inland waters from the high seas, as defined in section 151 of Title 33. 46 § 673. Requirements as to watches; duties of seamen; hours of work; penalty; right of seamen to discharge; effective date In all merchant vessels of the United States of more than one hundred tons gross, excepting those navigating rivers, harbors, lakes (other than Great Lakes), bays, sounds, bayous, and canals, exclusively, the licensed officers and sailors, coal passers, firemen, oilers, and water tenders shall, while at sea, be divided into at least three watches, which shall be kept on duty successively for the performance of ordinary work incident to the sailing and management of the vessel: Provided, That in the case of radiotelegraph operators this requirement shall be applicable only when three or more radio officers are employed. No licensed officer or seaman in the deck or engine department of any tug documented under the laws of the United States (except boats or vessels used exclusively for fishing purposes) navigating the Great Lakes, harbors of the Great Lakes, and connecting and tributary waters between Gary, Indiana; Duluth, Minnesota; Niagara Falls, New York; and Ogdensburg, New York, shall be required or permitted to work more than eight hours in one day except in case of extraordinary emergency affecting the safety of the vessel and/ or life or property. The seamen shall not be shipped to work alternately in the fireroom and on deck, nor shall those shipped for deck duty be required to work in the fireroom, or vice versa; nor shall any licensed officer or seaman in the deck or engine department be required to work more than eight hours in one day; but these provisions shall not limit either the authority of the master or other officer or the obedience of the seamen when in the judgment of the master or other officer the whole or any part of the crew are needed for maneuvering, shifting berth, mooring, or unmooring, the vessel or the performance of work necessary for the safety of the vessel, her passengers, crew, and cargo, or for the saving of life aboard other vessels in jeopardy, or when in port or at sea, from requiring the whole or any part of the crew to participate in the performance of fire, lifeboat, or other drills. While such vessel is in a safe harbor no seaman shall be required to do any unnecessary work on Sundays or the following-named days: New Year's Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day, but this shall not prevent the dispatch of a vessel on regular schedule or when ready to proceed on her voyage. And at all times while such vessel is in a safe harbor, eight hours, inclusive of the anchor watch, shall constitute a day's work. Whenever the master of any vessel shall fail to comply with this section and the regulation issued thereunder, the owner shall be liable to a penalty not to exceed $500, and the seamen shall be entitled to discharge from such vessel and to receive the wages earned. But this section shall not apply to vessels engaged in salvage operations: Provided, That in all tugs and barges subject to this section when engaged on a voyage of less than six hundred miles, the licensed officers and members of crews other than coal passers, firemen, oilers, and water tenders may, while at sea, be divided into not less than two watches, but nothing in this proviso shall be construed as repealing any part of section 222 of this title. This section shall take effect six months after June 25, 1936. 46 § 674. List of crew to be delivered to collector Before a clearance is granted to any vessel bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the whale fishery, the master thereof shall deliver to the collector of the customs a list containing the names, places of birth and residence, and description of the persons who compose his ship's company; to which list the oath of the captain shall be annexed, that the list contains the names of his crew, together with the places of their birth and residence, as far as he can ascertain them; and the collector shall deliver him a certified copy thereof. 46 $675. Certificate to list of crew; record In all cases of private vessels of the United States sailing from a port in the United States to a foreign port, the list of the crew shall be examined by the collector for the district from which the vessel shall clear, and, if approved of by him, shall be certified accordingly. No person shall be admitted or employed on board of any such vessel unless his name shall have been entered in the list of the crew, approved and certified by the collector for the district from which the vessel shall clear. The collector, before he delivers the list of the crew, approved and certified, to the master or proper officer of the vessel to which the same belongs, shall cause the same to be recorded in a book by him for that purpose to be provided, and the record shall be open for the inspection of all persons, and a certified copy thereof shall be admitted in evidence in any court in which any question may arise under any of the provisions of title 53 of the Revised Statutes. 46 § 676. Rules as to list of crew The following rules shall be observed with reference to vessels bound on any foreign voyage: First. The duplicate list of the ship's company required to be made out by the master and delivered to the collector of the customs, under section 674 of this title, shall be a fair copy in one uniform handwriting without erasure or interlineation. Second. It shall be the duty of the owners of every such vessel to obtain from the collector of the customs of the district from which the clearance is made, a true and certified copy of the shipping articles containing the names of the crew, which shall be written in a uniform hand, without erasures or interlineations. Third. These documents, which shall be deemed to contain all the conditions of contract with the crew as to their service, pay, voyage, and all other things, shall be produced by the master, and laid before any consul of the United States, whenever he may deem their contents necessary to enable him to discharge the duties imposed upon him by law toward any mariner applying to him for his aid or assistance. Fourth. All interlineations, erasures, or writing in a hand different from that in which such duplicates were originally made, shall be deemed fraudulent alterations, working no change in such papers, unless satisfactorily explained in a manner consistent with innocent purposes and the provisions of law which guard the rights of mariners. Fifth. If any master of a vessel shall proceed on a foreign voyage without the documents required, or refuse to produce them when required, or to perform the duties imposed by this section, or shall violate the provisions thereof, he shall be liable to each and every individual injured thereby in damages, to be recovered in any court of the United States in the district where such delinquent may reside or be found, and in addition thereto be punishable by a fine of $100 for each offense. Sixth. It shall be the duty of the boarding officer to report all violations of this section to the collector of the port where any vessel may arrive, and the collector shall report the same to the Commandant of the Coast Guard and to the United States attorney in his district. 