COASTING TRADE includes all trade by sea from one part of the United Kingdom to another, ships thus engaged being known as coasting ships. No goods may be carried coastwise except such as are laden for that purpose at some port or place in the United Kingdom. The master of a coasting ship is liable to a penalty of £100 if when at sea, or over the sea, he should take in or put out any goods ; nor may he touch at any p)ace over the sea, or deviate from his voyage, unless forced by unavoidable circum stances, and if he should touch at any place over the sea, he must declare the fact at the first port of his arrival in the United Kingdom. He is also penalised if, without proper permission, he should ship or unship goods on a Sunday, or any other day not in the presence of an officer of the customs. So too if he should fail to keep a cargo-book, which must include an account and description of all the goods on board, the names and description of the ship, the master, the port to which she belongs and to which she is bound, the shippers and consignees, the dates of delivery of goods, and of departure and arrival at lading and discharging ports respectively. Before the ship can depart from the port of lading an account in duplicate must be furnished to the proper officer, one copy of which will be returned to the master and serve as a pass for the goods ; this pass is called a transire. General transires may be obtained subject to certain regulations, and such transires may be issued locally for periods not exceeding twelve months.
A large variety of goods may be carried without transires, only the keep ing of a cargo-book being required. Amongst these goods are : Fish, and the appliances for carrying on the business of a sea fisherman, ashes, coal and soap, bricks, chalk, clay, chimney-pots of clay, draining tiles and pipes of clay, gravel, granite, hay, iron ore, fresh meat, pebbles, lime, straw, sand, slates, and British stone and timber. Clearance or transire will not be granted to ships when boats and life-buoys are not provided or kept fit and ready for use. Coasting trade between any places in the estuary of the Thames, within the ports of London, Rochester, Faversham, and Colchester, to the westward of an imaginary line drawn from iteculver Towers to Colne Point in the Port of Colchester, is deemed a trade by sea, and the ship is not a coasting ship. The arrival and departure.of coasting vessels trading wholly within the above limits need not be recorded in the official coasting statistics, and transfers and clearances for such vessels are not required. Customs officers are expected to frequently rummage coasting ships, and to exercise special vigilance over the traffic between English and Irish ports for the purpose of detecting suspicious packages or cases which may be supposed to contain arms or explosives.