Foreign ships The Wreck Act, 1887 (e) That should one of the said persons be of opinion that there is a case for an Investigation and the other be not of such opinion, then such one of them as is of such opinion shall draw up a formal case as in the 1st section of the principal Act provided. (3) As to the Investigation: (f) That in such last mentioned event a nautical assessor shall be called in, as in the 5th section of the principal Act provided, and if there be a difference of opinion between the said Officer and Justice as to the person to be so called in, the Governor shall appoint such person. Such Officer and Justice, either at the Inquiry or at the Investigation, shall have power to examine any witness upon oath and they or either of them may administer the oaths necessary for that purpose. 3. Whereas the provisions of the principal Act and of the Acts amending the same relate only to British or Colonial ships or vessels, be it enacted that all such provisions_and_the_provisions of this Act shall apply to ships or vessels of any Foreign State or country in as full and ample a manner as they do to British or Colonial ships or vessels. Provided that, in case of collision or other injury occurring between two vessels or ships of Foreign States or countries, the provisions of those Acts and of this Act shall not apply unless such collision or injury occurred at a less distance than three miles from the coast line of this Colony. Provided also that, in the case of collision or other injury occurring between a British or Colonial ship or vessel and a Foreign ship or vessel, any Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular representative of the Foreign State or country to which such Foreign ship or vessel belongs, if resident in this Colony, shall, if it be practicable, receive reasonable notice from the Principal Officer of Customs of the holding of the Investigation, and shall be entitled to be present thereat, and to call witnesses and to examine, cross-examine, and re-examine any witness by himself or by counsel. And provided also, that if at the Investigation the Court shall find that the master, mate, or engineer of any Foreign ship or vessel has been guilty of such misconduct or negligence that had he been the master, mate, or engineer of a British ship or vessel they would have cancelled or suspended the certificate of such master, mate, or engineer in accordance with the provisions of the fourth section of the principal Act, then in that case such Court shall report such finding to the nearest Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent of the country or State to which such ship or vessel belongs who shall be resident in this Colony, or, if there be no such person so resident, then to any such person resident in any Australian Colony. All the provisions of this or any other Act, or of any Ordinance relating to the protection or preservation of, or otherwise dealing with wreck or wreckage, shall apply to the case of a ship or vessel belonging to any Foreign State or country. 4. The provisions of this Act relating to the protection or preservation of wreck or wreckage shall be in addition to and not in derogation The Wreck Act, 1887 from any powers possessed by the Harbour Master under the fifth section of 37th Victoria, No. 14, or otherwise. 5. The Collector of Customs is and shall be the Receiver of Wreck, and shall, as such, exercise the powers and perform the duties hereinafter mentioned. 6. Whenever any ship or boat is stranded or in distress at any place on the shore of the sea or of any tidal water within the limits of the Colony, the Receiver at the port at which or nearest to which such place is situate shall, upon being made acquainted with such accident, forthwith proceed to such place, and upon his arrival there he shall take the command of all persons present, and assign such duties to each person, and issue such directions, as he may think fit with a view to the preservation of such ship or boat, and the lives of the persons belonging thereto, and the cargo and apparel thereof; and if any person wilfully disobeys such directions, he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding Fifty pounds; but it shall not be lawful for such Receiver to interfere between the master of such ship or boat and his crew in matters relating to the management thereof, unless he is requested so to do by such master. 7. The Receiver may, with a view to such preservation as aforesaid of the ship or boat, persons, cargo, and apparel, do the following things that is to say) (1) Summon such number of men as he thinks necessary to (2) Require the master or other person having the charge of (3) Demand the use of any waggon, cart, or horses that may be And any person refusing without reasonable cause to comply with any summons, requisition, or demand so made as aforesaid, shall for every such refusal incur a penalty not exceeding One hundred pounds; but no person shall be liable to pay any duty of assessed taxes in respect of any such waggon, cart, or horses by reason of the user of the same under this section. 8. All cargo and other articles belonging to such ship or boat as aforesaid, that may be washed on shore, or otherwise be lost or taken from such ship or boat, shall be delivered to the Receiver; and any person, whether he is the owner or not, who secretes or keeps possession of any such cargo or article, or refuses to deliver the same to the Receiver or to any person authorised by him to demand the same, shall incur a penalty not exceeding One hundred pounds; and it shall be lawful for such Receiver or other person as aforesaid to take such cargo or article by force from the person so refusing to deliver the same. 9. Whenever any such accident as aforesaid occurs to any ship or boat, and any person plunders, creates disorder, or obstructs the preservation of such ship, boat, lives, cr cargo as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Receiver to cause such person to be apprehended, and to use force for the suppression of any such plundering, disorder, or Certain officers to exercise powers of receiver in his absence Power in case of a ship being in distress to pass over adjoining lands with carriages Penalty on owners and occupiers of land The Wreck Act, 1887 obstruction as aforesaid, with power to command all Her Majesty's subjects to assist him in the use of such force; and if any person is killed, maimed, or hurt by reason of his resisting the Receiver in the execution of the duties hereby committed to him, or any person acting under his orders, such Receiver or other person shall be free and fully indemnified as well against the Queen's Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, as against all persons so killed, maimed, or hurt. 10. During the absence of the Receiver from the place where any such accident as aforesaid occurs, or in places where there is no Receiver the following officers in succession, each in the absence of the other, in the order in which they are named, that is to say, any Principal Officer of Customs, or Officer of Inland Revenue, or any Justice of the Peace, may do all matters and things hereby authorised to be done by the Receiver, with this exception, that with respect to any goods or articles belonging to any such ship or boat, the delivery up of which to the Receiver is hereinbefore required, any officer so acting shall be considered as the agent of the Receiver, and shall place the same in the custody of the Receiver; and no person so acting as substitute for any Receiver shall be entitled to any fees payable to Receivers, or be deprived by reason of his so acting of any right to salvage to which he would otherwise be entitled. 