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Authority of the master.

the state of exchange, received a premium of 1347. for a bill drawn upon England on account of the ship. Held, that the premium belonged to the shipowner, in spite of any custom among masters to appropriate such premiums (h).

§ 71.

It is one of the first duties of the master of a ship to maintain discipline and order on board. With this object in view, he can order a seaman guilty of any misconduct to be confined, and even in extreme cases inflict corporal punishment on him (i). These powers can be exercised by the master not only when at sea, but also while his ship is in a foreign port or river (j).

The seaman will be entitled to sue, in the event of the master exceeding the bounds of moderation. Should the punishment inflicted be excessive, but the seaman could have put an end to it, and he declined to, he cannot recover damages for the continuation of the punishment after such refusal (k).

With regard to anticipated mutiny, the master will be justified in resorting at once to force with the object of suppressing it. It is not incumbent on him to await an actual outbreak on the part of the crew (7).

An entry of the offence committed must, in certain cases (m), be made in the official log, and signed by the master, and also by the mate, or one of the crew. Either the entry must then be read over to the offender or a copy of it be given him. Any reply made by the offender must be entered in a similar way in the log (n).

With regard to passengers on board the ship, the master, though he has a general authority over them, must not go beyond the limits of moderation, otherwise he will make himself liable to an action He can therefore only

43.

(h) Diplock v. Blackburn, 3 Camp.

(i) The Lowther Castle, 1 Hagg.
385; The Agincourt, 1 Hagg. 271;
The Enchantress, ib. 395.

(j) Lamb v. Burnett, 1 C. & J. 291.
(k) Murray v. Moutrie, 6 C. & P.

(o).
471; see "Case" at end of this §.
(1) The Lima, 3 Hagg. 346, 353.
(m) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 243,

244.

(n) Ib. s. 244.

(0) The Enchantress, 1 Hagg. 395; The Ruckers, 4 Rob. 73;

restrain passengers by force, if the safety of the vessel, or of the passengers or crew, imperatively require it (p). However, if they misconduct themselves, the master will be justified in excluding them from the passengers' mess (q).

CASE.

A seaman, employed in cutting blubber on board a whaler, having quarrelled with the master, and having been struck by the mate, refused to do any more work. Held, that his conduct justified moderate punishment (r).

$ 72.

mate's certi

No foreign-going vessel or home trade passenger ship Master's and may go to sea from a port in the United Kingdom, unless ficates. the master and mates have certificates of competency or

service (s). Steamships must in addition have a certificated engineer (t). The certificates are obtainable after an examination conducted by the Board of Trade (u).

A master's, or mate's, or engineer's certificate can be cancelled or suspended in the following cases (r) :—

of certificates.

(1.) If he be reported, after investigation, as incom- Suspension petent or guilty of gross misconduct or tyranny; (2.) If it is reported after any investigation that the loss or abandonment of, or injury to, any ship or loss of life was caused by his wrongful act or default;

(3.) If he is superseded by order of any Admiralty or Naval Court; and

(4.) If he has been convicted of any offence.

However, a master's or mate's certificate cannot be

Watson v. Christie, 2 B. & P. 224; Hannaford v. Hunn, 2 C. & P. 148. (p) Boyce v. Bayliffe, 1 Camp. 58, 60; King v. Franklin, 1 F. & F., N. P. 360.

(9) Prendergast v. Compton, 8 C. & P. 454; and see ante, Chap. VI., § 34, pp. 43, 44.

(r) Murray v. Moutrie, 6 C. & P. 471.

(s) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 136
-140, and 161, 162.
(t) 25 & 26 Vict. c. 63, s. 5.

(u) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 131-
135; 25 & 26 Vict. c. 63, ss. 5, 16;
36 & 37 Vict. c. 85, s. 10; 32 Vict.
c. 11, as to colonial certificates.

(e) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 242; 25 & 26 Vict. c. 63, ss. 23, 21.

cancelled or suspended, unless some shipping casualty be actually caused or contributed to by him ().

So it will not be cancelled or suspended on account of a mere stranding, not followed by any material damage to the vessel, or by any loss of life (x). Further, a mere error of judgment on the part of a master or mate at a moment of great difficulty will not entail suspension or cancellation of his certificate (y).

The power of cancelling or suspending the certificates in question can be exercised by the Local Marine Board, wreck commissioners (2), magistrates, or a naval, admiralty, or other tribunal, by which the case is investigated. Further, the power is vested in the Board of Trade, in the case of a master, mate, or engineer being convicted of any offence, but not in the other three cases mentioned above (a).

