COURSE: Law of the Sea

COURSE CODE: LH 534

Surya Saxena
ICFAI LAW SCHOOL
 SUGGESTED READINGS
• Yoshifumi Tanaka, International Law of the Sea,
2016, Cambridge University Press
THE GENESIS OF LAW OF SEA

• Grotius also known as the father of modern

International law, led to the formulation of maritime
law which is one of the recently developed branches of
International Law.
• During the 17th century, the doctrine of “freedom-of-
the-seas” emerged wherein it was considered that the
seas were free to all nations but belonged to none of
them.
• The Law of the sea has always been in a state of flux,
changing and creating a new regime as per the state’s
own will.
• There existed certain tension between “the free sea”
and “the closed sea” which waned for centuries,
generally with the powerful states arguing that the
sea was free to all, and the smaller States arguing
for transnational limitations on what maritime
powers could do to navigate the oceans and exploit
their resources.
• It was during the 20th century due to vast
development in the technology and the commerce
department, many nations began to make
jurisdictional claims so that they could protect their
interest and the gradual enlargement of territorial
sea initiated the need for the codification of the law
to create uniformity.
• Over a series of discussions and conferences, four
conventions on the law of seas evolved in 1958,
namely called Geneva convention on the law of sea
developed but the conventions failed to address
several issues like the urgent need to regulate the
usage of minerals of the deep sea beds and high sea.
• In 1982, the third UN conference adopted the
Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) consisting of 320 articles and 9
Annexes, along with 4 resolution.
• A significant portion of the convention was a replica
of the old Geneva convention however several new
factors were also dictated which are as follows:
• It expanded the scope regarding the matters of the new
legal regime of the deep sea bed and economic zones.
• The territorial sea now extended up to 12 nautical
miles limit.
• In cases of dispute, the convention provides
compulsory judicial settlement at the request of one of
the parties.
• The convention also describes the formation of an
international tribunal of the law of the sea for helping
in settlements of disputes.
 Introduction
• Law of the Sea, branch of international law concerned
with public order at sea.
• Much of this law is codified in the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed Dec. 10, 1982.
• The convention, described as a “constitution for the
oceans,” represents an attempt to codify international law
regarding territorial waters, sea-lanes,
and ocean resources.
• It came into force in 1994 after it had been ratified by the
requisite 60 countries; by the early 21st century the
convention had been ratified by more than 150 countries.
• According to the 1982 convention, each
country’s sovereign territorial waters extend to a maximum of
12 nautical miles (22 km) beyond its coast, but foreign vessels
are granted the right of innocent passage through this zone.
• Passage is innocent as long as a ship refrains from engaging in
certain prohibited activities, including weapons testing,
spying, smuggling, serious pollution, fishing, or scientific
research.
• Where territorial waters comprise straits used for
international navigation (e.g., the straits
of Gibraltar, Mandeb, Hormuz, and Malacca), the navigational
rights of foreign shipping are strengthened by the replacement
of the regime of innocent passage by one of transit passage,
which places fewer restrictions on foreign ships.
• Beyond its territorial waters, every coastal country may
establish an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extending
200 nautical miles (370 km) from shore.
• Within the EEZ the coastal state has the right to exploit
and regulate fisheries, construct artificial islands and
installations, use the zone for other economic purposes
(e.g., the generation of energy from waves), and
regulate scientific research by foreign vessels.
• Otherwise, foreign vessels (and aircraft) are entitled to
move freely through (and over) the zone.
• With regard to the seabed beyond territorial waters,
every coastal country has exclusive rights to the oil,
gas, and other resources in the seabed up to 200
nautical miles from shore or to the outer edge of
the continental margin, whichever is the further,
subject to an overall limit of 350 nautical miles (650
km) from the coast or 100 nautical miles (185 km)
beyond the 2,500-metre isobath (a line connecting
equal points of water depth).
• Legally, this area is known as the continental shelf,
though it differs considerably from the geological
definition of the continental shelf.
• Where the territorial waters, EEZs, or continental shelves of
neighbouring countries overlap, a boundary line must be
drawn by agreement to achieve an equitable solution.
• Many such boundaries have been agreed upon, but in some
cases when the countries have been unable to reach
agreement the boundary has been determined by
the International Court of Justice (ICJ; e.g., the boundary
between Bahrain and Qatar) or by an arbitration tribunal (e.g.,
the boundary between France and the United Kingdom).
• The most common form of boundary is an equidistance line
(sometimes modified to take account of special
circumstances) between the coasts concerned.
• The high seas lie beyond the zones described above.
• The waters and airspace of this area are open to use
by all countries, except for those activities
prohibited by international law (e.g., the testing of
nuclear weapons).
• The bed of the high seas is known as
the International Seabed Area (also known as “the
Area”), for which the 1982 convention established a
separate and detailed legal regime.
• In its original form this regime was unacceptable to
developed countries, principally because of the
degree of regulation involved, and was
subsequently modified extensively by a
supplementary treaty (1994) to meet their concerns.
• Under the modified regime the minerals on the
ocean floor beneath the high seas are deemed “the
common heritage of mankind,” and their
exploitation is administered by the International
Seabed Authority (ISA).
• Any commercial exploration or mining of the
seabed is carried out by private or state concerns
regulated and licensed by the ISA, though thus far
only exploration has been carried out.
• If or when commercial mining begins, a global
mining enterprise would be established and afforded
sites equal in size or value to those mined by private
or state companies.
• On many issues the 1982 convention contains
precise and detailed regulations (e.g., on innocent
passage through territorial waters and the definition
of the continental shelf), but on other matters (e.g.,
safety of shipping, pollution prevention, and
fisheries conservation and management) it merely
provides a framework, laying down broad principles
but leaving the elaboration of rules to other treaties.
• Regarding the safety of shipping, detailed
provisions on the safety and seaworthiness of ships,
collision avoidance, and the qualification of crews
are contained in several treaties adopted under
the auspices of the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of
the United Nations (UN).
• The IMO also has adopted strict antipollution standards
for ships.
• Pollution of the sea from other sources is regulated by
several regional treaties, most of which have been
adopted under the aegis of the United Nations
Environment Programme.
• The broad standards for fisheries conservation in and
management of the EEZ (where most fishing takes
place) laid out in the 1982 convention have been
supplemented by nonbinding guidelines contained in
the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries adopted
in 1995 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
• Principles of management for high seas fishers are laid
down in the UN fish stocks treaty (1995), which
manages straddling and highly migratory fish stocks,
and in detailed measures adopted by several regional
fisheries commissions.
• Countries first attempt to settle any disputes
stemming from the 1982 convention and its
provisions through negotiations or other agreed-
upon means of their choice (e.g., arbitration).
• If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a country may,
subject to some exceptions, refer the dispute for
compulsory settlement by the UN International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (located in
Hamburg, Ger.), by arbitration, or by the ICJ.
• Resort to these compulsory procedures has been
quite limited.
 Territorial Seas
• It is that part of the sea which is directly next to the
coastline and bounded by the high seas. 
• Article 2 of the Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea
and UNCLOS Article 3 both express that states exercise
sovereignty over this zone subject to the provisions of the
respective conventions and other rules of international
law.
