Merchant Shipping Act, 1894

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Inquiry into cause of death on board ship.

690.—(1) Where a case of death happens on board any foreign-going British ship, the superintendent at the port where the crew of the ship is discharged, shall, on the arrival of the ship at that port, inquire into the cause of the death, and shall make in the official log an endorsement to the effect, either that the statement of the cause of death in the log is in his opinion true, or the contrary, according to the result of the inquiry.

(2) A superintendent shall for the purpose of an inquiry under this section have the powers of a Board of Trade inspector under this Act; and if in the course of any such inquiry it appears to a superintendent that any such death has been caused on board the ship by violence or other improper means, he shall either report the matter to the Board of Trade, or, if the emergency of the case so requires, shall take immediate steps for bringing the offender or offenders to justice.

(3) This section shall not apply—

(a) except in Scotland, to fishing boats, nor

(b) to ships registered in a British possession when those ships are within the jurisdiction of the government of that possession; nor

(c) to pleasure yachts, or ships belonging to any of the three general lighthouse authorities.