Merchant Shipping (International Labour Conventions) Act, 1933

Amendment of Section 158 of Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

1.—(1) Where by reason of the wreck or loss of a ship on which a seaman is employed his service terminates before the date contemplated in the agreement, he shall, notwithstanding anything in section 158 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, but subject to the provisions of this section, be entitled in respect of each day on which he is in fact unemployed during a period of two months from the date of the termination of the service, to receive wages at the rate to which he was entitled at that date.

(2) A seaman shall not be entitled to receive wages under this section if the owner shows that the unemployment was not due to the wreck or loss of the ship and shall not be entitled to receive wages under this section in respect of any day if the owner shows that the seaman was able to obtain suitable employment on that day.

(3) In this section the expression “seaman” includes every person employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship, but, in the case of a ship which is a fishing boat, does not include any person who is entitled to be remunerated only by a share in the profits or the gross earnings of the working of the boat.

(4) This section shall have and be deemed to have had effect as from the fifth day of July, 1930.