• This was intended to highlight that the limitations upon
sovereignty in this area set out in the Convention are non-
exhaustive.
• The territorial sea forms an undeniable part of the land
territory to which it is bound so that a cession of land will
automatically include any band of territorial waters.
• According to UNCLOS, it is believed that every
coastal state has Territorial sea.
• The sovereignty of the coastal state extends to the
seabed and subsoil of the territorial sea and the
airspace above it.
• The coastal States exercise a wide variety of
exclusive power over the territorial sea which
depends largely on the municipal law rather the
international system.
• Coastal states can control the entry of foreign
vessels from trading or fishing activities to preserve
it for their own citizens.
 The Right of Innocent Passage
• The right of foreign merchant ships (as distinct from
warships) to pass unhindered through the territorial sea of
coast has long been an accepted principle in customary
international law, the sovereignty of the coast state
notwithstanding.
• UNCLOS  in its Article 19 provides for an exhaustive list of
activities for which the passage is considered as innocent,
the main factor to keep in mind is peace, good order, or
security of the coastal State. 
• Article 24 prohibits coastal States from hampering the
innocent passage of foreign ships through the territorial sea
unless specifically authorized by other Articles of the
LOSC.
• Discrimination among other states or cargoes is
prohibited for the Coastal States, however, when it
is found to be that any foreign Ship has committed
any violation of the aforesaid rule of the
convention, the coastal states have the power to
forbid entry of such ship or take any measures as
they deem necessary for their security.
 Contiguous Zone
• It is that part of the sea which is located beyond and
adjacent to the territorial waters of the coastal states.
• The development of this zone arose due to the need of the
state to strengthen its regulation over the territorial sea.
• It extends up to 12 nautical miles from the territorial sea, the
object of this zone is only for certain purposes as provided
in the article 24 of the convention like to prevent
infringement of customs, immigration or sanitary laws of
the coastal state, or to conserve fishing stocks in a particular
area, or to enable the coastal state to have exclusive or
principal rights to the resources of the proclaimed zone.
• The formation of this zone is only for special
purposes as prescribed in the convention, it does not
provide any air and space rights to the states.
 Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ)
• The object for this zone arose due to controversy
regarding fishing zones.
• Due to a lack of regulation of limit regarding fishing
zone, states began to claim the wide depth of region
under this zone.
• In the case of Tunisia vs Libya, the court regarded
that the concept of Exclusive Economic Zone can be
associated as a part of Customary International Law. 
• Article 55 of the UNCLOS describes the extension of
this region from the baseline is up to 200 nautical
miles from the breadth of the territorial sea.
• In the case of Coastal states as per article 56 of the
convention, these states have sovereign rights over
the Exclusive Economic Zone for the purpose like:
1.Exploiting and exploring, conserving and managing
natural resources
2.For the establishment of an artificial island, Marine
Scientific research.
 Continental Shelf
• This zone arose due to the concept of Geography
wherein as per 1982 convention, it includes a natural
seaward extension of a land boundary.
• This seaward extension is geologically formed as the
seabed slopes away from the coast, typically consisting
of a gradual slope (the continental shelf proper),
followed by a steep slope (the continental slope), and
then a more gradual slope leading to the deep seabed
floor.
• The limit up to which its length extends up to 200
nautical miles.
• These three areas, collectively known as the continental
margin, are rich in natural resources, including oil,
natural gas and certain minerals.
• The coastal states exercise an extensive sovereign-rights
over this zone for the purpose of exploiting its resources.
• The coastal state may, under article 80 of the 1982
Convention, construct and maintain installations and
other devices necessary for exploration on the
continental shelf and is entitled to establish safety zones
around such installations to a limit of 500 metres, which
must be respected by ships of all nationalities.
• EEZ and Continental shelf is almost similar in
nature however the major point of difference
between the two is that under the 1982
convention a continental shelf can exist without
an EEZ but there cannot be an EEZ without the
demarcation of the Continental shelf.
 High Seas and Deep Ocean
Floor
• This includes that region of the sea which exists
beyond the EEZ and does not form part of the
territorial sea.
• The essence of this region is that no state acquires
any sovereign right over this zone. As per the Article
87 of the 1982 Convention, high seas are open to all
states and that the freedom of the high seas is
exercised under the conditions laid down in the
Convention and by other rules of international law.
• The jurisdictional right in case of high seas depends
upon the nationality of the ship, and the consequent
jurisdiction of the flag state over the ship.
• It is for the flag state to determine rules and
regulations therefore a ship without a flag will be
excluded from the privilege under this zone.
• This was also highlighted by the Permanent Court
of International Justice in the Lotus case, where it
was held that ‘vessels on the high seas are subject to
no authority except that of the state whose flag they
fly.’
 Admiralty Jurisdiction
• Introduction:
To reform the various archaic British laws governing
maritime relations and claims in India was the need in
the age of globalised trade and commerce and this led
to the passing of the new law, i.e. The Admiralty
(Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act,
2017.
This Act of parliament of India came into force on the
1st April, 2018.
• Until the enactment of the new Act, the Admiralty Court
Act, 1840, the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, read with the
Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890, the Colonial
Courts of Admiralty (India) Act, 1891 and the provisions
of the Letters Patent, 1865, formed the corpus of
admiralty law which are 126 to 177 years old laws. These
have been repealed and replaced now by the Admiralty
Act, 2017.
• The Admiralty Act seeks to consolidate the existing laws
relating to admiralty jurisdiction, admiralty proceedings
on maritime claims, maritime lien, arrest, detention, sale
of vessels and other connected matters.
• Applicability:
It applies to every vessel in Indian territorial waters
irrespective of the place of residence or domicile of the
owner of the vessel.
Inland vessels and vessels under construction that have
not been launched are the exceptions to the applicability
of the Act.
Further, the Act doesn’t apply to foreign vessels with a
non commercial purpose and to vessels owned or operated
by the government for any non commercial purpose.
 Admiralty Jurisdiction in
Practice
• Until the enactment of the new Act, the admiralty
jurisdiction vested by the various archaic British
laws were on the High Courts of Bombay, Madras
and Calcutta which now with the enactment of the
new Act under Section 3 read with Section 2(1)(e)
of the Admiralty Act 2017 also extends and vests
admiralty jurisdiction to High Court of Hyderabad,
Gujarat, Kerala, Orissa, and Karnataka and also, by
notification in the official gazette, the Act allows the
central government to extend the jurisdiction over
any other High Court. 
• Even though each court has admiralty jurisdiction
over the territorial waters of its state there is a lack of
clarity as to limits of the territorial waters of a state.
• When the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of
Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016 was in discussion in the
Rajya Sabha, Shri D. Bandopadhyay, Member of
Parliament said on the above matter that the
jurisdiction of the territorial waters needs to be
demarcated through the use of modern technologies
such as satellite mapping, geo-special mapping, etc. 
• In the landmark case of M. V. Elizabeth & others v.
