TITLE XXVI. OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING. CHAPTER 167 Of the Merchant Shipping Service and Desertion from the Royal Navy. SECTION 1.-Ships registered in this Colony, their owners, &c., to be subject to the shipping laws of Great Britain, as to agreements, wages, &c. SECTION 2. Seamen deserting ship registered in this 3.-Deserteis from the Royal Navy. 1. Sea-going ships registered in this Colony, their owners, masters and crews, and all other persons in relation thereto, when and while such ships, owners, masters, crews and persons are within this Colony shall, (so far as the same can be applied) be subject in respect of shipping and discharge, agreements, wages and effects, rights, remedies and penalties, to the law for the time being of Great Britain concerning colonial British registered ships when in the United Kingdom or out of the jurisdiction of their respective Governments, as the case may be: Provided, that no amendment or alteration of the present law of Great Britain in regard to the matters aforesaid shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, apply to this Colony until six months after the passing of such amendment or alteration, and in the meantime the law as it previously stood shall apply and be executed in this Colony. 2. Any seaman refusing to join or absenting himself without reasonable cause from any ship registered within this Colony or its dependencies, after entering into an agreement for service, as required by the provisions of the Acts relating to merchant shipping, shall be deemed guilty of an offence against the provisions of this Chapter, and may be arrested. and brought before a Stipendiary Magistrate, and on conviction thereof may be imprisoned for any period not exceeding twenty-one days, unless after being arrested he consents to return to perform his duty on board such ship, in which case he may, by order of any Magistrate, if such Mag istrate is satisfied it ought to be done, be released from imprisonment and conveyed by the police on board the said ship. The cost of such arrest and proceedings, not exceeding five dollars, may be deducted from the wages of such seaman then due or to become due. 3. A reward of fourteen dollars shall be paid by warrant of the Governor on the Minister of Finance and Customs to any person for the apprehension of any deserter from any ship belonging to the Royal Navy, upon producing a certificate of the Commander or chief officer of any such ship, or of any Stipendiary Magistrate, stating that such deserter has been delivered to him, and all persons may apprehend such deserter without warrant. 4. The master or owner of every vessel registered in this Colony and sailing on foreign voyages shall, before the entry inwards of such vessel at the customs at the port of St. John's, pay to the Minister of Finance and Customs the sum of twelve cents per month for every seaman on board such vessel to be applied towards the support of the St. John's hospital, and the master or owner paying such amount may retain the same from the wages due to such seaman. 1. (1) Where, by the fault of two or more vessels, damage or loss is caused to one or more of those vessels, to their cargoes or freight, or to any property on board, the liability to make good the damage or loss shall be in proportion to the degree in which each vessel was in fault. Provided that (a) If, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it is not possible to establish different degrees of fault, the liability shall be apportioned equally; and () Nothing in this section shall operate so as to render any vessel liable for any loss or damage to which her fault has not contributed; and (c) Nothing in this section shall affect the liability of any person under a contract of carriage or any contract, or shall be construed as imposing any liability upon any person from which he is exempted by any contract or by any provision of law, or as affecting the right of any person to limit his liability in the manner provided by law. (2) For the purposes of this Chapter the expression "freight" includes passage money and hire, and references to damage or loss caused by the fault of a vessel shall be construed as including references to any salvage or other expenses, consequent upon that fault, recoverable at law by way of damages. *This Chapter passed April 16th, 1913, in pursuance of the Convention 2. Where loss of life or personal injuries are suffered by any person on board a vessel owing to the fault of that vessel and of any other vessel or vessels, the liability of the owners of the vessel shall be joint and several: Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as depriving any person of any right of defence on which, independently of this section, he might have relied in an action brought against him by the person injured, or any person or persons entitled to sue in respect of suh loss of life or shall affect the right of any person to limit his liability in cases to which this section relates in the manner provided by law. 3. (1) Where loss of life or personal injuries are suffered by any person on board a vessel owing to the fault of that vessel and any other vessel or vessels, and a proportion of the damages is recovered against the owners of one of the vessels which exceeds the proportion in which she was in fault they may recover by way of contribution the amount of the excess from the owners of the other vessel or vessels to the extent to which those vessels were respectively in fault: Provided that no amount shall be so recovered which could not by reason of any statutory or contractual limitation of, or exemption from, liability, or which could not for any other reason have been recovered in the first instance as damages by the persons entitled to sue therefor. (2) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the persons entitled to any such contribution as aforesaid shall, for the purpose of recovering the same, have subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the same rights and powers as the persons entitled to sue for damages in the first instance. 4. (1) Sub-section (4) of section 419 of the Imperial Act, 57 and 58 Vic., Cap. 60, known as the "Merchant Shipping Act, 1894," (which provides that a ship shall be deemed in fault in case of collision where any of the collision regulations have been infringed by that ship), is hereby repealed. (2) The failure of the master or person in charge of a vessel to comply with the provisions of section 422 of the said "Merchant Shipping Act, 1894," (which imposes a duty upon masters and persons in charge of vessels after a collision to stand by and assist the other vessel) shall not raise any presumption of law that the collision was caused by his wrongful |