CAP. 281]
Merchant Shipping
[1986 Ed.
61/89513
61/89513
61/89813
Protection from process.
Relief of distressed
seamen
belonging to ship registered in the Colony. 香港 61/89513
(3) No seaman shall except with the sanction of the Director be discharged from a British ship, or any foreign ship whose flag is not represented by a consular officer resident in the Colony, elsewhere than at the Mercantile Marine Office, Hong Kong
(4) Whenever any seaman is discharged at the Mercantile Marine Office from any ship within the Colony, the master of such ship shall give to such seaman at the time of such discharge a written certificate of discharge, specifying the time and nature of service, and the time of discharge of such seaman, signed by himself, and shall give him a true account in writing of his wages and of all deductions therefrom.
(5) Any master or any other person belonging to any British ship who wrongfully forces on shore and leaves behind, or otherwise wilfully and wrongfully leaves behind in the Colony any seaman or apprentice belonging to such ship before the completion of the voyage for which such seaman or apprentice was engaged, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of $10,000 and to imprisonment for 6 months. (Amended, 17 of 1965, s. 7 and 73 of 1974, s. 12)
(6) Where a master or other person is convicted of an offence against subsection (5), the court may, in addition to any penalty it may impose in respect of the offence, order the offender to pay any costs incurred by the Hong Kong Government in transporting the seaman or apprentice in respect of whom the offence was committed to any place outside Hong Kong; and the amount so ordered to be paid may be recovered in the same manner as a fine. (Added, 73 of 1974, s. 12)
13. No seaman who has been actually shipped on board any vessel in compliance with this Ordinance shall, during the time for which he is then shipped, be liable to be arrested on civil process, unless the debt or demand exceeds the sum of $500:
Provided that by the term "seaman" in this subsection shall be meant only a person who has, within the space of 6 months previously, served on board a ship for wages as a seaman, and that the protection from arrest hereby granted shall not be held to extend to any person not coming within such definition, or in any case to masters, mates or engineers.
14. (1) All expenses incurred under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts in the relief of distressed seamen who, at the time of such relief being granted, have last served in a ship registered in any, and all expenses incurred in the United Kingdom in relieving and returning to Hong Kong all distressed seamen who last served in such ship, shall be borne by the revenue of the Colony, Hong Kong
(2) The Governor may order the payment out of the general revenue of all expenses incurred in the Colony for the relief of such seamen as aforesaid under the provisions of the said Acts or of any regulations in that behalf which may be made by the Governor in Council.
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