Harwan Investment Trading Pvt. Ltd. (1992 SCR
(1)1003), the Apex Court decided on jurisdictional
uncertainty and ruled that for deciding matters
within India, the High Courts of India hold a
superior position than any other Courts or laws. The
Court was also of the opinion that the High Courts
of India have unlimited jurisdiction with inherent
and plenary powers to decide upon their own
jurisdiction.
• In Kamalakar Mahbadev Bhagat v. Scindia
Steamship Navigation Co. Ltd (AIR 1961 Bom
186, (1960) 62 BOMLR 995), it was held that a suit
for damages by the ship owner against any vessel
for collision on the high seas should be adjudicated
by the High Court having Admiralty Jurisdiction on
its Admiralty side, regardless of whether it’s an
Indian vessel or a foreign flag vessel.
 Maritime Claims
• Article 1 of the International Convention on the
Arrest of Ships, 1999 set out a list of maritime claims
similar to the Admiralty Act, 2017.
• The maritime Claims over which admiralty
jurisdiction of the High Court would fall are given
under section 4 of the Admiralty Act, 2017 and
includes dispute regarding vessel ownership,
possession, mortgage or any other security created on
the vessel, construction, repair of the vessel, claims
regarding the loss of life or personal injury, etc.   
• The High Court having Admiralty Jurisdiction can
order the sale of the vessel and thereby settle any
outstanding account of the parties to the proceedings.
The vessel that would be brought by the purchaser
would be free from all the encumbrances, liens,
attachments, etc. 
• In the case of M.V. Nordlake v. Union of India (2012
(3) Bom CR 510), the Bombay High Court held that the
ship owner is liable to furnish security up to the value
of the vessel provided that the value of the arrested
vessel is less than the value of the plaintiff’s claim
 Maritime Lien
• In Common law, a lien is a right of the creditor to
retain the property of the debtor until the debt is paid. 
• A privileged claim upon a maritime property or res in
respect of services done to or injury caused by it is a
maritime lien. 
• The maritime res can be the vessel, cargo or freight,
etc but not against the owner.
• If by the order of the court the vessel is sold then the
lien over it won’t exist anymore.
• For the period of 1 year, the lien against the owner of
the vessel will continue to exist regardless of change
of ownership, registration or flag. 
• Section 9 of the Admiralty Act, 2017 lists the
categories of maritime liens and their priorities which
are broadly:
• wages for employment (including repatriation and
social insurance contributions) claim for which
extinguishes after two years;
• loss of life or personal injury claims;
• reward for salvage services; and
• port, canal, and other waterways dues, pilotage and
statutory dues.
 Jurisdiction over Vessels
(Arrest of Vessels) and Persons
• Each High Court vested with the admiralty
jurisdiction exercises their power and authority over
both vessels within their territorial waters and
persons within their territory.
• The Act of 2017 specifies the conditions in which
courts can exercise both these types of jurisdiction
and is embodied under Section 5, 6, 7, 8 of the Act.
• When it comes to Jurisdiction over a person, the high
courts with the admiralty jurisdiction may exercise their
authority against a person with regards to maritime
claims.
• However, the high courts will not entertain complaints
against a person in certain cases.  These include:  
1. Damage, or loss of life, or personal injury arising out of
a collision between vessels that was caused in India, or 
2. Non-compliance with the collision regulations of the
Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 by a person who does not
reside or carry out business in India. 
• Further, if any ongoing case with regards to the
same incident is going on in any court outside India
then the high court with the admiralty jurisdiction in
India won’t entertain action against such a person.
• When it comes to arrest of a vessel, the high court
with the admiralty jurisdiction may order for the
arrest of any vessel within their jurisdiction for
providing security against a maritime claim which is
the subject matter of a court case.
• They may do so under rationale such as: 
1. owner of the vessel is liable for the claim, 
2. the claim is based on mortgage of the vessel, and 
3. the claim relates to ownership of the vessel, etc.
 THE INTERNATIONAL
MARITIME ORGANIZATION
(IMO)
Background
• The seven seas, accounting for about two-thirds of
the earth's surface, are the only truly international
part of our globe.
• Except for a marginal belt a very few miles wide,
touching on the shores of countries, the greater part
of the world's oceans and maritime resources are the
common property of all nations. 
• Since ancient times, however, "freedom of the seas"
has too often been a theoretical ideal rather than a
reality.
• In each historic era, the great maritime powers
tended to use their naval might to dominate the sea.
Some of those powers, while serving their own
interests, served the world as a whole, as in the
great explorations of unknown continents.
• Many sought to use the waters for purely national
interests, particularly in matters affecting straits and
other narrow waterways.
• Private shipping interests, often supported by their
national governments, have been even more
competitive, and international cooperation in
maritime matters has been very limited.
• The need for an international organization to
develop and coordinate international maritime
cooperation was expressed by President Woodrow
Wilson, who called for "universal association of the
nations to maintain the inviolate security of the
highway of the seas for the common and unhindered
use of all the nations of the world."
• However, it was not until after the creation of the
UN that such an organization came into being.
 Creation
• The convention establishing the International
Maritime Organization (originally called the Inter-
Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization)
was drawn up in 1948 by the UN Maritime
Conference in Geneva, but it was 10 years before
the convention went into effect.
• The conference decided that the IMO's success
depended on participation by most of the nations
with large merchant navies, and it specified that the
organization would come into being only when 21
states, including seven having at least 1 million
gross tons of shipping each, had become parties to
the convention.
• On 17 March 1958, the convention went into effect.
• The first IMO Assembly met in London in January
1959.
• The relationship of the IMO to the UN as a
specialized agency was approved by the UN
General Assembly on 18 November 1958 and by the
IMO Assembly on 13 January 1959.
 Purposes
• The purposes of the IMO, as set forth in the
convention, are the following:
• 1. to facilitate cooperation among governments on
technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping
engaged in international trade;
• 2. to encourage the general adoption of the highest
practicable standards in matters concerning
maritime safety, efficiency of navigation, and the
prevention and control of marine pollution;
• 3. to encourage the removal of discriminatory action
and unnecessary restrictions by governments
engaged in international trade, so as to promote the
availability of shipping services to world commerce
without discrimination;
• 4. to consider matters concerning unfair restrictive
practices by shipping concerns; and
• 5. to consider any matters concerning shipping that
may be referred to the IMO by any UN organ or
specialized agency.
 Membership
• Any state invited to the 1948 Maritime Conference or any member
of the UN may become a member of the IMO by accepting the
1948 convention.
• Any other state whose application is approved by two-thirds of the
IMO membership becomes a member by accepting the convention.
• If an IMO member responsible for the international relations of a
territory (or group of territories) declares the convention to be
applicable to that territory, the territory may become an associate
member of the IMO.
• There are currently 175 members and three associate members of
the IMO.
 Structure
• The IMO's structure comprises the Assembly, the
Council, the Maritime Safety Committee, the
Marine Environment Protection Committee, the
Legal Committee, the Technical Cooperation
Committee, and the secretariat, headed by a
Secretary-General.
• Assembly:
The governing body of the IMO is the Assembly,
composed of all IMO members. The Assembly
determines the work program and votes on the budget
to which all members contribute. It meets once every
two years in regular sessions, but may also meet in
extraordinary session if necessary.
