the expiration of the twelve months because at that time the ship was on a voyage to B. and not on a voyage to a port in the United Kingdom. Donkin v. Hastie (1897), 61 J. P. 568. See also as to a seaman's right to compensation for breach of agreement with regard to the destination or the nature of the voyage, Burton v. Pinkerton (1867), 36 L. J. Ex. 137; L. R. 2 Ex. 340; The Justitia (1887), 56 L. J. P. 111; 12 P. D. 145, cited in note (b) to s. 199.

As to his obligation to complete the voyage though its duration exceeds the time specified, see The American Union, 5 Ir. Jur. (N. S.) 380; The Triumph, ib. 381; The Louisa Bertha (1850), 14 Jur. 1006.

As to what is a sufficient description of the nature and duration of the voyage

Pt. II.

114.

Pt. II. 115.

Special pro

visions as to agreements

with crew of foreign-going ships.

[1854, ss. 150153.]

and the construction thereof, see The Minerva (1825), 1 Hagg. 347; The Countess of Harcourt (1824), ib. 248; The George Home (1825), ib. 370; The Westmoreland (1841), 1 W. Rob. 216; Frazer v. Hatton, cited s. 116, note (c).

(e) Cf. 8. 116 (1) for agreements with crews of home-trade ships.

(ƒ) As to rights of seamen, where number is reduced during voyage, see Hartley v. Ponsonby, infra, and cases therein cited.

(g) As to failure to join ship, see M. S. A. 1906, s. 66. Cf. s. 155 as to commencement of right to wages.

(h) As to disrating and reduction of wages by the master, s. 133, note (a), and M. S. A. 1906, s. 59.

As to right to increased wages where seaman is promoted during voyage, even without alteration of written agreement, see Hanson v. Royden (1867), 37 L. J. C. P. 66; L. R. 3 C. P. 47; The Providence (1825), 1 Hagg. 391; or where ship becomes short-handed, Hartley v. Ponsonby (1857), 26 L. J. Q. B. 322; 7 E. & B. 872.

As to a seaman's right to wages where there is only an oral agreement, see Re The Great Eastern S.S. Co., supra (s. 113), and cf. the two cases last cited.

As to his right to and recovery of wages generally, see ss. 155-167; as to payment in foreign money, s. 139; as to payment where unfit seamen left behind abroad, see M. S. A. 1906, s. 38.

(i) The master must now provide provisions to every member of the crew, who does not furnish his own provisions, in accordance with the scale set out in Sched. I. of M. S. A. 1906. See ibid. s. 25. As to complaints with respect to, and allowances for short or bad, provisions, see ss. 198, 199.

() As to the payment and deduction from wages of such fines, see ss. 133, 235. (7) The approved regulations and fines are:-(1) Striking or assaulting any person on board or belonging to the ship (if not otherwise prosecuted), five shillings. (2) Bringing or having on board spirituous liquors, five shillings. (3) Drunkenness: first offence, five shillings; second and for each subsequent offence, ten shillings. (4) Taking on board and keeping possession of any firearms, knuckle-duster, loaded cane, slug-shot, sword-stick, bowie-knife, dagger, or any other offensive weapon or offensive instrument, without the concurrence of the master: for every day during which a seaman retains such weapon or instrument, five shillings. The master may remit or reduce any fine; and these regulations do not apply to certificated officers. The above regulations are inserted in the form of ships' articles supplied by the Board of Trade. For the general provisions as to discipline, see ss. 220 et seq.

(m) See ss. 140-143, and M. S. A. 1906, s. 6 et seq. as to advance and allotment of wages.

(n) Certain stipulations as to wages and salvage are illegal or void by virtue of ss. 139, 140, sub-s. (2), 156, 157, 195, sub-s. (2). See also Frazer v. Hatton, cited in note (c) to s. 116, and The Hoghton (1833), 3 Hagg. 100; Hopkins v. Macbride (1902), 50 W. R. 255; 18 T. L. R. 53.

