nationality of the ship. The entry in the register must contain American law. the proof of nationality, and all facts proving the identity of the ship and the names of the owners, and the port to which she belongs. Upon the entry being made a certificate is issued Certificate of containing the items above indicated; and if any change takes registry. place in any of them, it must be entered on the register. If the ship is wrecked, or loses the right of nationality, she must be struck out of the register. In case of sale of a ship, or part, the parties may agree that the property shall pass without the delivery, and each party has a right to demand that the contract be drawn up in a deed. Where the ship is sold while at sea the purchaser is entitled to receive the benefit of her present voyage, unless otherwise agreed upon. A ship ready for sale cannot be attached for debts, except for those incurred for the same voyage (a). Holland.-Ships are considered as moveables. Nevertheless, the ownership of ships in whole or in part can only be transferred by virtue of a deed, which is transcribed into a public register kept for that special purpose. When a ship belonging to a native subject is transferred in a foreign country to foreigners, the ownership is transferred according to the laws and usages of the place where they are situated. debts. The ownership of vessels at home or abroad can only be Privileged transferred with their charges, and saving the rights and privileges expressed as follows:-The debts hereinafter specified are privileged in the following order :-1st. Wages for assistance and salvage, and those of pilots, contracted on account of the last voyage. 2nd. The tonnage dues, beacons, fires, quarantine, and other expenses in the port, contracted as before. 3rd. The wages of guardians, and expenses of watching the vessel. 4th. The rent of the warehouse where the riggings are deposited. 5th. The master's wages and those of the crew. 6th. The cost of sails, cordages, and other necessary matters, and the expenses of maintaining or repairing the vessel, its rigging and equipment, for the last voyage. The sums lent in bottomry to discharge the debts, wholly, or in part; comprising the premium of the loan borrowed on bottomry. 7th. The expenses of repairs necessary to the vessel and to (a) German Code, §§ 432 to 449. VOL. II. L Privileged debts. Who can purchase ships. its equipment, other than those previously mentioned, for the previous three years, reckoning from the day when the refitment was complete. 8th. The debts arising from the building of the vessel, and the interest due for the last three years. 9th. The sum lent on bottomry upon the hull of the ship for repairs, &c., before the departure of the vessel, without including the premium of the bottomry loan. Debts of the same nature, and contracted in the same port, will be taken in their order; but if in pursuing the voyage certain debts have been contracted by necessity in other ports, or in the same port, where the vessel returned after having sailed, those contracted afterwards will take precedence of the debts contracted before. After the debts already described, the following ones are also considered privileged on vessels:-1st. The cost price of the ship which has not been paid, with the interest due for the two last years. 2nd. The amount of other debts for which the vessel shall be specially affected, with interest for the last two years, provided it be so stipulated for by deed and inscribed in the register, and the rank of these privileges is regulated by the priority of the register. The privileges above mentioned are extinct if the vessel transferred to another party has navigated during sixty days after her sailing from the port in the name and on account of the new owner, without the privileged creditors having protested against it. And in any case the protest enures only to the benefit of the creditors who have protested. These regulations do not apply to the sales made to foreigners, and in such cases the legal charges, privileges, and rights remain untouched. In case of judiciary sales, the law expenses take precedence of all other debts. In case of bankruptcy of the owner of the vessel, all actions and debts relating to the ship have preference to those of the body of creditors; but such preference does not extend to the cost of insurance. The seller of a vessel is bound to make known to the purchaser all the privileged debts, and to give him a list of them signed by himself (a). Russia. Any individual, without being bound to belong to the "guilds," has the right to construct, rig, and fit out (a) Dutch Code, ss. 311-319. merchant ships of any dimensions destined for sea, or to navigate the rivers, and to establish timber-yards on the borders of the sea, or near lakes and navigable rivers. Ship's husbands and builders of vessels of new model, are bound to submit their plans to the examination of a committee of the Admiralty, who can alone give the necessary authority to permit such vessel to be put to sea. The owners of vessels may complete their crew with foreign masters or seamen, if Russian subjects are insufficient for the service. Every owner of a vessel intended for sea should obtain a certificate of her construction containing the dimensions and tonnage of the vessel, the period and place where she has been built, the nature of her construction, her designation, and particulars of the payment made to the builder and workmen. Every merchant vessel, before putting out to sea, or navigating the rivers, ought to be verified in the timber-yard, by engineers employed by the competent authorities, who shall deliver to the owner