• Council:
Between sessions of the Assembly, the Council
performs all functions of the organization except that
of recommending the adoption of maritime safety
regulations, a prerogative of the Maritime Safety
Committee.
The Council also has an important policymaking role.
Drafts of international instruments and formal
recommendations must be approved by the Council
before they can be submitted to the Assembly.
The Council is made up of 40 members elected by the
Assembly for two-year terms: ten members represent
states with the largest international shipping services;
ten represent states with the largest international sea
borne trade; and 20 represent states, not elected under
the foregoing categories, that have special interests in
maritime transport or navigation and whose presence
in the Council will ensure representation of the
world's major geographic areas.
The Council normally meets twice a year.
• Committees:
The Maritime Safety Committee is made up of all IMO
member states.
Its work is carried out mainly through nine sub-
committees working in the following areas: bulk liquids
and gases; carriage of dangerous goods, solid cargoes
and containers; fire protection; radiocommunication and
search and rescue; safety of navigation; ship design and
equipment; stability and load lines and fishing vessels
safety; standards of training and watch-keeping; flag
state implementation.
The Marine Environment Protection Committee is
responsible for all matters relating to the prevention
and control of marine pollution from ships.
The Legal Committee, established in the aftermath of
the Torrey Canyon disaster of 1967 to deal with the
legal problems arising from that incident, is
responsible for any legal matter within the scope of
the IMO.
The Technical Cooperation Committee coordinates
the work of the IMO in providing technical assistance
in the maritime field, especially to developing
countries.
The Facilitation Committee is a subsidiary body of
the Council.
It was established in May 1972 and deals with IMO's
work in eliminating unnecessary formalities and "red
tape" in international shipping.
• Secretary-General and Secretariat:
The secretariat consists of a Secretary-General,
appointed by the Council with the approval of the
Assembly, and an international staff of about 300.
IMO headquarters are at 4 Albert Embankment,
London, England, UK.
• ACTIVITIES:
The IMO's general functions, as stipulated in its
convention, are "consultative and advisory."
It thus serves as a forum where members can consult
and exchange information on maritime matters.
It discusses and makes recommendations on any
maritime question submitted by member states or by
other bodies of the UN and advises other international
bodies, including the UN itself, on maritime matters.
Various other intergovernmental agencies deal with
specialized maritime matters, such as atomic
propulsion for ships (IAEA), health at sea (WHO),
maritime labor standards (ILO), meteorology
(WMO), oceanography (UNESCO), and ship-to-ship
and ship-to-shore communications (ITU).
One of the functions of the IMO is to help coordinate
the work in these different fields.
The IMO is also authorized to convene international
conferences when necessary and to draft international
maritime conventions or agreements for adoption by
governments.
These conferences, and the conventions resulting
from them, have been mainly concerned with two
subjects of primary concern to the IMO: safety at sea
and the prevention of marine pollution.
 Safety at Sea
• A conference convened by the IMO in 1960 adopted
the International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS) to replace an earlier (1948) instrument.
• The convention covered a wide range of measures
designed to improve the safety of shipping, including
subdivision and stability; machinery and electrical
installations; fire protection, detection, and extinction;
lifesaving appliances; radiotelegraphy and
radiotelephony; safety of navigation; carriage of grain;
carriage of dangerous goods; and nuclear ships.
• A new convention, incorporating amendments to the
1960 agreement, was adopted in 1974 and entered
into force in 1980.
• The SOLAS convention was updated with the
SOLAS Protocol of 1978, which entered into force
in 1981, and with the SOLAS Protocol of 1988,
which entered into force in February 2000.
• In December 2002, amendments were adopted
related to maritime security, which were enforced in
July 2004.
• In 1966, an IMO conference adopted the
International Convention on Load Lines (LL),
which sets limitations on the draught to which a
ship may be loaded, an important consideration in
its safety.
• The convention was updated by the LL Protocol of
1988, which entered into force in February 2000. 
• The International Convention on the International
Maritime Satellite Organization, adopted in 1976,
concerns the use of space satellites for improved
communication, enabling distress messages to be
conveyed much more effectively than by
conventional radio.
Prevention of Marine Pollution
• The 1954 Oil Pollution Convention, for which the
IMO became depositary in 1959, was the first major
attempt by the maritime nations to curb the impact
of oil pollution.
• Following a conference convened by the IMO, the
1954 convention was amended in 1962, but it was
the wreck of the oil tanker Torrey Canyon in March
1967 that fully alerted the world to the great
dangers that the transport of oil posed to the marine
environment.
• In 1969, two new conventions were adopted: the
Convention on Intervention on the High Seas in
Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, which gives states
the right to intervene in incidents on the high seas
that are likely to result in oil pollution; and the
Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution
Damage, which is intended to ensure that adequate
compensation is available to victims and which
places the liability for the damage on the shipowner.
• In 1973, a major conference was convened by the IMO to
discuss the whole problem of marine pollution from ships.
• The result of the conference was the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
which deals not only with oil but also with other sources of
pollution, including garbage, sewage, and chemicals.
• The convention greatly reduces the amount of oil that can be
discharged into the sea by ships and bans such discharges
completely in certain areas, such as the Black Sea and
the Red Sea.
• It gives statutory support for such operational procedures as
"load on top," which greatly reduces the amount of mixtures
to be disposed of after tank cleaning, and for segregated
ballast tanks.
• In 1989, a conference of leading industrial nations
in Paris called upon IMO to develop further measures
to prevent oil pollution from ships.
• In 1990 IMO adopted the International Convention on
Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and
Cooperation (OPRC).
• The convention provides a global framework for
international cooperation in combating major
incidents or threats of marine pollutions.
• Parties to the convention will be required to establish
measures for dealing with pollution incidents and
ships and operators of offshore oil units will be
required to have oil pollution emergency plans.
• The convention also calls for the establishment of
stockpiles of oil spill-combating equipment, the
holding of oil spill-combating exercises, and the
development of detailed plans for dealing with
pollution incidents. It entered into force in May
1995.
• In addition, through its Maritime Environment Protection
Committee, the IMO has been working on various other
projects designed to reduce the threat of oil pollution—for
example, the Regional Oil-Combating Center, established in
Malta in 1976 in conjunction with UNEP.
• The Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable to pollution,
and a massive oil pollution incident there could be
catastrophic.
• The center's purpose is to coordinate anti-pollution activities
in the region and to help develop contingency plans that
could be put into effect should a disaster occur.
• The IMO has also taken part in projects in other regions,
including the Caribbean and West Africa.
 Technical Assistance and
Training
• While the adoption of conventions, codes, and
recommendations has been the IMO's most important
function, in recent years the agency has devoted
increasing attention to securing the effective
implementation of these measures throughout the world.
• As a result, the IMO's technical assistance activities
have become more important, and in 1975 it established
the Technical Cooperation Committee.
• The purpose of the technical assistance program is to
help states, many of them developing countries, to ratify
IMO conventions and to reach the standards contained
in the conventions and other instruments.
• Advisors and consultants employed by the IMO, in
the field and at headquarters, deal with such matters
as maritime safety administration, maritime
legislation, marine pollution, training for deck and
engineering personnel, the technical aspects of
ports, and the carriage of dangerous goods.
