SHIPS. The law of England relating to merchant ships and seamen is partly founded on principles of maritime law common to the whole civilised world, and partly on acts of parliament. The sub ject may conveniently be divided into four parts : 1. That relating to the ownership of ships and its incidents.
2. To the persons employed in the navigation, &c., of merchant ships.
3. To the carriage of goods and pas sengers in merchant ships, the rights and duties, &c., of freighters and passengers, of owners and their servants.
4. To the employment and wages, &c., of merchant seamen.
1. A ship belongs to those at whose expense it has been built, but it may pars into other hands by purchase, by the death or bankruptcy of the owners, or by capture by an enemy. The general law relating to chattels applies to ships with certain modifications. A sale by a party who has the mere possession of a ship can in no instance vest the property in the purchaser. The master, except when the clearest necessity exists, cannot sell the ship which he commands. Even if he be a part-owner, his sale is valid only so far as his own part is concerned; and in the case of a registered ship, even supposing him to have an authority from the owners to sell, still he must observe the forms prescribed by the registry acts. A necessity for a sale may arise when the ship is in a foreign country, where there are no correspondents of the owners, and the master is unable to proceed from want of repairs, and no money can be ob tained by hypothecating her or her cargo. In case a sale under such circumstances should be litigated, the proper questions for the jury to determine are, whether such a necessity existed as would have induced the owner himself; if he had I been present, to sell ; and whether the actual sale has been made bond fide. No inquisition by any court abroad in such matters is conclusive upon those whose property is in question. The property in a ship is now always proved by written documents; and by means of these the property in any ship may be conveyed. But when actual possession is possible, a delivery of it is also necessary to convey a perfect title ; otherwise, in the case of the bankruptcy of a seller who is allowed to remain in possession, the property may vest in the assignees. Previous to the passing of the registry acts, 4 Geo. I V. C. 41, and 6 Geo. IV. c. 110, 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 55, the same consequences might have ensued from the continued posses sion of the original owner, in the case c,f ships mortgaged or conveyed to trustees for the payment of debts. But by the 42nd and 43rd sections of the last act provisions are made for a statement of the object and nature of the transfer in the book of registry, and for indorsement on the certificate of registry, by which such consequences are prevented. Enact ments to the like effect are made in the bankrupt act, 6 Geo. IV. c. 16, § 72. In order to complete a title by capture, it is necessary that a sentence of condem nation should be obtained in a court of the nation by whom the capture has been made. This court decides according to the general law of nations. [Pnizn.1 Where repairs have been done, or ne cessaries supplied to a ship, the legal owners, upon proof of their title to the ship, are prinaci fade presumed to be liable. But this presumption may be re butted by proof that they were done or supplied under the authority and upon the credit of another. The question to be decided, in order to determine the liability is, upon whose credit the work was done or the necessaries supplied. If a ship is let out for hire, the owners are no more liable for the work done by order of the hirers, than a landlord of a house would be for work done by order of his tenant. Like observations are applicable with respect to the liability of mortgagees and charterers.
A variety of privileges of trade are confined to ships either of British build, or taken as prizes in war, &c. The first statute passed with a view to effect this object was 26 Geo. III. 0. 60. Other statutes, 4 Geo. IV. c. 41, 6 Geo. IV. c. 110, and 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 55, were sub sequently passed for the same purpose. The object of the legislature has been to confine the privileges of British ships to ships duly registered and possessing a certificate of registry. No ship is to be
considered a British ship unless duly registered and navigated as such. There are some exceptions from this enactment : 1, British-built vessels under 15 tons bur den, and manned by British subjects, navigating the coasts and rivers of the United Kingdom or of the British posses sions abroad ; 2, British-built vessels owned and manned by British subjects, not more than 30 tons burden, employed in fishing or the coast-trade about New foundland, Canada, &c.; and, 3, Ships built at Honduras, which, under certain circumstances, are entitled to the privi leges of British registered ships. The registry of a ship is not compulsory ; the only consequence of non-registry is, that a non-registered ship can enjoy none of the privileges of a British ship. No ships can be' registered which are built elsewhere than in the United Kingdom or in some of its colonies or depen dencies, or have been condemned as prize, &c., or as forfeited for breach of the laws relating to the slave-trade. They must also wholly belong to British subjects who reside within the British dominions, or are members of some British factory, or agents for some house carrying on trade in the United Kingdom. A regis tered ship may cease to enjoy the privi leges of British ships, by sale under the decree of a court for benefit of the owners in consequence of being stranded, by cap tuie, by repair to the amount of 20s. per ton in a foreign country, unless she was sea-worthy when she left the British do minions, and the repairs were necessary for her return. Every ship is considered to be divided into 64 equal parts, and no individual or partnership firm can be registered as owner or owners of less than a 64th part. Proper officers, who generally are the officers of customs on the spot in question, are appointed for the purpose of making the registry and granting certificates of registry to the owners. The registry and certificate must be made at the port to which a ship belongs, which is that port at or near which the owner resides who takes the oath required by the act. The certificate states the name, occupation, and residence of each owner, and the share or shares which he holds, the name of the master, the name of the ship and of her port, the time and place of her build or condemna tion, the name of the surveying-officer, her tonnage, and it contains a particular description of her in other respects. On the back of the certificate are stated the names of the owners, and the share or shares held by each. The name of the ship cannot afterwards be altered. When the property in a ship or any part of it is transferred, it must be done by a bill of sale, which recites the contents of the cer tificate. The property in the ship is not conveyed until the instrument has been produced to the proper officer at the port where the ship was registered or is about to be registered afresh. The officer then makes a registry in accordance with the altered circumstances of ownership, and indorses them on the certificate ; of this he must give notice to the commissioners of customs. The transfer is rendered complete by an indorsement on the bill of sale certifying the entry in the registry and the indorsement. If the master of a ship is changed, notice of it must be given to the proper authorites, and a memoran dum and indorsement of the change must be made in the registry and on the certi ficate. If a certificate is lost, a fresh registry must be made for the purpose of granting another ; and the same form is necessary in case of any alteration in the ship which creates a variance in the par ticulars stated in the previous registry. The only conclusive evidence of owner ship of a ship is the registry and certifi cate; but a production of the registry alone is not even prim:2 facie evidence to render a party liable as owner of a ship. There must be some proof either that he has caused his name to be entered, or has assented to its entry ; neither is it evi dence to support an allegation of title by the party producing it; as, for instance, to prove interest in a plaintiff in an ac tion on a policy of insurance.