202

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

in the coasting trade on the coasts of the
United Kingdom (except ships under eighty
tons register employed solely in that trade)
shall, before proceeding to sea from any port,
mark upon each of her sides amidships, or as
near thereto as is practicable, in white or
yellow on a dark ground, or in black on a
light ground, a circular disc twelve inches in
diameter, with a horizontal line eighteen
inches in length drawn through its centre:
(2.) The centre of this disc shall indicate the
maximum load-line in salt water to which the
owner intends to load the ship, until notice is
given of an alteration:
(3.) He shall also once in every twelve months,
immediately before the ship proceeds to sea,
send or deliver to the Collector or other Prin-
cipal Officer of Customs of the port of registry
of the ship, a statement in writing of the
distance in feet and inches between the centre
of the disc and the upper edge of each of the
lines indicating the position of the ship's
decks which is above that centre:
(4.) The owner, before the ship proceeds to sea,
after any renewal or alteration of the disc,
shall send or deliver to the Collector or other
Principal Officer of Customs of the port of
registry of the ship, notice in writing of such
renewal or alteration, together with such
statement in writing as before mentioned of
the distance between the centre of the disc
and the upper edge of each of the deck-lines:
(5.) If default is made in sending or delivering
any notice or statement required by this sec-
tion to be sent or delivered, the owner shall
be liable to a penalty not exceeding one
hundred pounds:
(6.) When a ship has been marked as by this
section required, she shall be kept so marked
until notice is given of an alteration.
28. Any owner or master of a British ship who
neglects to cause his ship to be marked as by this
Act required, or to keep her so marked, or who
allows the ship to be so loaded as to submerge in
salt water the centre of the disc, and any person
who conceals, removes, alters, defaces, or obliterates,
or suffers any person under his control to conceal,
remove, alter, deface, or obliterate any of the said
marks, except in the event of the particulars thereby
denoted being lawfully altered, or except for the pur-
pose of escaping capture by an enemy, shall for each
offence incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred
pounds.
If any of the marks required by this Act is in any
respect inaccurate, so as to be likely to mislead, the
owner of the ship shall incur a penalty not exceeding
one hundred pounds.

Investigations into Shipping Casualties.

29. For the purpose of rendering investigations
    into shipping casualties more speedy and effectual, it
    shall be lawful for the Lord High Chancellor of
    Great Britain to appoint from time to time some fit
    person or persons to be a Wreck Commissioner or
    Wreck Commissioners for the United Kingdom, so
    that there shall not be more than three such Com-
    missioners at any one time; and to remove any such
    Wreck Commissioner; and in case it shall become
    necessary to appoint a Wreck Commissioner in Ireland
    the Lord Chancellor of Ireland shall have the ap-
    pointment and the power of removal of such Wreck
    Commissioner.

It shall be the duty of a Wreck Commissioner, at
the request of the Board of Trade, to hold any
formal investigation into a loss, abandonment,
damage, or casualty (in this Act called a shipping
casualty) under the eighth part of "The Merchant
Shipping Act, 1854;" and for that purpose he shall
have the same jurisdiction and powers as are thereby
conferred on two Justices; and all the provisions of
"The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1854 to 1876,"
with respect to investigations conducted under the
eighth part of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854,"
shall apply to investigations held by a Wreck Com-
missioner.

30. The Wreck Commissioner, Justices, or other
    authority holding a formal investigation into a
    shipping casualty shall hold the same with the
    assistance of an Assessor or Assessors of nautical
    engineering or other special skill or knowledge, to be
    appointed by the Commissioner, Justices, or autho-
    rity out of a list of persons for the time being
    approved for the purpose by a Secretary of State.

The Commissioner, Justices, or authority, when
of opinion that the investigation is likely to involve
the cancellation or suspension of the certificate of a
master or mate, shall, where practicable, appoint a
person having experience in the merchant service to
be one of the Assessors.

Each Assessor shall either sign the report made on
the investigation, or report to the Board of Trade
his reasons for his dissent therefrom.

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain may
from time to time, with the consent of the Treasury
so far as relates to fees, make, and when made
revoke, alter, and add to general rules for carrying
into effect the enactments relating to formal investi-
gations into shipping casualties, and in particular
with respect to the summoning of Assessors, the
procedure, the parties, the persons allowed to appear,
the notice to such parties and persons or to persons
affected, and the amount and application of fees.

All such rules, while in force, shall have effect as
if enacted in this Act.

Every formal investigation into a shipping casualty
shall be conducted in such manner that if a charge
is made against any person that person shall have an
opportunity of making a defence.

31. A Wreck Commissioner may, at the request of
    the Board of Trade, by himself, or by some Deputy
    approved by the Board of Trade, institute the same
    examination as a Receiver of Wreck under section
    four hundred and forty-eight of "The Merchant
    Shipping Act, 1854," and shall for that purpose have
    the powers by that section conferred on a Receiver of
    Wreck.

32. In the following cases—

(1.) Whenever any ship on or near the coasts
of the United Kingdom or any British ship
elsewhere has been stranded or damaged, and
any witness is found at any place in the
United Kingdom, or

(2.) Whenever a British ship has been lost or
is supposed to have been lost, and any evidence
can be obtained in the United Kingdom as
to the circumstances under which she pro-
ceeded to sea or was last heard of,

the Board of Trade (without prejudice to any other
powers) may, if they think fit, cause an inquiry to
be made or formal investigation to be held, and all
the provisions of "The Merchant Shipping Acts,
1854 to 1876," shall apply to any such inquiry or
investigation as if it had been made or held under
the eighth part of "The Merchant Shipping Act,
1854."

33. A formal investigation into a shipping casualty
    may be held at any place appointed in that behalf by
    the Board of Trade, and all enactments relating to
    the authority holding the investigation shall, for the
    purpose of the investigation, have effect as if the
    place so appointed were a place appointed for the
    exercise of the ordinary jurisdiction of that authority.