• The World Maritime University, in Malmö, Sweden,
which was established under the auspices of the IMO
and opened in 1983, provides advanced training for
more than 100 maritime personnel annually—senior
maritime teachers, surveyors, inspectors, technical
managers, and administrators from developing
countries.
• Funded by UNDP and by Sweden and other countries,
the university offers two-year courses in maritime
education and training, maritime safety administration,
general maritime administration, and technical
management of shipping companies, as well as field and
other training.
• It is designed to help meet the urgent need of
developing countries for high-level maritime
personnel and to contribute to maintaining
international standards for maritime safety and
preventing pollution of the seas by ships.
• The university serves as the apex of an international
system of training in the maritime field,
collaborating with regional, subregional, and
national maritime training institutions throughout
the world. 
 THE MERCHANT SHIPPING
ACT, 1958 (ACT NO. 44 OF 1958)
• An Act to foster the development and ensure the
efficient maintenance of an Indian mercantile
marine in a manner best suited to serve the national
interests and for that purpose to establish a National
Shipping Board and to provide for the [registration,
certification, safety and security] of Indian ships
and generally to amend and consolidate the law
relating to merchant shipping.
• Section 2 - Application of Act.
• (1) Unless otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of
this Act which apply to –
• (a) any vessel which is registered in India; or
• (b) any vessel which is required by this Act to be so
registered; or
• (c) any other vessel which is owned wholly by persons to
each of whom any of the descriptions specified in clause (a)
or in clause (b) or in clause (c), as the case may be, of
section 21 applies,
shall so apply wherever the vessel may be.
• (2) Unless otherwise expressly provided, the
provisions of this Act which apply to vessels other
than those referred to in sub-section (1) shall so
apply only while any such vessel is within India,
including the territorial waters thereof.
• 3. Definitions
• (1) “cargo ship” means a ship which is not a Passenger
ship;
• (1A) “coasting ship” means a ship exclusively
employed in trading between any port or place in India
and any other port or place on the continent of India or
between ports or places in India and ports;
• (2) “coasting trade of India” means the carriage by sea
of passengers or goods from any port or place in India
to any other port or place on the continent of India;
• (5) “country to which the Load Line Convention applies”
means –
• (a) a country the Government of which has been declared
under section 283 to have accepted the Load Line
Convention and has not been so declared to have
denounced that Convention;
• (b) a country to which it has been so declared that, the Load
Line Convention has been applied under the provisions of
[article thirty-two] thereof, not being a country to which it
has been so declared that that Convention has ceased to
apply under the provisions of that article;
• (7) “court” in relation to sections 178 to 183
(inclusive) means a civil or revenue court;
• (8) “Director-General” means the Director-General
of Shipping appointed under section 7;
• (9) “distressed seaman” means a seaman engaged
under this Act who, by reason of having been
discharged or left behind from, or shipwrecked in,
any ship at a place outside India, is in distress at that
place;
• (11) “equipment”, in relation to a ship, includes boats,
tackle, pumps, apparel, furniture, life saving appliances
of every description, spars, masts, rigging and sails, fog
signals, lights, shapes and signals of distress, medicines
and medical and surgical stores and appliances, charts,
radio installations, appliances for preventing, detecting
or extinguishing fires, buckets, compasses, axes,
lanterns, loading and discharging gears and appliances
of all kinds and all other stores or articles belonging to
or to be used in connection with or necessary for the
navigation and safety of the ship;
• (12) “fishing vessel” means a ship fitted with
mechanical means of propulsion which is
exclusively engaged in sea fishing for profit;
• (13) “foreign-going ship” means a ship, not being a
home trade ship, employed in trading between any
port or place in India and any other port or place or
between ports or places, outside India;
• (16) “home-trade ship” means a ship not exceeding
three thousand tons gross which is employed in
trading between any port or place in India and any
other port or place on the continent of India or
between ports or places in India and ports or places
in Ceylon, Maladive Islands, Federation of Malaya,
Singapore or Burma;
• (18) “Indian ship” means a ship registered as such
under this Act and includes any ship registered at
any port in India at the commencement of this Act
which is recognised as an Indian ship under the
proviso to sub-section (2) of section 22;
• (18A) “international voyage” means a voyage from
or to a port or place in India to or from a port or
place outside India;
• (23) “owner” means―
• (a) in relation to a ship, the person to whom the ship
or a share in the ship belongs;
• (b) in relation to a sailing vessel, the person to
whom the sailing vessel belongs;
• (24) “passenger” means any person carried on board a
ship except―
• (a) a person employed or engaged in any capacity on
board the ship on the business of the ship;
• (b) a person on board the ship either in pursuance of
the obligations laid upon the master to carry
shipwrecked, distressed or other persons or by reason
of any circumstances which neither the master nor the
charterer, if any, could have prevented or forestalled;
• (c) a child under one year of age;
• (25) “passenger ship” means a ship carrying more than
twelve passengers;
• (29) “port of registry”, in relation to a ship or a sailing
vessel, means the port at which she is registered or is to be
registered;
• (36) (a) “repatriation expenses” means expenses incurred in
returning a distressed seaman to a proper return port and in
providing him with necessary clothing and maintenance until
his arrival at such port, and includes in the case of a ship
wrecked seaman the repayment of expenses incurred in
conveying him to port after shipwreck and maintaining him
while being so conveyed; and
• (b) “excepted expenses”, in relation to repatriation
expenses, means repatriation expenses incurred in
cases where the cause of the seaman being left
behind is desertion or absence without leave or
imprisonment for misconduct, or discharge from his
ship by a Marine Board on the ground of
misconduct;
• (44A) “security” means maritime security and includes any
measure to protect ports or ships or any person or thing
relating directly or indirectly to maritime navigation, -
• (i) against terrorism, sabotage, stowaways, illegal migrants,
asylum seekers, piracy, armed robbery, seizure or pilferage;
and
• (ii) against any other hostile act or influence which threatens
the security in the maritime transport sector,
employed by the owners or operators or persons in charge of
the vessels or management of port facilities, offshore
installations and other marine organisations or establishments;
• (47A) “special trade” means the conveyance of
large number of passengers by sea within prescribed
sea areas;
• (48) “surveyor” means the surveyor referred to in
section 9;
• (48A) “tanker” means a cargo ship constructed or
adapted for the carriage in bulk of liquid cargoes of
an inflammable nature;
• (55) “vessel” includes any ship, boat, sailing vessel,
or other description of
• (56) “voyage” for the purposes of Part VIII, means
the whole distance between the ship's port or place
of departure and her final port or place of arrival;
vessel used in navigation;
• (58) “wreck” includes the following when found in the sea
or in tidal water or on the shores thereof -
• (a) goods which have been cast into the sea and then sink
and remain under water;
• (b) goods which have been cast or fall into the sea and
remain floating on the surface;
• (c) goods which are sunk in the sea, but are attached to a
floating object in order that they may be found again;
• (d) goods which are thrown away or abandoned; and
• (e) a vessel abandoned without hope or intention of
recovery;
• (59) “young person” means a person under eighteen
years of age.