115. The following provisions (a) shall have effect with respect to the agreements with the crew made in the United Kingdom in the case of foreign-going ships (1) registered either within or without the United Kingdom :—

(1.) The agreement shall (subject to the provisions of this Act as to substitutes) be signed (c) by each seaman in the presence of a superintendent (d):

(2.) The superintendent shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, or otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the same before he signs it (e), and shall attest each signature (ƒ) : (3.) When the crew is first engaged the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by

the superintendent, and the other shall be delivered to
the master, and shall contain a special place or form
for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or
persons engaged subsequently to the first departure of
the ship:

(4.) Where a substitute is engaged in the place of a seaman
who duly signed the agreement, and whose services
are within twenty-four hours of the ship's putting to
sea lost by death, desertion, or other unforeseen cause,
the engagement shall, when practicable, be made
before a superintendent (d), and, when not practicable,
the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if
practicable, and if not, as soon afterwards as possible,
cause the agreement to be read over and explained to
the substitute, and the substitute shall thereupon sign
the same in the presence of a witness, and the witness
shall attest the signature:

(5.) The agreements may be made for a voyage (g), or if the
voyages of the ship average less than six months in
duration may be made to extend over two or more
voyages, and agreements so made to extend over two
or more voyages are in this Act referred to as running
agreements:

(6.) Running agreements shall not extend beyond the next
following thirtieth day of June or thirty-first day of
December, or the first arrival of the ship at her port of
destination in the United Kingdom after that date, or
the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival:
(7.) On every return to a port in the United Kingdom before
the final termination of a running agreement, the
master shall make on the agreement an endorsement as
to the engagement or discharge of seamen, either that
no engagements or discharges have been made, or are
intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or
that all those made have been made as required by law,
and if a master wilfully makes a false statement in
any such endorsement, he shall for each offence be
liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds:
(8.) The master shall deliver the running agreement so
endorsed to the superintendent, and the superintendent
shall, if the provisions of this Act relating to agree-
ments have been complied with, sign the endorsement
and return the agreement to the master:

(9.) The duplicate running agreement retained by the super-
intendent on the first engagement of the crew shall
either be transmitted to the Registrar General of
Shipping and Seamen immediately, or kept by the
superintendent until the expiration of the agreement,
as the Board of Trade direct.

Pt. II.

115.

Pt. II. 116.

Special provisions as to

(a) These provisions are in favour of the seaman. See note (e) to s. 113. Chitty, J., speaking of the corresponding sections of M. S. A. 1854, in Re The Great Eastern S. S. Co. (1885), 53 L. T. 594; 5 Asp. M. L. C. 511, said: "The mischief which this part of the Act is intended to remedy was the risk of the men being carried out to sea by some captain, who was minded to take them to a long distance to some foreign country, when they really had not come to a definite agreement that they would sail upon such a voyage.”

(b) For definition of "foreign-going ship," see s. 742.

(c) As to penalty for making false statement of name, &c., see s. 227.
(d) Or a deputy duly appointed: see s. 247, sub-s. (2).

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(e) In the United Kingdom, and at ports within home-trade limits, the officer before whom the seaman is engaged must not allow a foreigner to "sign on unless he knows enough English to understand orders that may be given to him. See M. S. A. 1906, s. 12.

(ƒ) As to the proof of attested documents without calling attesting witnesses, see s. 694.

(g) The voyage is that of the ship, and not of the cargo. 75 L. J. P. 31 ; [1906] P. 103, cited in note (d) to s. 114.

The Scarsdale,

116. The following provisions shall have effect with respect to the agreements with the crew of home-trade ships (a) for with crew of which an agreement with the crew is required under this Act (b):

agreements

home-trade

ships.

[1854, ss. 155, 156, 162 (1); 35 & 36 Vict. c. 73, s. 16.]

(1.) Agreements may be made either for service in a particular

ship or for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner (c), but in the latter case the names of the ships and the nature of the service shall be specified in the agreement (d).

(2.) Crews or single seamen may, if the master think fit, be engaged before a superintendent in the same manner as they are required to be engaged for foreign-going ships (e), but if the engagement is not so made, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and if not, as soon after as possible, cause the agreement to be read and explained to each seaman, and the seaman shall thereupon sign (f) the same in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature (g).

(3.) An agreement for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner may be made by the owner instead of by the master (h); and the provisions of this Act with respect to the making of the agreement shall apply accordingly.

(4.) Agreements shall not, in the case of ships of more than eighty tons burden (i), extend beyond the next following thirtieth day of June or thirty-first day of December, or the first arrival of the ship at her final port of destination in the United Kingdom after that date or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival: Provided that the owner or his agent may enter into time agreements in forms sanctioned by the

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