29. Special provisions as to agreement with crew of foreign-going ship
Feedback & supportThis section shall have effect with respect to the agreements with the crew made in Singapore in the case of foreign-going ships registered either within or outside Singapore:
the agreement shall, subject to the provisions of this Act as to substitutes, be signed by each seaman in the presence of the Superintendent;
seaman
“seaman” includes every person, except a master or pilot, employed or engaged in any capacity as part of the crew on board any ship;
the Superintendent shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, or otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the same before he signs it, and shall attest each signature;
Superintendent
“Superintendent” means the Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office referred to in section 26 and includes any deputy superintendent appointed under that section, or, if the context so requires, any superintendent appointed under the Merchant Shipping Acts;
when the crew is first engaged the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by the Superintendent, and the other shall be delivered to the master, and shall contain a special place or form for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or persons engaged subsequently to the first departure of the ship;
master
“master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of any ship;
where a substitute is engaged in the place of a seaman who duly signed the agreement and whose services are, within 24 hours of the ship’s putting to sea, lost by death, desertion or other unforeseen cause, the engagement shall, when practicable, be made before the Superintendent, and, when not practicable, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and if not, as soon afterwards as possible, cause the agreement to be read over and explained to the substitute, and the substitute shall thereupon sign the same in the presence of a witness, and the witness shall attest the signature;
ship
“ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation not propelled by oars;
the agreement may be made for a voyage or, if the voyages of the ship average less than 6 months in duration, may be made to extend over two or more voyages, and agreements so made to extend over two or more voyages are in this Act referred to as running agreements;
voyage
“voyage” means the whole time and the whole distance between the ship’s port or place of departure and her final port or place of arrival;
running agreements shall not be for a longer period than 6 months, or the first arrival of the ship at her port of destination in Singapore after the expiration of that period, or the discharge of cargo consequent on that arrival;
on every return to a port in Singapore before the final termination of a running agreement, the master shall make on the agreement an endorsement as to the engagement or discharge of seamen, either that no engagements or discharges have been made or are intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or that all those made have been made as required by law, and if a master wilfully makes a false statement in any such endorsement he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for each offence to a fine not exceeding $400;
the master shall deliver the running agreement so endorsed to the Superintendent, and the Superintendent shall, if the provisions of this Act relating to agreements have been complied with, sign the endorsement and return the agreement to the master.[42