 PART II: NATIONAL
SHIPPING BOARD
• 4. Establishment of National Shipping Board.
• (1) With effect from such date as the Central
Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, specify in this behalf, there shall be
established a Board to be called the National
Shipping Board (hereinafter in this Part referred to
as the Board).
• (2) The Board shall consist of the following members,
namely:
• (a) six members elected by Parliament, four by the House
of the People from among its members and the other two
by the Council of States from among its members;
• (b) such number of other members, not exceeding sixteen
as the Central Government may think fit to appoint to the
Board, to represent―
• (i) the Central Government,
• (ii) ship owners,
• (iii) seamen, and
• (iv) such other interests as, in the opinion of the Central
Government, ought to be represented on the Board.
Provided that the Board shall include an equal
number of persons representing the ship owners and
seamen.
• (3) The Central Government shall nominate one of
the members of the Board to be the Chairman of the
Board.
• (4) The Board shall have power to regulate its own
procedure.
• 5. Functions of National Shipping Board.
• The Board shall advise the Central Government -
• (a) on matters relating to Indian shipping, including
the development thereof; and
• (b) on such other matters arising out of this Act as
the Central Government may refer to it for advice.
 PART III: GENERAL
ADMINISTRATION
• 7. Director-General of Shipping –
• (1) The Central Government may by notification in
the Official Gazette, appoint a person to be the
Director-General of Shipping for the purpose of
exercising or discharging the powers, authority or
duties conferred or imposed upon the Director-
General by or under this Act.
• (2) The Central Government may, by general or
special order, direct that any power, authority or
jurisdiction exercisable by it under or in relation to
any such provisions of this Act as may be specified
in the order shall, subject to such conditions and
restrictions as may be so specified, be exercisable
also by the Director-General or by such other officer
as may be specified in the order.
• (3) The Director-General may, by general or special
order, and with the previous approval of the Central
Government, direct that any power or authority
conferred upon or delegated to, and any duty
imposed upon, the Director-General by or under this
Act may, subject to such conditions and restrictions
as he may think fit to impose, be exercised or
discharged also by such officer or other authority as
he may specify in this behalf.
• 8. Mercantile Marine Department.
• (1) The Central Government may establish and
maintain at each of the ports of Bombay, Calcutta
and Madras and at such other port in India as it may
consider necessary an office of the Mercantile
Marine Department for the administration of this
Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.
• (2) The office of the Mercantile Marine Department
at the port of Bombay, Calcutta or Madras shall be
in the charge of a principal officer, and the office at
any other port shall be in the charge of such officer
as the Central Government may appoint in this
behalf.
• (3) In the discharge of their duties, the principal
officer and other officers shall be subject to the
control of the Director-General.
PART V: REGISTRATION OF
INDIAN SHIPS
• 20. Application of Part. This Part applies only to
sea-going ships fitted with mechanical means of
propulsion.
• 21. Indian ships.
• For the purposes of this Act, a ship shall not be
deemed to be an Indian ship unless owned wholly
by persons to each of whom [any] of the following
descriptions applies:―
• (a) a citizen of India; or
• (b) a company or a body established by or under
any Central or State Act which has its principal
place of business in India; or
• (c) a co-operative society which is registered or
deemed to be registered under the Cooperative
Societies Act, 1912 (2 of 1912), or any other law
relating to co-operative societies for the time being
in force in any State.
• 22. Obligation to register.
• (1) Every Indian ship, unless it is a ship which does
not exceed fifteen tons net and is employed solely in
navigation on the coasts of India, shall be registered
under this Act.
• (2) No ship required by sub-section (1) to be
registered shall be recognised as an Indian ship
unless she has been registered under this Act:
Provided that any ship registered at the commencement
of this Act at any port in India under any enactment
repealed by this Act, shall be deemed to have been
registered under this Act and shall be recognised as an
Indian ship.
• (3) A ship required by this Act to be registered may be
detained until the master of the ship, if so required,
produces a certificate of registry in respect of the ship.
• Explanation. For the purposes of this section,
“ship” does not include a fishing vessel.
 Procedure For Registration
• 23. Ports of registry.
• (1) The ports at which registration of ships shall be
made shall be the ports of Bombay, Calcutta and
Madras and such other ports in India as the Central
Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, declare to be ports of registry under this Act.
• (2) The port at which an Indian ship is registered for
the time being under this Act shall be deemed to be
her port of registry and the port to which she belongs.
• 24. Registrars of Indian ships.
• At each of the ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, the
principal officer of the Mercantile Marine Department,
and at any other port such authority as the Central
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
appoint, shall be the registrar of Indian ships at that port
Provided that subject to such order as the Central
Government may issue in this behalf when the office of
registrar of Indian ships at any port is vacant or the holder
of such office is on leave or is not available, for any reason
at the port to exercise and discharge the powers, duties and
functions of the office the senior most surveyor at that port
may act as and exercise and discharge the powers' duties
and functions of the registrar of Indian ships at that port.
• 25. Register book.
• Every registrar shall keep a book to be called the
register book and entries in that book shall be made
in accordance with, the following provisions:
• (a) the property in a ship shall be divided into ten
shares;
• (b) subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to joint
owners or owners by transmission, not more than ten
individuals shall be entitled to be registered at the same time as
owners of any one ship; but this rule shall not affect the
beneficial interest of any number of persons represented by or
claiming under or through any registered owner or joint owner;
• (c) a person shall not be entitled to be registered as owner of a
fractional part of a share in a ship; but any number of persons
not exceeding five may be registered as joint owners of a ship
or of any share or shares therein;
• (d) joint owners shall be considered as constituting one person
and shall not be entitled to dispose in severally of any interest
in a ship or any share therein in respect of which they are
registered;
• 26. Application for registry.
• An application for the registry of an Indian ship shall
be made:
• (a) in the case of an individual, by the person
requiring to be registered as owner or by his agent;
• (b) in the case of more than one individual requiring
to be so registered, by some one or more of the
persons so requiring or by his or their agent; and
• (c) in the case of a company [or a co-operative
society] requiring to be so registered, by its agent;
• and the authority of the agent shall be testified by
writing, if appointed by an individual, under the
hand of the person appointing him and, if appointed
by a company, [or a co-operative society] under its
common seal.
• 27. Survey and measurement of ships before
registry.
• (1) The owner of every Indian ship in respect of which
an application for registry is made shall cause such
ship to be surveyed by a surveyor and the tonnage of
the ship ascertained in the prescribed manner.
• (2) The surveyor shall grant a certificate specifying the
ship’s tonnage and build and such other particulars
descriptive of the identity of the ship as may be
prescribed and the certificate of the surveyor shall be
delivered to the registrar before registry.
 Certificate of Registry
• 34. Grant of certificate of registry.
• On completion of the registry of an Indian ship, the
registrar shall grant a certificate of registry containing
the particulars respecting her as entered in the register
book with the name of her master.
• 35. Custody and use of certificate.
