115.—The following provisions shall have effect with respect to the agreements with the crew made in the United Kingdom in the case of foreign-going ships registered either within or without the United Kingdom:—

(1) The agreement shall (subject to the provisions of this Act as to substitutes) be signed by each seaman in the presence of a superintendent:

(2) The superintendent shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, or otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the same before he signs it, and shall attest each signature:

(3) When the crew is first engaged the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by the superintendent, and the other shall be delivered to the master, and shall contain a special place or form for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or persons engaged subsequently to the first departure of the ship:

(4) Where a substitute is engaged in the place of a seaman who duly signed the agreement, and whose services are within twenty-four hours of the ship’s putting to sea lost by death, desertion, or other unforeseen cause, the engagement shall, when practicable, be made before a superintendent, and, when not practicable, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and if not, as soon afterwards as possible, cause the agreement to be read over and explained to the substitute, and the substitute shall thereupon sign the same in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature:

(5) The agreements may be made for a voyage, or if the voyages of the ship average less than six months in duration may be made to extend over two or more voyages, and agreements so made to extend over two or more voyages are in this Act referred to as running agreements:

(6) Running agreements shall not extend beyond the next following thirtieth day of June or thirty-first day of December, or the first arrival of the ship at her port of destination in the United Kingdom after that date, or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival:

(7) On every return to a port in the United Kingdom before the final termination of a running agreement, the master shall make on the agreement an endorsement as to the engagement or discharge of seamen, either that no engagements or discharges have been made, or are intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or that all those made have been made as required by law, and if a master wilfully makes a false statement in any such endorsement, he shall for each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds:

(8) The master shall deliver the running agreement so endorsed to the superintendent, and the superintendent shall, if the provisions of this Act relating to agreements have been complied with, sign the endorsement and return the agreement to the master:

(9) The duplicate running agreement retained by the superintendent on the first engagement of the crew shall either be transmitted to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen immediately, or kept by the superintendent until the expiration of the agreement, as the Board of Trade direct.