11. Whenever any such accident as aforesaid occurs to any ship or boat, all persons may, for the purpose of rendering assistance to such ship or boat, or saving the lives of the persons on board the same, or the cargo or apparel thereof, unless there is some public road equally convenient, pass and repass either with or without carriages or horses over any adjoining lands, without being subject to interruption by the owner or occupier, so that they do as little damage as possible, and may also, on the like condition, deposit on such lands any cargo or other article recovered from such ship or boat; and all damage that may be sustained by any owner or occupier in consequence of any such passing or repassing or deposit as aforesaid shall be a charge on the ship, boat, cargo, or articles in respect of or by which such damage was occasioned, and shall, in default of payment, be recoverable in the same manner as salvage is hereby made recoverable; and the amount payable in respect thereof, if disputed, shall be determined in the same manner as the amount of salvage is hereby in case of dispute directed to be determined. 12. If the owner or occupier of any land over which any person is hereby authorised to pass or repass for any of the purposes hereinbefore refusing to allow mentioned does any of the following things (that is to say)— carriages, &c., to pass over their land (1) Impedes or hinders any such person from so passing or repassing, with or without carriages, horses, and servants, by locking his gates, refusing, upon request, to open the same, or otherwise however; (2) Impedes or hinders the deposit of any cargo or other article recovered from any such ship or boat, as hereinbefore mentioned (3) Prevents such cargo or other article from remaining so deposited for a reasonable time, until the same can be removed to a safe place of public deposit; The Wreck Act, 1887 he shall for every such offence incur a penalty not exceeding One hundred pounds. 13. The following rules shall be observed by any person finding or taking possession of wreck or wreckage within the Colony (that is to say)— (1) If the person so finding or taking possession of the same (2) If any person not being the owner finds or takes possession Any any person making default in obeying the provisions of this (3) If he is the owner and makes default in performing the He shall incur a penalty not exceeding One hundred (4) If he is not the owner and makes default in performing He shall forfeit all claim to salvage; He shall pay to the owner of such wreck or wreckage, He shall incur a penalty not exceeding One hundred 14. If any Receiver suspects or receives information that any wreck or wreckage is secreted or in the possession of some person who is not the owner thereof, or otherwise improperly dealt with, he may apply to any Justice of the Peace for a warrant, and such Justice shall have power to grant a warrant, by virtue whereof it shall be lawful for the Receiver to enter into any house or other place wherever situate, and also into any ship or boat, and to search for, and to seize and detain any such wreck as aforesaid there found; and if any such seizure is made in consequence of information that may have been given by any person to the Receiver, the informer shall be entitled by way of salvage to such sum (not exceeding in any case Five pounds) as the Receiver may allow. Provided always, that if the Receiver be a Justice of the Peace, he shall apply to some other Justice. Rules to be observed by person finding wreck Power for receivers to seize concealed wreek 15. Every Receiver shall within forty-eight hours after taking Notice of wreck possession of any wreck or wreckage cause to be posted up in the to be given by Custom House of the port nearest to the place where such wreck or receiver Goods deemed 'perishable or of small value may be sold immediately Payments to be The Wreck Act, 1887 wreckage was found or seized a description of the same and of any marks by which it is distinguished. 16. In cases where any wreck or wreckage in the custody of any Receiver is under the value of Five pounds, or is of so perishable a nature or so much damaged that the same cannot, in his opinion, be advantageously kept, or if the value thereof is not sufficient to defray the charge of warehousing, the Receiver may sell the same before the expiration of the period hereinafter mentioned, and the money raised by such sale, after defraying the expenses thereof, shall be held by the Receiver for the same purposes and subject to the same claims for and to which the article sold would have been held and liable if it had remained unsold. 17. There shall be paid to any Receiver the expenses properly made to receiver incurred by him in the performance of his duties, and also, should any wreckage be taken into his custody, a fee of five per centum on the value thereof, such percentage in no case exceeding the sum of Twenty pounds; and a Receiver shall have the same lien and be entitled to the same remedies for the recovery of such expenses and such fee as a salvor has or is entitled to in respect of salvage due to him. Disputes as to sums payable to receiver to be determined by the Governor in Council Application of fees Salvage in respect of services rendered in the Colony Disputes as to salvage how to be settled 18. Whenever any dispute arises as to the amount payable to any Receiver in respect of expenses or fees, such dispute shall be determined by the Governor in Council, whose decisions shall be final. 19. All fees received by any Receiver appointed under this Act, in respect of any services performed by him as Receiver, shall be paid to the Colonial Treasurer for the purposes of the Government of the Colony. 20. In the following cases (that is to say)— Whenever any ship or boat is stranded or otherwise in distress on the shore of any sea or tidal water situate within the limits of the Colony, and services are rendered by any person, (1) In assisting such ship or boat; (2) In saving the lives of the persons belonging to such ship or boat; (8) In saving the cargo or apparel of such ship or boat, or any portion thereof; And whenever any wreck is saved by any person other than a There shall be payable by the owners of such ship or boat, cargo, 21. Whenever any dispute arises between the owners of any such ship, boat, cargo, apparel, or wreck as aforesaid, and the salvors, as to the amount of salvage, and the parties to the dispute cannot agree as to the settlement thereof by arbitration or otherwise, |