Mercantile Marine Act, 1955

Transmission of property in ship on death, bankruptcy, etc.

46.—(1) Where the property in a registered ship or in a share therein is transmitted to a qualified person on the death or bankruptcy of any registered owner, or by any lawful means other than by a transfer under this Act—

(a) that person shall authenticate the transmission by making and signing a declaration (in this Act called a declaration of transmission) identifying the ship and containing the several statements hereinbefore required to be contained in a declaration of transfer, or as near thereto as circumstances admit, and also a statement of the manner in which and the person to whom the property has been transmitted;

(b) if the transmission is consequent on bankruptcy, the declaration of transmission shall be accompanied by such evidence as is for the time being receivable in courts of justice as proof of the title of persons claiming under a bankruptcy;

(c) if the transmission is consequent on death, the declaration of transmission shall be accompanied by the instrument of representation, or an official extract therefrom.

(2) The registrar, on receipt of the declaration of transmission so accompanied, shall enter in the register book the name of the person entitled under the transmission as owner of the ship or share the property in which has been transmitted, and, where there is more than one such person, shall enter the names of all those persons, but those persons, however numerous, shall, for the purpose of the provision of this Act with respect to the number of persons entitled to be registered as owners, be considered as one person.