Directory_and_Chronicle_1925 — Page 464

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HONGKONG PORT REGULATIONS

flag is not represented by a Consular officer resident in the Colony, elsewhere than at the Mercantile Marine Office, and every seaman discharged from a foreign ship so represented shall, within twenty-four hours of being discharged at the office of his Consul or Vice-Consul, produce to the Harbour Master, or some person deputed by him, a certificate of his discharge, signed by such Consul or Vice-Consul, under a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars; in default, imprisonment not exceeding twenty-one days.

12. No master of any ship shall discharge in this Colony, under a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars, any seaman shipped on board thereof unless on a certificate from the Superintendeut of the Mercantile Marine Office or his deputy, or from the Cousul or Vice-Consul, if any, representing the nation. to which the ship belongs; and the Superintendent or

and the Superintendent or his deputy, and the Consul or Vice-Consul are empowered to withhold or grant his certificate upon such couditions for the subsistence of the seaman as he shall think fit, and if any seaman shall wilfully or negligently remain in the Colony after the departure of the vessel in which he shall have shipped, such seaman shall, on conviction, be subject to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month with or without hard labour.

13. Penalty for wrongfully leaving behind any seaman or apprentice: Two hundred and fifty dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months.

XIX.-British and Colonial Ships to carry medicines, medical stores, etc., in accordance with scale issued by Board of Trade.

3. Health Officer to approve of lime or lemon juice.

XX.-Seamen deserting may be apprehended and put on board the vessels to which they belong, or may be confined in gaol.

2. Ships or houses may be searched for deserters from ships.

3. Penalty on persons harbouring deserters from ships: not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or imprisonment with or without bard labour not exceed- ing six months.

4. Harbour Master may require masters of ships to search for suspected deserters. 5. Whenever any seaman engaged in any foreign ship commits any of the following offences within the waters of the Colony, he shall be liable to be punished summarily by a Stipendiary Magistrate as follows, that is to say:

(a) For wilful disobedience to any lawful command, he shall be liable tf imprisonment for any period not exceeding four weeks, with or withouo. hard labour, and also, at the discretion of the Court, to forfeit, out ot his wages, a sum not exceeding two days' pay;

(b) For continued wilful disobedience to lawful commands, or continued wilful neglect of duty, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any period not exceeding twelve weeks, with or without hard labour, and also, at the discretion of the Court, to forfeit, for every twenty-four hours' continuance of such disobedience or neglect, either a sum not exceeding six days' pay, or any expenses which have been incurred in hiring a substitute;

(c) For combining with any other or others of the crew to disobey lawful commands, or to neglect duty, or to impede the navigation of the ship or the progress of the voyage, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any period not exceeding twelve weeks, with or without hard labour: Provided that when there is a Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent resident at Hongkong of the nation to which the ship belongs the Court shall not deal with the case unless thereto requested by such officer in writing.

6. All expenses incidental to the apprehension, confinement, and removal of any seaman, under this section, shall be paid by the master of the ship to which such seaman may belong, and be recoverable from him at the suit of the Captain Superintendent of Police, as a debt due to the Government of this Colony; and the subsistence money for every such seaman confined in gaol shall be paid in advance