• (1) The certificate of registry shall be used only for the
lawful navigation of the ship, and shall not be subject to
detention by reason of any title, lien, charge or interest
whatever, had or claimed by any owner, mortgagee or
other person to, on or in the ship
• (2) No person, whether interested in the ship or not,
who has in his possession or under his control the
certificate of registry of a ship, shall refuse or omit
without reasonable cause to deliver such certificate
on demand to the person entitled to the custody
thereof for the purposes of the lawful navigation of
the ship or to any registrar, customs collector or
other person entitled by law to require such
delivery.
• (3) Any person refusing or omitting to deliver the
certificate as required by sub-section (2), may, by order,
be summoned by [any Judicial Magistrate of the first
class or any Metropolitan Magistrate, as the case may
be,] to appear before him and to be examined touching
such refusal, and if the person is proved to have
absconded so that the order of such magistrate cannot be
served on him, or if he persists in not delivering up the
certificate, [the said Magistrate] shall certify the fact, and
the same proceedings may then be taken as in the case of
a certificate mislaid, lost or destroyed, or as near thereto
as circumstances permit.
• (4) If the master or owner of an Indian ship uses or
attempts to use for her navigation a certificate of
registry not legally granted in respect of the ship, he
shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section
and the ship shall be liable to forfeiture.
• 37. Endorsement on certificate of change of
master.
• Where the master of an Indian ship is changed, each
of the following persons, that is to say,―
• (a) if the change is made in consequence of the
removal of the master by a Marine Board or by a
court under this Act, the presiding officer of the
Marine Board or of the court, as the case may be;
• (b) if the change occurs from any other cause,―
• (i) In India, the registrar or any other officer
authorised by the Central Government in this behalf
at the port where the change occurs; and
• (ii) outside India, the Indian consular officer at the
port where the change occurs;
shall endorse and sign on the certificate of registry a
memorandum of the change, and any customs
collector at any port in India may refused to permit
any person to do any act there as master of an Indian
ship unless his name is inserted in or endorsed on her
certificate of registry as her last appointed master.
• 39. Delivery of certificate of ship lost or ceasing to be
an Indian ship.
• (1) In the event of a registered ship being either actually or
constructively lost, taken by the enemy, burnt or broken up
or ceasing for any reason to be an Indian ship, every owner
of the ship or any share in the ship shall immediately on
obtaining knowledge of the event, if no notice thereof has
already been given to the registrar, give notice thereof to
the registrar at her port of registry and that registrar shall
make an entry thereof in the register book and its registry
in that book shall be considered as closed except so far as
relates to any unsatisfied mortgages entered therein.
• (2) In any such case, except where the ship’s certificate of
registry is mislaid, lost or destroyed, the master of the ship
shall, immediately if the event occurs in any port in India, or
within ten days after his arrival in port if it occurs elsewhere,
deliver the certificate to the registrar of the port or any other
officer specified in this behalf by the Central Government if
the port of arrival is in India, or if the arrival is in any port
outside India to the Indian consular officer there, and the
registrar if he is not himself the registrar of her port of
registry or the officer so specified or the Indian consular
officer, as the case may be, shall forthwith forward the
certificate delivered to him to the registrar of her port of
registry.
• 55. Rules as to name of ship.
• (1) An Indian ship shall not be described by any
name other than that by which she is for the time
being registered.
• (2) The registrar may refuse the registry of any
Indian ship by the name by which it is proposed to
register the ship if that name is already borne by
another ship or if the name be so similar as is
calculated or likely to deceive.
• (3) A change shall not be made in the name of an
Indian ship except in the prescribed manner.
• (4) If any person acts or suffers any person under his
control to act in contravention of this section or omits
to do or suffers any person under his control to omit to
do anything required under this [section] the ship may
be detained until the provisions of this section are
complied with.
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to a
foreign ship which has become, and is sought to be
registered as, an Indian ship
 PART VII: SEAMEN AND
APPRENTICES
• 88. Power to classify seamen.―
The Central Government may make rules for the
classification of seamen other than ship's officers into
different categories and for the prescription of the
minimum manning scale of seamen of such
categories for ships; and different scales may be
prescribed for different classes of ships.
• 88A. Definitions.―In this Part, unless the context
otherwise requires,:
• (a) “Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance”
means a declaration issued by the Director-General
of Shipping or by any officer, authority or
organization authorized by him in this behalf, in
respect of a ship that it meets with the requirements
and standards set out in the provisions of the
Maritime Labour Convention;
• (b) “Maritime Labour Certificate” means the
certificate issued by the Director-General of
Shipping or by any officer, authority or organisation
authorised by him in this behalf, in accordance with
the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention;
• (c) “Maritime Labour Convention” means the
International Convention of Maritime Labour
Organisation on Maritime Labour Standards signed
in Geneva on the 23rd February, 2006;
• (d) “seafarer” means any person who is employed
or engaged or works in any capacity on board a sea
going ship, but does not include―
• (i) the employment or engagement or work on board
in any capacity of any person in a ship of war; or
• (ii) any Government ship used for military or non-
commercial purposes
• 88B. Application of maritime labour standards to seafarers
and ships.
• (1) The provisions relating to maritime labour standards as
contained in the Maritime Labour Convention, shall apply to all
seafarers and ships engaged in commercial activities, but does
not include –
• (a) ships which navigate exclusively in inland waters or waters
within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where
any law for the time being in force relating to ports apply;
• (b) ships engaged in fishing activities;
• (c) traditionally built ships such as dhows and junks;
• (d) ships of war or naval auxiliaries.
• (2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), the
Central Government may, on the recommendation
of the Director-General of Shipping, by order,
extend the provisions of the said sub-section to
ships not engaged in commercial activities with
such exceptions and modifications as it may
consider necessary.
• 89. Duties of shipping masters
• It shall be the duty of shipping masters―
• (a) to superintend and facilitate the engagement and
discharge of seamen in the manner provided in this Act;
• (b) to provide means for securing the presence on board at
the proper times of the seamen who are so engaged;
• (c) to facilitate the making of apprenticeship to the sea
service;
• (d) to hear and decide disputes under section 132 between a
master, owner or agent of a ship and any of the crew of the
ship;
• (dd) to transmit the complaint of any dispute of a
foreign seaman of a vessel, registered in a country
other than India, in Indian territorial waters, with the
master, owner or agent, to the competent authority
of the country of registration and a copy of such
complaint shall be forwarded to the Director-
General, International Labour Organisation Office;
• (e) to perform such other duties relating to seamen,
apprentices and merchant ships as are for the time
being committed to them by or under this Act.
• 91. Assistance for apprenticeship to sea service
• All shipping masters shall give to persons desirous of
apprenticing [young persons not under the age of sixteen
years] to sea service or requiring apprentices not under that
age for the sea service such assistance as may be in their
power, and may receive from those persons such fees as the
Central Government may fix.
• 92. Special provisions as to apprenticeship to the sea
service.
• (1) The apprenticeship of any person to the sea service shall
be by contract in writing between the apprentice or if he is
a young person, then, on his behalf by his guardian, and the
master or owner of the ship requiring the apprentice.
• (2) Every such contract shall be executed in
duplicate in the prescribed form and in accordance
with the rules made by the Central Government in
this behalf.
