as constituting one person only as regards the foregoing rule relating to the number of persons entitled to be registered as owners, and are not entitled to dispose in severalty of any interest in any ship or in any share or shares therein in respect of which they are registered: a body corporate may be registered as owner by its corporate name (a). : No person is entitled to be registered as owner of a ship or any share therein until he has made and subscribed a declaration, referring to the ship as described in the certificate of the surveyor, and containing the following particulars :(1.) A statement of his qualification to be an owner of a share in a British ship: (2.) A statement of the time when and the place where such ship was built, or (if the ship is foreign-built, and the time and place of building not known), a statement that she is foreign-built, and that he does not know the time and place of her building; and, in addition thereto, in the case of a foreign ship, a statement of her foreign name, or (in the case of a ship condemned) a statement of the time, place, and court at and by which she was condemned: (3.) A statement of the name of the master: (4.) A statement of the number of shares in such ship of which he is entitled to be registered as owner: (5.) A denial that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, any unqualified person or body of persons is entitled as owner to any legal or beneficial interest in such ship or any share therein. The above declaration of ownership must be made and subscribed in the presence of the registrar if the declarant reside within five miles of the custom house of the port of registry, but if beyond that distance, in the presence of any registrar or of any justice of the peace (b). Declaration of ownership by individual owner. corporate. Where the owners of a ship are a body corporate, they must Declaration make a similar statement as individual owners, besides showing by body of ownership such circumstances of the constitution and business of the corporation as prove it to be qualified to own a British ship (c). Upon the first registry of a ship there must, in addition to the declaration of ownership, be produced the following evidence-In the case of a British-built ship, a certificate containing a true account of the proper denomination and of the tonnage of such ship as estimated by him, and of the time. Evidence to on registry. be produced (a) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 37. (b) Ibid. s. 38. (c) Ibid. s. 39. Penalty on builder for false certificate. Particulars of entry in when and of the place where such ship was built, together with the name of the party (if any) on whose account he has built the same, and, if any sale or sales have taken place, the bill or bills of sale under which the ship or share therein has become vested in the party requiring to be registered as owner: in the case of a foreign-built ship, the same evidence as in the case of a British-built ship, unless the person requiring to be registered as owner, or, in the case of a body corporate, the duly appointed officer, declares that the time or place of her building is unknown, or that the builder's certificate cannot be procured; in which case there shall be required only the bill or bills of sale under which the ship or share therein became vested in the party requiring to be registered as owner thereof: in the case of a ship condemned by any competent court, an official copy of the condemnation of such ship (a). If any builder wilfully makes a false statement in any certificate hereby required to be granted by him, he shall for every such offence incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds (b). : As soon as the foregoing requisites to the due registry of a register book. ship have been complied with, the registrar shall enter in the register book the following particulars relating to such ship:(1.) The name of the ship and of the port to which she belongs : (2.) The details as to her tonnage, build, and description comprised in the certificate hereinbefore directed to be given by the surveyor: (3.) The several particulars as to her origin stated in the declaration or declarations of ownership: (4.) The names and descriptions of her registered owner or owners, and if there is more than one such owner, the proportions in which they are interested in such ship (c). No notice taken of trusts. No notice of any trust, express, implied, or constructive, shall be entered in the register book, or receivable by the registrar; and subject to any rights and powers appearing by the register book to be vested in any other party, the registered owner of any ship or share therein shall have power absolutely to dispose in manner hereinafter mentioned of such ship or share, and to give effectual receipts for any money paid or advanced by way of consideration (d). registry to be Upon the completion of the registry of any ship, the registrar Certificate of shall grant a certificate of registry, stating,-the name of the granted. ship and of the port to which she belongs; the details as to her tonnage, build, and description comprised in the certificate hereinbefore directed to be given by the surveyor; the name of her master; the several particulars as to her origin stated in the declaration or declarations of ownership; the names and descriptions of her registered owner or owners, and if there is more than one such owner, the proportions in which they are respectively interested indorsed upon such certificate (a). Whenever any change takes place in the registered ownership of any ship, then, if such change occurs at a time when the ship is at her port of registry, the master must forthwith deliver the certificate of registry to the registrar, and he shall indorse thereon a memorandum of such change; but if such change occurs during the absence of the ship from her port of registry, then, upon her first return to such port the master must deliver the certificate of registry to the registrar, and he shall indorse thereon a like memorandum of the change; or if she previously