a stamped deed of the verification. Every one has a right to purchase and sell Russian vessels Purchase and intended for sea. Merchants of the first and second "guild" sale of ships. have alone the right to purchase foreign vessels. The Russian custom-houses cannot grant the papers to vessels bought from foreigners, until the purchasers exhibit the proper documents showing that all the formalities have been fulfilled. Russian subjects cannot sell their vessels in foreign ports, without the intermediation of the consuls of their nation. In any port where there is no consul, vessels may be sold by the intermediation of the local authorities, of notaries or brokers, taking care that the same shall send notice of the same to the nearest consul, who must also inform the Minister of Commerce. New patents or licences are not necessary for the sale of ships between Russian subjects, and buyers may receive the old titles which were drawn up when the vessel was built. Such sales are made through brokers in Russia, and abroad by the Russian consuls, on a stamp of the value of ten roubles. If a Russian subject purchase a vessel from a foreigner, the bill of sale must be drawn up on paper with a proportioned stamp, and besides the ten roubles for the enrolment of the licence, a duty of one per cent. shall be received. Sales made by Russian subjects are not subject to the duty of one per cent. When a Russian vessel Partnership. is sold to a foreigner, all the titles belonging to the vessel are examined and sent to the party to whom they belong. Persons who form a partnership for building, purchasing, and maintaining vessels, should draw up a written agreement on stamped paper, and a copy of it should be kept with the brokers. Should one of the partners wish to withdraw, the others may purchase his share at the estimated value. The loss of the vessel would cause an immediate dissolution of the partnership (a). Who may be owner. SECTION V. WHO MAY BE OWNER OF BRITISH SHIPS. No ship is deemed to be a British ship unless she belongs wholly either, 1st, to natural born, 2nd, to naturalised British subjects, provided they were resident in some place within Her Majesty's dominions, or, if not so resident, members of a British factory, or partners in a house carrying actually on business in the United Kingdom or in some other place within Her Majesty's dominions, and have taken the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty subsequently to the period of their being so made denizens o naturalised, and, 3rd, to bodies corporate established under and subject to the laws of, and having their principal place of business in, the United Kingdom or some British possession (b). The ownership of every ship is, as we have already seen, divided into sixty-four parts or shares, and such owner is registered as the proprietor of so many of such parts. If an owner possesses such a portion that cannot be divided into sixty-fourths, he may transfer the fractional part to another, without registering the transfer. A ship owned by a partnership is partnership property, and the interest of the respective members need not be distinguished, though the name of each partner must appear on the register (c). No more than thirty-two persons can be owners of one ship at the same time. (a) Russian Code, ss. 525-543; 547 -551; and 560-571. (b) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 18. SECTION VI. LIABILITY OF SHIPOWNERS. for repairs. The owner of a ship is liable for repairs only where they Liability of are done by his authority and instruction, when the repairs shipowners are ordered for him, or for his benefit, or by his master. If a stranger orders repairs for the ship of another, the owner is not liable for them. The simple fact that he is the registered owner is not sufficient; the question is, upon whose credit was the work done. Nor is the simple fact that his name appears still in the registry sufficient. The owner must have been beneficially interested in the ship, and benefited by such repairs, before he can be made answerable for them (a). It is the duty of the tradesman who supplied the repair, before he seeks his remedy against others, to inquire for whose use and benefit his labour was given or his goods supplied; who were the immediate owners, absolute or temporary, at the time the orders were received; under whose authority the captain acted d; whose servant and agent he was at the time he gave them. So, in matters relating to the employment of the ship: the fact that the master appears to all the world as the agent of the owners is only a presumptive evidence of authority from the owner to act for him, liable to be rebutted by proof that he or some other person for him managed the concern in the particular instance. Generally, however, the owner is bound by every lawful contract made by the master relative to the employment of the ship, because he is his agent and confidential servant, and the owner would be bound to the performance of any contract made by the master, and would be answerable for a breach of them, although committed by the master or mariners against his will and without his personal fault (b). Shipowners, as common carriers, are at common law liable for any loss or damage which may happen to goods intrusted to them, except such as are occasioned by the act of God, such as storms, tempests, and the like, or of the king's enemies, and also (a) M'Iver v. Humble, 16 East, 169; Jennings v. Griffiths, 1 Ry. & Moo. 42; Frost v. Oliver, 22 L. J. 353, Q. B. (b) Boson v. Sandford, 3 Lev. 258; Ellis v. Turner, 8 T. R. 531; Rinquist Liability for the employment of ships. Common law liability of shipowners. |