Merchant Shipping Act 1894

SIXTH SCHEDULE.

Regulations to be observed with respect to Accommodation on board Ships.

(1) Every place in a ship occupied by seamen or apprentices, and appropriated to their use, shall be such as to make the space which it is required by the Second Part of this Act to contain available for the proper accommodation of the men who are to occupy it, and shall be securely constructed, properly lighted and ventilated, properly protected from weather and sea, and as far as practicable properly shut off and protected from effluvium which may be caused by cargo or bilge water.

(2) A place so occupied and appropriated as aforesaid shall not authorise a deduction from registered tonnage under the tonnage regulations of this Act unless there be in the ship properly constructed privies for the use of the crew, of such number and of such construction as may be approved by the surveyor of ships.

(3) Every place so occupied and appropriated as aforesaid shall, whenever the ship is registered or re-registered, be inspected by one of the surveyors of ships under this Act, who shall, if satisfied that the same is in all respects such as is required by this Act, give to the collector of customs a certificate to that effect, and if the certificate is obtained, but not otherwise, the space shall be deducted from the register tonnage.

(4) No deduction from tonnage as aforesaid shall be authorised unless there is permanently cut in a beam, and cut in or painted on or over the doorway or hatchway of every place so occupied and appropriated, the number of men which it is constructed to accommodate, with the words “Certified to accommodate seamen.”

(5) Upon any complaint concerning any place so occupied and appropriated as aforesaid, a surveyor of ships may inspect the place, and if he finds that any of the provisions of this Act with respect to the same are not complied with he shall report the same to the chief officer of customs at the port where the ship is registered, and thereupon the registered tonnage shall be altered, and the deduction aforesaid in respect of space disallowed, unless and until it be certified by the surveyor, or by some other surveyor of ships, that the provisions of this Act in respect of the place are fully complied with.

Maximum Fees for Inspection.

(6) The fee for each visit to the ship shall not exceed ten shillings.

(7) The aggregate amount of the fees for any such inspection shall not exceed one pound, whatever be the number of separate visits.

(8) When the accommodation is inspected at the same time with the measurement of the tonnage, no separate fee shall be charged for the inspection.