THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 197

2. This Act shall be construed as one with "The
   Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," and the Acts amend-
   ing the same; and the said Acts and this Act may be
   cited collectively as "The Merchant Shipping Acts,
   1854 to 1876."

3. This Act shall come into operation on the first
   day of October, 1876 (which day is in this Act
   referred to as the commencement of this Act);
   nevertheless any Orders in Council and general
   rules under this Act may be made at any time after
   the passing of this Act, but shall not come into
   operation before the commencement of this Act.

Unseaworthy Ships.

4. Every person who sends or attempts to send, or
   is party to sending or attempting to send, a British
   ship to sea in such unseaworthy state that the life of
   any person is likely to be thereby endangered, shall
   be guilty of a misdemeanour, unless he proves that
   he used all reasonable means to insure her being
   sent to sea in a seaworthy state, or that her going to
   sea in such unseaworthy state was, under the circum-
   stances, reasonable and justifiable, and for the
   purpose of giving such proof he may give evidence
   in the same manner as any other witness.

Every master of a British ship who knowingly
takes the same to sea in such unseaworthy state that
the life of any person is likely to be thereby endan-
gered shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, unless he
proves that her going to sea in such unseaworthy
state was, under the circumstances, reasonable and
justifiable, and for the purpose of giving such proof
he may give evidence in the same manner as any
other witness.

A prosecution under this section shall not be
instituted except by or with the consent of the Board
of Trade, or of the Governor of the British possession
in which such prosecution takes place.

A misdemeanour under this section shall not be
punishable upon summary conviction.

5. In every contract of service, express or implied,
   between the owner of a ship and the master or any
   seaman thereof, and in every instrument of appren-
   ticeship whereby any person is bound to serve as an
   apprentice on board any ship, there shall be implied,
   notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, an
   obligation on the owner of the ship that the owner
   of the ship, and the master, and every agent charged
   with the loading of the ship, or the preparing thereof
   for sea, or the sending thereof to sea, shall use all
   reasonable means to insure the seaworthiness of the
   ship for the voyage at the time when the voyage
   commences, and to keep her in a seaworthy condition
   for the voyage during the same: Provided that
   nothing in this section shall subject the owner of a
   ship to any liability by reason of the ship being sent
   to sea in an unseaworthy state where, owing to
   special circumstances, the so sending thereof to sea
   is reasonable and justifiable.

6. Where a British ship, being in any port of the
   United Kingdom, is, by reason of the defective
   condition of her hull, equipments, or machinery, or
   by reason of overloading or improper loading, unfit
   to proceed to sea without serious danger to human
   life, having regard to the nature of the service for
   which she is intended, any such ship (hereinafter
   referred to as "unsafe") may be provisionally
   detained for the purpose of being surveyed, and
   either finally detained or released, as follows:—

(1.) The Board of Trade, if they have reason to
believe on complaint, or otherwise, that a
British ship is unsafe, may provisionally order
the detention of the ship for the purpose of
being surveyed.

(2.) When a ship has been provisionally de-
master of the ship a written statement of the
grounds of her detention, and the Board of
Trade may, if they think fit, appoint some
competent person or persons to survey the
ship and report thereon to the Board.

(3.) The Board of Trade, on receiving the report,
may either order the ship to be released, or,
if in their opinion the ship is unsafe, may
order her to be finally detained, either abso-
lutely or until the performance of such
conditions with respect to the execution of
repairs or alterations, or the unloading or
reloading of cargo, as the Board think neces-
sary for the protection of human life, and may
from time to time vary or add to any such
order.

(4.) Before the order for final detention is made,
a copy of the report shall be served upon the
master of the ship, and within seven days after
such service the owner or master of the ship
may appeal in the prescribed manner to the
Court of Survey (hereinafter mentioned) for
the port or district where the ship is detained.

(5.) Where a ship has been provisionally de-
tained, the owner or master of the ship, at
any time before the person appointed under
this section to survey the ship makes such
survey, may require that he shall be accom-
panied by such person as the owner or master
may select out of the list of Assessors for the
Court of Survey (nominated as hereinafter
mentioned); and in such case if the Surveyor
and Assessor agree, the Board of Trade shall
cause the ship to be detained or released
accordingly; but if they differ, the Board of
Trade may act as if the requisition had not
been made, and the owner and master shall
have the like appeal touching the report of
the Surveyor as is before provided by this
section.

(6.) Where a ship has been provisionally de-
tained, the Board of Trade may at any time,
if they think it expedient, refer the matter to
the Court of Survey for the port or district
where the ship is detained.

(7.) The Board of Trade may at any time, if
satisfied that a ship detained under this Act
is not unsafe, order her to be released either
upon or without any conditions.

(8.) For the better execution of this section, the
Board of Trade, with the consent of the
Treasury, may from time to time appoint
a sufficient number of fit officers, and may
remove any of them.

(9.) Any officer so appointed (in this Act re-
ferred to as a detaining officer) shall have the
same power as the Board of Trade have under
this section of provisionally ordering the de-
tention of a ship for the purpose of being
surveyed, and of appointing a person or per-
sons to survey her; and if he thinks that a
ship so detained by him is not unsafe, may
order her to be released.

(10.) A detaining officer shall forthwith report
to the Board of Trade any order made by him
for the detention or release of a ship.

7. A Court of Survey for a port or district shall
   consist of a Judge sitting with two Assessors.

The Judge shall be such person as may be sum-
moned for the case in accordance with the rules
made under this Act out of a list (from time to time
approved for the port or district by one of Her
Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, in this Act
referred to as a Secretary of State,) of wreck Com-
missioners appointed under this Act, stipendiary or
Metropolitan Police Magistrates, Judges of County