arrives at any port where there is a British. registrar, such registrar shall, upon being advised by the registrar of her port of registry of the change having taken place, indorse a like memorandum thereof on the certificate of registry, and may for that purpose require the certificate to be delivered to him, so that the ship be not thereby detained; and any master who fails to deliver to the registrar the certificate of registry as hereinbefore required, shall incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds. Any change of master must also be indorsed on the certificate of registry (b). The registrar may grant a new certificate in the place of the one so delivered up (c). Should the certificate be lost, mislaid, or destroyed in any part of the United Kingdom, a new certificate may be granted in lieu of and as a substitute for the original certificate of registry. If the certificate has been lost elsewhere, the master may make a declaration of the circumstance before the registrar at the port at which he arrives, and the registrar may grant a provisional certificate, the same to be delivered up Change of indorsed on owners to be certificate of registry. New certificate may be granted. Certificate cannot be detained. Provisional Transfer of ships or shares therein. within ten days from the day of arrival of the ship at her port of discharge, to be afterwards exchanged for a new certificate (a). The certificate of registry can only be used for the lawful navigation of the ship, and is not subject to detention by reason of any title, lien, charge, or interest which any owner may have or claim to have in the ship (b). Should the master use, or attempt to use, for the navigation of his ship, an improper certificate, he would be guilty of misdemeanor, and the vessel may be brought for adjudication before the High Court of Admiralty, or any Court having admiralty jurisdiction, and the Court may pronounce such ship to be forfeited to Her Majesty (c). Should any registered ship be either actually or constructively lost, taken by the enemy, burnt, or broken up, or transferred to persons not qualified to be owners of British ships, notice of the same must be sent to the registrar, and within ten days the certificate of registry must be delivered up to the registrar (d). If any ship becomes the property of persons qualified to be owners of British ships at any foreign port, the British consular officer resident at such port may grant the master of such ship, upon his application, a provisional certificate, stating,—the name of the ship; the time and place of her purchase, and the names of her purchasers; the name of her master; the best particulars, as to her tonnage, build, and description, that he is able to obtain; and he must forward a copy of such certificate, at the first convenient opportunity, to the Commissioners of Customs in London; the certificate so granted shall possess the same force as a certificate of registry until the expiration of six months, or until such earlier time as the ship arrives at some port where there is a British registrar; but upon the expiration of such period, or upon arrival at such port, shall be void to all intents (e). A registered ship or any share therein, when disposed of to persons qualified to be owners of British ships, must be transferred by bill of sale; and such bill of sale must contain such description of the ship as is contained in the certificate of the surveyor, or such other description as may be sufficient to Declaration to be made by transferree. of transfer. identify the ship to the satisfaction of the registrar, and shall be executed by the transferrer in the presence of and be attested by one or more witnesses. No individual is entitled to be registered as transferree of a ship or any share therein until he has made a declaration before the registrar, stating his qualification to be registered as owner of a share in a British ship, and containing a denial similar to the denial herein before required to be contained in a declaration of ownership by an original owner (a). Every bill of sale for the transfer of any Registration registered ship, or of any share therein, when duly executed, must be produced to the registrar of the port at which the ship is registered, together with the declaration to be made by a transferree; and the registrar must thereupon enter in the register book the name of the transferree as owner of the ship or share comprised in such bill of sale, and indorse on the bill of sale the fact of such entry having been made, with the date and hour thereof; and all bills of sale of any ship or shares a ship shall be entered in the register book in the order of their production to the registrar (b). If the property in any ship or in any share therein becomes transmitted in consequence of the death or bankruptcy or insolvency of any registered owner, or in consequence of the marriage of any female registered owner, or by any lawful means other than by a transfer according to the provisions of this Act, such transmission must be authenticated by a declaration of the person to whom such property has been transmitted, and containing the several statements required to be contained in the declaration of a transferree, or as near thereto as circumstances permit, and, in addition, a statement describing the manner in which and the party to whom such property has been transmitted; and such declaration shall be made and subscribed if the declarant resides at or within five miles of the custom house of the port of registry in the presence of the registrar, but if beyond that distance, in the presence of any registrar or of any justice of the peace (c). If such transmission has taken place by virtue of the bankruptcy or insolvency of any registered owner, the declaration must be accompanied by such evidence as may be receivable in (a) 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, ss. 55 and 56. (b) Ibid. s. 57. (c) Ibid. s. 58. Transmission of shares by death, bankruptcy, or marriage. Proof of by bank transmission ruptcy, mar riage, will, or on intestacy. |