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968
XII. SHIPPING AND NAVIGATION OF SWEDEN.
vessel as well as for the claims of the crew, on the strength of hiring-agreements aid
contracts of service which the ship.-master has entered into. For other claims
the owner is responsible only with the vessel and cargo. When there are several
owners of a vessel, each one has personal responsibility only in proportion to his
share in the vessel.
Of all Swedish vessels, intended for naval commerce or the conveyance of
passengers and having a tonnage of 20 register tons or more, a register is kept
The register of Swedish vessels hu up till now been of no legal importance, as it
is only in 1901 that a decision has been taken which may entail the right to
mortgage on vessels. The registering is centralized in the Board of Trade. After the
registering, certificates of nationality and registering are issued, which, together
with a muster-roll, are the papers Swedish vessels leaving for foreign ports must
carry with them to certify their nationality. — The domicile of the vessel is
decided by the owner, who has to make an entry about it in the register.
Among the ordinances regulating the obligations and privileges of the
shipmaster, those are of special importance which place on the captain the principal
care and responsibility of the sea-worthiness of the vessel. Swedish legislation
namely prescribes preventive control for this purpose only for passenger- and
emigrant steamers. The captain’s duty in this respect refers not only to the
vessel itself but also to its equipment, crew, supply of provisions, etc., the stowing
of the cargo, and hereunto belonging things. During the voyage he shall do
everything to keep the vessel in a sea-worthy state. Neglect in this regard
entails punishment, which also devolves on the owner or any other person who, on
behalf of the owner, has had anything to do with the vessel, and intentionally
has seduced to such a crime or encouraged it. Under special circumstances
mentioned in the maritime law, the master has to take measures for ail inquiry and
inspection of the vessel, to make a protest, etc.
Condemnation occurs not only when repair is impossible or the vessel
cannot be sailed to a port where the reparation must take place, but also when the
vessel is not worth being repaired.
A privilege of the crew, working in the direction of securing the use of
sea-worthy vessels, is that the crew has a right to obtain dismissal if the master
neglects to put the vessel in a sea-worthy state, in case it be not in such a
state for the voyage it shall undertake. Moreover, it is the duty of the master
to have the vessel inspected for ascertaining its sea-worthiness when more than
half the crew makes this proposition, and, in case the vessel be already loaded, when
the mate or the engineer joins in the proposition. If at the inspection reasonable
ground is found to be lacking, those who have demanded the action shall defray
all expenses and losses caused thereby. — In connection with this may be
mentioned that, at the marine declaration, two experts have to assist the
municipal court and that, when a vessel has been lost, abandoned, injured, or certain
other cases have occurred, the court shall, in connection with the declaration, seek
to produce complete explanation as to the causes of the accident. Abroad, the
marine declaration is to be held by the Swedish—Norwegian Consuls assisted by
experts or the local courts. The consul has to produce the explanation aforesaid,
if not already held by the court. In Norway and Denmark the courts are liable
to hold such explanation in connection with the marine declaration to Swedish
vessels.
Concerning the obligations of ship-owners towards the master and crev,
when they leave their service on account of special circumstances mentioned in
the maritime law, those are regulated by the law. The bringing home of master
and sailor, — Swedish and, in case of reciprocity, Norwegian, — if they have
left their service in a foreign place, owing to the wreckage, condemnation, or
capture of the vessel, as good prize during war, is paid by the State.
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