• (3) Every such contract shall be executed in the
presence of, and shall be attested by, the shipping
master of the port, who shall, before the execution
of the contract, satisfy himself –
• (a) that the intended apprentice –
• (i) understands the contents and provisions of the
contract;
• (ii) freely consents to be bound;
• (iii) has attained the age of [sixteen years]; and
• (iv) is in possession of a certificate to the effect that he
is physically fit for sea service;
• (b) if the intended apprentice is [an young person], that
his guardian's consent has been obtained to his being
bound as an apprentice.
• (4) Every such contract made in India and every
assignment, alteration or cancellation thereof, and where
the apprentice bound dies or deserts, the fact of the death
or desertion shall be recorded in the manner specified in
section 93.
• 93. Manner in which contract is to be recorded.
• For the purpose of the record –
• (a) the master or owner of the ship to whom an
apprentice to the sea service is bound shall transmit the
contract executed in duplicate within seven days of the
execution thereof, to the shipping master, who shall
record one copy and endorse on the other the fact that it
has been recorded and redeliver it to the master or owner;
• (b) the master or owner shall notify any assignment or
cancellation of the contract and the death or desertion of
the apprentice to the shipping master, within seven days of
the occurrence, if it occurs within India, or, as soon as
circumstances permit, if it occurs elsewhere.
• 98. Qualifications for, and medical examination of,
seamen.
• (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, direct that, with effect from such date as
may be specified in the notification, seamen generally or
any category of seamen in particular shall not be engaged
or carried to sea to work in any capacity in any ship or in
any class of ships so specified, unless each one of them
possesses the prescribed qualifications
• (2) Except as otherwise provided under the rules made
under sub-section (3), no person shall engage or carry to
sea any seaman to work in any capacity in any ship or in
any class of ships specified in this behalf by the Central
Government, unless the seaman is in possession of a
certificate in the prescribed form granted by the prescribed
authority to the effect that he is physically fit to be
employed in that capacity.
• (3) The Central Government may make rules for the
purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this section;
and, in particular, and, without prejudice to the generality
of such power, any rules so made may provide for -
• (a) the courses of training to be pursued, the
vocational standards to be attained or the tests to be
passed by seamen generally or by any class of
seamen in particular;
• (b) the standard of physical fitness required of
seaman, different standards being laid down, if
necessary, for different classes of seamen having
regard to the age of the seamen to be examined or
the nature of the duties to be performed by them;
• (c) the nature of the medical examination of
seamen, the authorities by which the examination
shall be conducted, and the fees payable therefore;
• (d) the form and contents of medical certificates and
the period of their validity;
• (e) the re-examination by such medical authority as
may be specified of persons who have been refused
medical certificates of physical fitness in the first
instance and the fees payable for such re-examination;
• (f) the circumstances in which, or the conditions
subject to which, any seaman or class of seamen, or
any ship or class of ships, may be exempted from the
operation of sub-section (2).
 Employment of young persons
• 109. Prohibition of engagement of underage persons in
certain cases.
• (1) No person under the age of sixteen years shall be engaged
or carried to sea to work in any capacity in any ship.
• (2) (a) No young person shall be engaged in night work. (b)
The period of night work shall be such, as may be prescribed.
Provided that the Director-General of Shipping,
(i) for giving effective training; or
(ii) for performing a specific nature of duty, at night, may, by
order permit engagement of any young person in night
work which shall not be detrimental to the health or well
being of such young person.
• 111. Medical examination of young persons.
• (1) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (2),
no young person shall be engaged or carried to sea
to work in any capacity in any ship, unless there has
been delivered to the master a certificate granted by
a prescribed authority that the young person is
physically fit to be employed in that capacity.
• (2) Sub-section (1) shall not apply,
• (a) to the employment of a young person in a ship in which
all persons employed are members of one family; or
• (b) where the shipping master, on the ground of urgency,
has authorised a young person to be engaged and carried to
sea, without the certificate required by sub-section (1)
being delivered to the master, and the young person is not
employed beyond the first port at which the ship in which
he is so engaged calls except in accordance with the
provisions of sub-section (1).
• (3) A certificate of physical fitness required under this
section shall remain in force for one year only from the
date on which it is granted.
 Disputes between seamen and
employers
• 150. Power to refer disputes between seamen and their
employers to tribunals.
• (1) Where the Central Government is of opinion that any
dispute between seamen or any class of seamen or of any
union of seamen and the owners of ships in which such
seamen are employed or are likely to be employed and
exists or is apprehended and such dispute relates to any
matter connected with or incidental to the employment of
the seamen, the Central Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, constitute a tribunal consisting of
one or more persons, and refer the dispute to the tribunal
for adjudication.
• (2) The tribunal so constituted shall have power to
regulate its own procedure and shall have the same
powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of
Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), when trying a suit in
respect of the following matters:
• (a) enforcing the attendance of any person and examining
him on oath;
• (b) compelling the production of documents;
• (c) issuing commissions for the examination of
witnesses;
• (d) any other matter which may be prescribed,
and any proceeding before the tribunal shall be deemed to
be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections
193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
• (3) No party to a dispute shall be entitled to be
represented by a legal practitioner in any proceeding
before the tribunal except with the consent of the
other party or parties to the proceeding and with the
leave of the tribunal.
• (4) The tribunal shall dispose of the reference
expeditiously and shall, as soon as practicable on
the conclusion of the proceedings, submit its award
to the Central Government.
• (5) On receipt of the award the Central Government shall
cause it to be published and the award shall become
enforceable on the expiry of thirty days from the date of
such publication.
Provided that where the Central Government is of opinion
that it will be inexpedient on public grounds to give effect
to the award or any part of it, it may before the expiry of
the said period of thirty days by order in the Official
Gazette either reject the award or modify it, and where the
Central Government does so, the award shall not become
enforceable or shall become enforceable subject to the
modifications, as the case may be
• (6) An award which has become enforceable under this
section shall be binding on:
• (a) all parties to the dispute;
• (b) where any party to the dispute is the owner of the ship, his
heirs, successors, or assigns.
• (7) Save as otherwise provided in the award, an award shall
remain in operation for a period of one year from the date on
which it becomes enforceable and shall thereafter continue to
remain in operation until a period of two months has elapsed
from the date on which notice is given by any party bound by
the award to the other party or parties intimating its intention
to terminate the award.
• (8) Any money due to a seaman from the owner of a
ship under an award may be recovered as wages.
• (9) Nothing contained in the Industrial Disputes
Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), shall apply to any dispute
between seamen or any class of seamen or any
union of seamen and the owners of ships in which
such seamen are employed or are likely to be
employed.
• 151. Conditions of service, etc., to remain unchanged during
pendency of proceedings before tribunal.
• During the pendency of proceedings under section 150:
• (a) no seamen or class of seamen or union of seamen shall go or
remain on strike or otherwise act in a manner prejudicial to the
normal operation of the ships in which the seamen are
employed or are likely to be employed; and
• (b) no owner of a ship shall –
• (i) alter to the prejudice of the seamen concerned in the dispute,
the conditions of service applicable to them immediately before
the commencement of such proceedings; or
• (ii) discharge or punish any seaman in respect of any matter
connected with the dispute.