Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234), article 167

167. (1) A seaman or apprentice may be sent to a proper return port by any reasonable route. (2) Provision may be made for the return of a seaman or apprentice, if he is fit to work, by providing him with suitabl e employment on board a ship, proceeding to a proper return port, which is in want of men to make up its complement, or, if that is not practicable, by providing him with a passage in any ship or aircraft, or with the money for his passage, and, as to any par t of the route which is by land, by pa ying the expenses of his journ ey and of his maintenance during the journey, or providing him wit h the means to pay those expenses. (3) Where the master of a ship is required by this Act to provide for the return of a discharged seaman or apprentice to a proper return port, the master m ay, instead of providing the pa ssage or the expenses of his journey, or of providing him with the me ans to pay his passage or those expenses, deposit with the officer whose sanction or certificate is required under this Act such sum as that officer considers sufficient to d efray the expenses of the retu rn of the seaman or apprentice to a proper return port. (4) Where a seaman or apprentice is repatriated as a member of a crew, he shall be entitled to the appropriate remuneration fo r work done during the voyage. (5) If any question arises as to what return port a seaman or apprentice is to be sent in any case, or as to the route by whi ch he should be sent, that question sh all be decided by the officer aforesaid, and in deciding any question under this provision, t hat officer shall have regard both to the convenience of the seaman or apprentice and to the expenses involved and also, where that is the case, to the fact that a ship which is in want of men to make u p its complement is about to proceed t o a proper return port or to a port in the vicinity thereof; but nothing in this article shall reli ve the owner from the obligation and expense of returning the seaman o r apprentice to his proper return port. 90 CAP. 234.] MERCHANT SHIPPING Provisions as to taking distressed seamen on ships. Amended by:  XIII. 1983.5; XXII. 2000.2; I.2025.64.