Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234), article 327

327. (1) The court of survey sha ll hear every case in open court. (2) The chairman of the court may appoint any competent person or persons to survey the ship and report thereon to the court. (3) The chairman of the court, and each assessor, and every person appointed by the chairman to survey a ship shall have fo r 158 CAP. 234.] MERCHANT SHIPPING the purposes of this Act all the powers of a person appointed u nder this Part of this Act to hold a preliminary inquiry into a ship ping casualty; and the provisions of article 313(3) a nd (4) shall, w ith the requisite modifications, apply for the purposes of this article as they apply for the purpos es of that article. (4) The chairman of the court shall have the same powers as the Minister to order the ship to be released or finally detained b ut, unless one of the assessors concurs in an order for the detenti on of the ship, the ship s hall be released. (5) The owner, or the master, or the bareboat charterer of the ship, and any person appointed by the owner, or the master, or the bareboat charterer and also any person appointed by the Ministe r, may attend at any inspection or survey made in pursuance of thi s article. Reference in difficult cases to scientific referees.