1871, which makes the sending an unseaworthy ship to sea a misdemeanour, by providing—
(a.) That criminal liability shall attach to any one who attempts, or is party to an attempt, to send such a ship to sea, and to a master who knowingly takes such a ship to sea.
(b.) That every ship shall have a registered managing owner, and that if she is sent to sea from any port in the United Kingdom in an unseaworthy state he shall be liable, unless he proves that he has done all he can to prevent it.
The Act further provides that every British ship shall be marked permanently with lines on her sides showing the position of her decks.
It also provides that the owner of every foreign-*going British ship shall, before clearance outwards from any port in the United Kingdom, mark upon her sides a maximum load-line, and shall insert the distance between this and the deck marks in the entry outwards at the Custom House and in the agreement with the crew.
The Act further stipulates that every contract with a seaman shall imply an obligation on the part of the owner and his agents to use all reasonable efforts to make and keep[1] the ship seaworthy. The effect of this clause is to give the seaman or his family a remedy against the owner. But it does not
- ↑ I cannot understand what is meant by the word "keep." A ship sails in a seaworthy condition, but an accident happens on the voyage which may render her "unseaworthy": is the master, under such circumstances, to put back to the nearest port for repairs? and if he does not do so, and his ship is lost, it may be from causes wholly different, is his policy of insurance to be invalid, and is he to be responsible for any loss of life that may thus occur?