46 § 677. Production of copy of list on return of vessel; production of persons named The master of every vessel bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the whale fishery shall exhibit the certified copy of the list of the crew to the first boarding officer at the first port in the United States at which he shall arrive on his return, and also produce the persons named therein to the boarding officer, whose duty it shall be to examine the men with such list and to report the same to the collector; and it shall be the duty of the collector at the port of arrival, where the same is different from the port from which the vessel originally sailed, to transmit a copy of the list so reported to him to the collector of the port from which such vessel originally sailed. For each failure to produce any person on the certified copy of the list of the crew the master and owner shall be severally liable to a penalty of $400, to be sued for, prosecuted, and disposed of in such manner as penalties and forfeitures which may be incurred for offenses against the laws relating to the collection of duties; but such penalties shall not be incurred on account of the master not producing to the first boarding officer any of the persons contained in the list who may have been discharged in a foreign country with the consent of the consul or vice consul there residing, certified in writing, under his hand and official seal, to be produced to the collector with the other persons composing the crew, nor on account of any such person dying or absconding or being forcibly impressed into other service of which satisfactory proof shall also be exhibited to the collector. 46 § 678. Subsistence to destitute seamen; return to United States It shall be the duty of the consuls and vice consuls, from time to time, to provide for the seamen of the United States, who may be found destitute within their districts, respectively, sufficient subsistence and passages to some port in the United States, in the most reasonable manner, at the expense of the United States, subject to such instructions as the Secretary of State shall give. The seamen shall, if able, be bound to do duty on board the vessels in which they may be transported, according to their several abilities. 46 679. Transportation of destitute seamen to United States All masters of vessels of the United States and bound to some port of the same, are required to take such destitute seamen on board their vessels, at the request of consular officers, and to transport them to the port in the United States to which such vessel may be bound, on such terms, not exceeding $10 for each person for voyages of not more than thirty days, and not exceeding $20 for each person for longer voyages, as may be agreed between the master and the consular officer, when transportation is by a sailing vessel; and the amount agreed upon between the consular officer and the master of the vessel in each individual case not in excess of the lowest passenger rate of such vessel and not in excess of 2 cents per mile shall in each case constitute the lawful rate for transportation on steam vessels; and said consular officer shall issue certificates for such transportation, which certificates shall be assignable for collection. Every such master who refuses to receive and transport such seamen on the request or order of such consular officer shall be liable to the United States in a penalty of $100 for each seaman so refused. The certificate of any such consular officer, given under his hand and official seal, shall be presumptive evidence of such refusal in any court of law having jurisdiction for the recovery of the penalty. No master of any vessel shall, however, be obliged to take a greater number than one man to every one hundred tons burden of the vessel on any one voyage or to take any seaman having a contagious disease. Reasonable compensation, in addition to the allowances provided herein, or any allowance now fixed by law, or by regulations now or hereafter established in accordance with section 1752 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, may be paid from general appropriations for the relief and protection of American seamen, when authorized by the Secretary of State, in the following cases: First. If any such destitute seaman is so disabled or ill as to be unable to perform duty, the consular officer shall so certify in the certificate of transportation, and such additional compensation shall be paid as the Secretary of State shall deem equitable and proper. Second. Whenever distressed or destitute seamen of the United States are transported from foreign ports where there is no consular officer of the United States, or from points on the high seas, to ports of the United States, or from such foreign ports or points on the high seas to a port accessible to a consular officer of the United States who is authorized to assume responsibility on behalf of the Government of the United States for the further relief and repatriation of such seamen, there shall be allowed to the master or owner of each vessel in which they are transported such reasonable compensation as shall be deemed equitable by the Secretary of State. Chapter 23.-SHIPPING ACT [Extracts] Sec. 801. Definitions. 802. 808. 840. Corporation, partnership, or association as citizen. Registration, enrollment, and licensing of vessels purchased, chartered, 46 801. Definitions When used in this chapter: The term "common carrier by water in foreign commerce" means a common carrier, except ferryboats running on regular routes, engaged in the transportation by water of passengers or property between the United States or any of its Districts, Territories, or possessions and a foreign country, whether in the import or export trade: Provided, That a cargo boat commonly called an ocean tramp shall not be deemed such "common carrier by water in foreign commerce." The term "common carrier by water in interstate commerce" means a common carrier engaged in the transportation by water of passengers or property on the high seas or the Great Lakes on regular routes from port to port between one State, Territory, District, or possession of the United States and any other State, Territory, District, or possession of the United States, or between places in the same Territory, District, or possession. The term "common carrier by water" means a common carrier by water in foreign commerce or a common carrier by water in interstate commerce on the high seas or the Great Lakes on regular routes from port to port. The term "other person subject to this chapter" means any person not included in the term "common carrier by water," carrying on the business of forwarding or furnishing wharfage, dock, warehouse, or other terminal facilities in connection with a common carrier by water. The term "person" includes corporations, partnerships, and associations, existing under or authorized by the laws of the United States, or any State, Territory, District, or possession thereof, or of any foreign country. The term "vessel" includes all water craft and other artificial contrivances of whatever description and at whatever stage of construction, whether on the stocks or launched, which are used or are capable of being or are intended to be used as a means of transportation on water. The term "documented under the laws of the United States", means "registered, enrolled, or licensed under the laws of the United States." |