Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234), article 165

165. (1) Where any expenses (other than excepted expenses as defined by this article) are incurred by or on behalf of the Government of Malta, or are incurred by the government of a foreign country and are repaid or repayable to that government by or on behalf of the Government of Malta, on account of a distre ssed seaman or apprentice, either fo r his maintenance, necessary clothing, conveyance to a proper return port or, in case of dea th, for the repatriation of the deceased and his burial, or otherwise i n accordance with this Act, those e xpenses (together with the wag es, if any, due to the seaman or apprentice) shall be a charge upon the ship, whether Maltese or foreign, to which the distressed seama n or apprentice belonged, and shall be recoverable as a debt due to the Government of Malta from the master of the ship or from the own er of the ship for the time being or the bareboat charterer or, wh ere the ship has been lost, from the person who was the owner of the sh ip at the time of the loss or, wher e the ship has been transferred to some person not being a Maltese citizen or not being a body corporate established under the laws of Malta, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner o f the ship at the time of the transfer, and also, if the ship is a foreign ship, from the person who, whether as principal or as agent, engaged the seaman o r apprentice for se rvice in the ship. (2) In any proceedings for such recovery, a certificate of the expenses signed by the person defraying the expenses together w ith such vouchers (if an y) as the case requires, shall be sufficien t proof that the said expenses were duly paid. (3) For the purposes of this article, "excepted expenses" are expenses incurred in cases where the certificate obtained under this Act on leaving a seaman or apprentice behind states, or the Minister is otherwise satisfied, that the cause of the seaman or M E R C H A N T S H I P P I N G [CAP. 234. 89 apprentice being left behind is desertion, disappearance, imprisonment for misconduct or discharge from his ship by a competent court on the ground of misconduct, and expenses incurred on account of the return to the proper port of a distressed seaman or apprentice who has been discharged at the port at whi ch he was shipped or at some neighbouring port. Penalty for forcing men ashore.  Amended by:  XIII. 1983.5; XXII. 2000.2.