mission in the register book as mortgagee of the ship or share.

From the above it emerges that the law takes no cognisance of priority of mortgages unless the same be duly registered. Also that priority is from time of registration. It may here be mentioned that in practice it is very difficult to negotiate a second mortgage on a ship, and that it is but rarely that a first mortgage can be effected for a sum in excess of 50 per cent. of the value of the vessel.

The Merchant Shipping Act makes full provisions as to the engaging of a competent crew and navigating officers, and for their fair treatment, also as to the carriage of passengers. Survey of passenger ships is conducted always by the Board of Trade and certificates may be granted for a period not exceeding twelve months. Any vessel carrying a number of passengers in excess of twenty falls within the limits of this provision.

The master is conferred with several privileges and duties, amongst which may be enumerated the following

1. He is responsible for the provision of a proper crew and equipment;

2. The navigation of the vessel is entrusted to his charge;

3. Full disciplinary powers are conferred on him over the vessel's entire personnel;

4. It is his duty to arrange for the taking in of cargo and its proper stowage, also to sign or cause to be signed the bills of lading for merchandise received on board;

5. In normal circumstances, he is the representative of the owners of the vessel and is required to take proper care of their interests, but in abnormal circumstances he becomes also an Agent of Necessity for the owners of the cargo, and is empowered to take any steps which he may reasonably deem to be necessary to safeguard their interests. He may jettison cargo for the common safety and may, if necessary, hypothecate the ship and/or the cargo in order to raise funds necessary for the prosecution of the voyage (bottomry and

respondentia). If cargo is so damaged as to make it inexpedient to carry it further he may sell it on account and at the charge of the owners thereof;

6. The master is required to keep posted daily the official log-book, to provide for the safe custody of the ship's papers, and to present them on demand to any person authorised to inspect them.

A British ship should carry the following papers:

1. The Certificate of Registry. Should the vessel be lost or lose its British status this must be delivered up to the appropriate registrar as soon as may be. If the vessel has been sold the following should also be carried

2. The Bill of Sale.

3. The Builders' Contract (optional).

4. The Ship's Articles, also known as the 66 muster roll." This must state the names and other particulars relating to every person on board, together with the contract of service with the crew and must be attested by them and by the master.

5. The Official Log, which will contain a full record of the progress of the adventure and of any abnormal events arising. It is the practice also for an engine-room and other special logs to be kept.

6. A Manifest of her cargo.

7. A Customs Clearance.

8. Bill of Health.

9. Bills of Lading (captain's copies) covering the goods on board, and if the vessel is under charter, the charter-party, if practicable, should also be carried.

A further matter with which the 1894 Act deals is the constitution of Courts of Inquiry into shipping casualties. Two elder brethren of Trinity House sit in an advisory capacity on such inquiries. A lien on cargo, which is not cleared at destination, is conferred on shipowners for the recovery of the costs of discharging and warehousing the cargo and for the amount of any freight and/or other charges incurred

by and/or due to them. Any wharfinger, warehouseman, etc., taking delivery of the cargo from the ship is bound to recognise such lien, and may not part with the cargo until presentation of the appropriate clearance (vide M.S.A. Sections 492-501).

From the marine insurance point of view the most important provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts are those relating to the limitation of a shipowner's liability. In view of the fact that a shipowner normally reserves to himself the right to reject offers of employment, he is not in such circumstances a common carrier. Nevertheless under an entirely unclaused contract of affreightment his responsibilities in respect of goods entrusted to his charge for transit are very great. Many of these properly fall within the scope of the contract of marine insurance and for centuries past it has been accepted as equitable that a shipowner should by means of an exceptions clause in his affreightment contracts contract out of certain of his common law liabilities, e.g., loss of or damage to cargo arising through Act of God, perils of the sea, war perils, which it will be appreciated are of such a character that the exercise of diligence and foresight would hardly avail him to avoid. In no circumstances would a shipowner be liable for loss or damage attributable to the inherent vice of the goods themselves or arising out of a proper general average act. Normally the contract of affreightment is one of "bailment which has been defined as "a delivery of goods in trust on a contract express or implied that the trusts shall be duly executed, and the goods redelivered as soon as the time or use for which they were sailed shall have elapsed or been performed." (Sir Wm. Jones-"Law of Bailments.")

To a shipowner's customary exceptions the Merchant Shipping Acts have added certain statutory exceptions as follow:

502. The owner of a British sea-going ship or any share therein, shall not be liable to make good to any extent whatever any loss or damage happening without his actual fault or privity in the following cases, namely:

(1) Where any goods, merchandise or other things whatsoever taken in or put on board his ship are

lost or damaged by reason of fire (including water damage in extinguishing fire and "smoke damage) on board the ship; or

(2) Where any gold, silver, diamonds, watches, jewels or precious stones taken in or put on board his ship the true nature and value of which have not at the time of shipment been declared by the owner or shipper thereof to the owner or master of the ship in the bills of lading or otherwise in writing, are lost or damaged by reason of any robbery, embezzlement, making away with, or secreting thereof.

503. (1) The owners of a ship, British or foreign shall not where all or any of the following occurrences take place without their actual fault or privity; that is to say:

(a) Where any loss of life or personal injury is caused to any person being carried in the ship; (b) Where any damage is caused to any goods, merchandise or other things whatsoever, on board the ship;

(c) Where any loss of life or personal injury is caused to any person carried in any other vessel by reason of the improper navigation of the ship; (d) Where any loss or damage is caused to any other vessel, or to goods or merchandise, or other things whatsoever on board any other vessel, by reason of the improper navigation of the ship, from the time of the casualty;

be liable to damages beyond the following amounts (plus interest) that is to say:

(i) In respect of loss of life or personal injury, either alone or together with loss of or damage to vessels, goods, merchandise or other things, an aggregate amount not exceeding fifteen pounds for each ton of their ship's tonnage; and

(ii) In respect of loss or damage to, vessels, goods, merchandise or other things, whether there be in addition loss of life or personal injury or not, an aggregate amount not exceeding eight pounds for each ton of their ship's tonnage.

(2) For the purpose of this section:

(a) The tonnage of a steamship shall be-her registered tonnage with the addition of any engine room space deducted for the purpose of ascertaining that tonnage-and the tonnage of a sailing ship shall be her registered tonnage.

(NOTE.-The words in parenthesis by the 1906 Act amend the original wording of the parent Act, the object being to place steamships, as near as may be, on a similar footing to sailing vessels.)

Provided that there shall not be included in such tonnage any space occupied by seamen or apprentices and appropriated to their use which is certified under the regulations scheduled to this Act with regard thereto.

(b) When a foreign ship has been or can be measured according to British law, her tonnage, as ascertained by that measurement shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be her tonnage.

(c) Where a foreign ship has not been and cannot be measured according to British law, the surveyor of general ships in the United Kingdom or the chief measuring officer abroad, shall on receiving from or by the direction of the court hearing the case, in which the tonnage of the ship is in question, such evidence concerning the dimensions of the ship as it may be practicable to furnish, give a certificate under his hand stating what would in his opinion have been the tonnage of the ship if she had been duly measured according to British law and the tonnage so stated in that Certificate shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be the tonnage of the ship.

The 1900 Act makes clear provisions that the limit to a shipowner's liability set by Section 503 of the main Act shall include all claims whether in respect of fixed or moveable objects, on land or water, and rights of any kind. It is this section which is of pertinent interest to marine underwriters, it being patent that under the Running Down Clause, which is incorporated into almost all hull policies, cover is

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