The Board of Trade can, in the exercise of its discretion, re-issue and return any cancelled or suspended certificate, or shorten the period of suspension, or grant a new certificate of the same or any lower grade in lieu thereof (b).

An appeal lies to the Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice from an order suspending or cancelling a master's, mate's, or engineer's certificate (c). The court on appeal will reverse the order in cases where the damage is not proved to have been caused by the wrongful act or default of the master, mate, or engineer, or where the evidence is in some other respect insufficient to justify the cancellation or suspension of the certificate (d).

If the certificate were cancelled or suspended on the

(w) The Arizona, 5 P. D. 123; 49 L. J., P. 54; 42 L. T. 405; 28 W. R. 704; The Famenoth, 7 P. D. 207.

(x) Ex parte Story, 3 Q. B. D.

166.

(y) The Famenoth, 7 P. D. 207. (z) 39 & 40 Vict. c. 80, ss. 29-33. (a) See p. 115; 25 & 26 Vict. c. 63, s. 23.

(b) Ib. subsect. 4; The Famenoth, 7 P. D. 207.

(c) 42 & 43 Vict. c. 72, s. 2 (The Shipping Casualties Investigation Act, 1879); The Kestrel, 6 P. D. 182; The Famenoth, 7 P. D. 207.

(d) The Arizona, 5 P. D. 123; 49 L. J., P. 54; 42 L. T. 405; 28 W. R. 704; The Famenoth, 7 P. D. 207.

invitation of the Board of Trade, the Court of Appeal will sometimes order the Board of Trade to pay the costs of the appeal (e).

A shipowner, who has appeared at the investigation into the circumstances incidental to the loss of his ship, has no right of appeal. The fact that the tribunal, which investigated the case, suspended the certificate of the master and condemned the shipowner in costs, will be immaterial (ƒ).

CASE.

The wreck commissioner, after holding an investigation into the loss and abandonment of a British ship, found that the loss was due to improper ballast so choking the pumps that they could not be used, whereby the ship foundered. The master had authority from his owners to provide ballast for the ship without restriction as to price, and he had been aware of the character of the ballast. The wreck commissioner, therefore, suspended his certificate for three months; and an appeal to the Admiralty Division was dismissed with costs (g).

(e) The Arizona, 5 P. D. 123; 49 L. J., P. 54; 42 L. T. 405; 28 W. R. 704; The Famenoth, 7 P. D.

207.

(f) The Golden Sea, 7 P. D. 194; 51 L. J., P. 64; 30 W. R. 842; Bee "Case" at end of this §.

(g) The Golden Sea, 7 P. D. 194; 51 L. J., P. 64; 30 W. R. 842.

Duties of charterer.

CHAPTER XI.

FREIGHT.

§ 73.

THE merchant who has hired a ship to freight must lade her within the specified time; or if no time were specified, within a reasonable time (a). If he make default, he will have to compensate the owner of the ship for any loss he sustains in consequence.

The merchant must also pay any charges due on his goods. Primage, average, demurrage, and freight are the usual charges.

The charterer is bound to load the vessel with the cargo agreed on (b), and not with goods of another character.

If he place on board any contraband goods which may subject the vessel to forfeiture, or any goods of a dangerous character (c), without notice, he will become liable to a heavy penalty; and such goods may be thrown overboard or forfeited.

CASES.

1. By charterparty it was agreed that a ship, after delivering her outward cargo at Malta, should with all convenient speed sail to one of several ports, as should be ordered at Malta. Held, that the charterer impliedly promised that the ship should be ordered to sail to such port within a reasonable time after her arrival in Malta (d).

2. By charterparty the freighter contracted to provide a complete cargo of copper, tallow, and hides, or other goods, on which

(a) Matthews v. Lowther, 5 Exch. 574; Woolley v. Reddelien, 5 M. & G. 316; see "Cases" (1) at end of this §.

(b) Moorson v. Page, 4 Camp. 103; Irving v. Clegg, 1 Bing. N. C. 53; Capper v. Forster, 3 Bing. N. C.

938; see "Cases" (2) and (3) at end of this §.

(c) Brass v. Maitland, 6 E. & B. 470; Farrant v. Barnes, 11 C. B., N. S. 553.

(d) Woolley v. Reddelien, 5 M. & G. 316.

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