Port of registry. Provisional certificates. Conditions precedent to registration. The commissioners of customs or the governor of a British possession can, in special cases, grant a pass from one British port to another to a British ship, though the ship has not been previously registered (n). A British ship can be registered at any British port. Such port will then become her port of registry, or the port to which she belongs (o). If the certificate of registry be lost, mislaid, or destroyed in the United Kingdom, a new certificate of registry must be granted by the registrar of the ship's port of registry (p). If loss occur anywhere else, a provisional certificate must be granted by the registrar of the port where she is at the time, or where she first touches afterwards (p). The provisional certificate will be in force for ten days after her arrival at her port of discharge, within which time a new certificate must be obtained (9). If a ship become for the first time the property of British owners at a foreign port, a provisional certificate of registry can be obtained from the British consul there. Such certificate will be of force for six months, or till the ship reaches a British port of registry (r). A provisional certificate of registration must, in this case, state: (1.) The name of the ship; (2.) The date and place of her purchase, and names of the purchasers; (3.) The name of her master; (4.) The best particulars obtainable as to her tonnage, build, and description (). Before a ship can be registered as a British ship, she must be surveyed by a proper qualified officer, and in accordance with the regulations approved of by the Board of Trade (s). She must also have her name and the name of her port of registry on her stern, her name on her bows, her number and registered tonnage on her main beam, and on her stern and stem a scale of feet, denoting her draught of water; and the owner must make a declaration setting forth certain particulars enumerated in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 (t). Altering or obliterating any of these marks renders the master of the vessel liable to a penalty of 1007., unless such be done in order to avoid capture by an enemy. The Board of Trade can exempt any ships from the above regulations (u). On the completion of the registry of any ship the Certificate of registrar must grant a certificate of registry, comprising registry. the following particulars (x): (1.) The name of the ship and the port to which she belongs; (2.) Her tonnage, build, and description; (3.) The name of her master; (4.) The particulars as to her origin, stated in the declaration of ownership (y); (5.) The names, descriptions, and shares of her owners. § 3. owners or Any change in the owners or master of the ship must Change in be indorsed on the certificate of registry (z). Ownership master. can be proved by producing the register itself, or an examined or certified copy (a). It can, however, also be established by proving the exercise of acts of ownership. ship. If a registered ship be altered to such an extent as not Alteration in to correspond with her description in the register, the registrar of the port at which she is altered must be applied (s) Ib. ss. 29, 36; 35 & 36 Vict. c. 73, s. 3. (t) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 38 and 39. (u) 36 & 37 Vict. c. 85, s. 3; and see 39 & 40 Vict. c. 80, ss. 25-28, as to deck and load lines. (x) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 44. (z) Ib. ss. 45, 46; 35 & 36 Vict. (a) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 107; Hibbs v. Ross, L. R., 1 Q. B. 534; The Princess Charlotte, Br. & L. 75. Change of registry. Unqualified transferees. to, to either register the alteration, or register the ship anew (6). If neither of these acts be done, the ship will not be recognized as a British ship (c). On any change in the owners of a British ship, registry anew may be granted, though it is not necessary (d). Where a British ship is either lost or ceases to be a British ship, notice of such event must be at once given by the owners to the registrar at its port of registry. The master must also deliver up the certificate of registry to the registrar. Before the ship in question can be reregistered she must be surveyed by a Board of Trade surveyor (e). The registry of any British ship may be transferred from one port to another on the application of the parties interested. Such a transfer of the registry will not affect the rights of the owners or mortgagees of the ship (ƒ). The register book may be inspected by any one on payment of the prescribed fees (g). § 4. If any unqualified transferee acquire, as owner, any interest in a ship using the British flag and assuming the character of a British ship, his interest will become forfeited (h). An unqualified transferee is a person not a British subject, or a body corporate not having its head office in the United Kingdom or some British possession (i). Where any property in a ship, or share therein, becomes vested by transmission on the death of any owner, or marriage of any female owner, in a person not qualified to (b) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 84, 85, 86. (c) Ib. s. 87. (d) Ib. s. 88. (e) Ib. s. 53; 36 & 37 Vict. c. 85, 8. 6. (f) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 89, 90, 91. (g) Ib. ss. 92-99. (h) Ib. s. 103; Robert v. Wetherhead, 12 Mod. 92; Wilkins v. Despard, 5 T. R. 112; The Annandale, 2 P. D. 218; The Sceptre, 35 L. T. 429; see "Cases" on Pp. 2, 3. (i) See ante, p. 1. be the owner of a British ship, the Admiralty or Chancery Division of the High Court, if the ship be registered in England or Ireland, or the Court of Session, if in Scotland, or the principal civil court in the British possessions in which it is registered, can, on the application of such unqualified person, order the property so transmitted to be sold, and the proceeds to be paid to him (k). The application must be made within four weeks from the transmission, or within such time not exceeding one year as the Court may allow. In all cases where an application for a sale is either not made or not acceded to, the share or ship will become forfeited (7). $ 5. Sending or taking to sea a ship in such an unseaworthy Unseaworthy state as to endanger life is a misdemeanor, unless her ships. going to sea in such a state was under the circumstances reasonable and justifiable, or unless her owner used all reasonable means to ensure the ship going to sea in a seaworthy state (m). An unseaworthy British ship can, if in any port of the United Kingdom, be provisionally detained for the purpose of being surveyed. The Board of Trade has power, after the ship has been surveyed, to finally detain her, either absolutely or till the necessary repairs or works are executed (). Should such a ship take to sea any person authorized to detain her, or any surveyor or officer of the Board of Trade or Customs, the owner and master will each of them be liable to pay all the expenses incurred thereby, and also a penalty not exceeding 1007., or, if the offence is not prosecuted summarily, not exceeding 107. for every day till the officer returns (o). If there existed no reasonable and probable cause for the detention of the ship, the Board of Trade will be liable to pay the owner () 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 62, 63; 24 Vict. c. 10, s. 12. () 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 64. (m) 39 & 40 Vict. c. 80, s. 4. (0) Ib. s. 34. |