Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234), article 160

160. (1) The master of a Maltese ship shall not leave a seaman or an apprentice behind at any p lace, ashore or at sea (except where the seaman is discharged in accordance with this Act), unless h e previously obtains, endorsed on th e agreement with the crew the certificate of the shipping master or of a Maltese consular off icer stating the cause of the seaman o r apprentice being left behind , whether the cause be unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, desertion, disappearance, or otherwise. (2) The officer to whom an appli cation is made for a certificate under this article shall examine into the grounds on which a se aman or an apprentice is to be left be hind, and for that purpose may , if he thinks fit, administer oaths, and may grant or refuse the certi ficate as he thinks just, but the certificate shall not be unreasonabl y withheld. (3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this article he shall (without prejudice to his liability under any other provi sion of this Act) be liable for each offence to imprisonment for a peri od not exceeding two years or to a fine ( multa) not exceeding five hundred units or to both such imprisonment and fine, and in any legal proceedings for the offence it shall lie on the master to prove that the certificate was obtained, or c ould not be obtained, or coul d not M E R C H A N T S H I P P I N G [CAP. 234. 87 be obtained without unreasonable delay to the ship, or was unreasonably withheld. Account and payment of wages in case of seaman left behind. Amended by:  XIII. 1983.5; XXII. 2000.2.