There may from time to time be appointed under the provisions of the State Services Act 1962 suitable persons to be Ship Inspectors for the purposes of this Act.

The functions of a Ship Inspector shall be to report to the Secretary whether—

Every Ship Inspector may, in the execution of his duties, and without unnecessarily detaining the ship or delaying the ship from proceeding on any voyage or excursion,—

Every owner, master, and member of the crew of any ship shall, when required to do so, give any information and assistance within his power to any Ship Inspector exercising the powers conferred on him by this section.

Every owner, master, or member of the crew of any ship commits an offence against this Act who—

Every officer of any ship commits an offence against this Act who fails without reasonable cause to produce his certificate of competency when required to do so by any Ship Inspector.

This section applies to all ships (whether New Zealand ships or not), not being foreign-going ships, while at a port in New Zealand or elsewhere within the territorial waters of New Zealand or in any river, lake, or other inland water.”

Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, nothing in section 67a of this Act shall apply with respect to any seaman belonging to any foreign-going Commonwealth ship (in this section referred to as the ship of arrival) where the agreement with the crew is first made in a country other than New Zealand who is left on shore at any port in New Zealand for the purpose of joining another ship (in this section referred to as the ship of transfer) pursuant to a provision in the agreement with the crew authorising the master to transfer him to another ship.

Every such seaman, whether or not he is discharged from the ship of arrival, shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to belong to that ship until he has joined the ship of transfer.

If any such seaman fails to join the ship of transfer in accordance with the instructions given to him in writing by the master of the ship of arrival, then, except in any case to which subsection (4) of this section applies, he shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be absent without leave from the ship of arrival:

“Provided that if the seaman is unable by reason of injury or illness to join the ship of transfer in accordance with those instructions, the provisions of this section shall apply to him as if he had been instructed to join that ship as soon as practicable after he has recovered sufficiently to enable him to join that ship.

Where any such seaman is unable to join the ship of transfer in accordance with those instructions as aforesaid by reason of the fact that the ship has left New Zealand, the provisions of section 67a of this Act (except the provisions of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of that section authorising a seaman to apply to a Magistrate’s Court for an order authorising him to remain in New Zealand), as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply to him as if he had been left on shore in New Zealand by reason of his discharge from the ship of arrival before the time contemplated in the agreement, and not by reason of illness or accident, on the date on which he would have joined the ship of transfer had he been able to do so in accordance with those instructions as aforesaid.

Every entry in the official log book of the ship of arrival relating to the instructions given as aforesaid by the master to any such seaman shall be admissible in evidence, and for that purpose, and without limiting the meaning of the term ‘document’ in section 494 of this Act, the official log book shall be deemed to be a document for the purposes of that section.

In this section the term ‘seaman’ includes an apprentice.”

Where a ship whose certificate of survey has expired has been partially surveyed at a port in New Zealand where docking facilities are not available and it is necessary for the ship to proceed to another port in New Zealand or in Australia for docking in order to complete the survey, the Secretary, or a Surveyor of Ships authorised for the purpose by the Secretary, may, upon such conditions (if any) as he thinks fit, grant a permit to the owner or master for the ship to proceed to the port at which she is to be docked for the purpose of completing the survey.

Every such permit—

This section applies to barges, lighters, and other like vessels exceeding fifty feet in length which do not carry any persons on board (whether as crew or passengers) while under way.

Barges, lighters, and like vessels to which this section applies shall be exempt from survey under section 197 of this Act.

Nothing in this Part of this Act prohibiting a ship from plying or proceeding to sea or on any voyage or excursion unless there is in force in respect of that ship, or is produced, a certificate of survey issued under section 213 of this Act shall apply to any barge, lighter, or other like vessel to which this section applies.

Every barge, lighter, or other like vessel to which this section applies shall be marked with lines (in this section referred to as submersion lines), and those lines shall show the minimum approved freeboard appropriate to the conditions on which that vessel may trade, as described in the certificate of completion issued under this section. Those lines shall be parallel to the deck at each side amidships, and shall be not less than twelve inches long and one inch wide, and shall be clearly marked as to colour and otherwise as, in the opinion of a Surveyor of Ships, will make them sufficiently visible.

The position of the submersion lines shall be fixed by a Surveyor of Ships, who, in fixing their position, shall take into consideration the maximum depths to which the barge, lighter, or other like vessel may safely be loaded in various circumstances, having regard to the construction and strength of the hull and the superstructures, fittings, appliances, and equipments with which that vessel is provided for the purposes of ensuring its seaworthiness and safety.

No barge, lighter, or other like vessel to which this section applies shall be used in navigation, however propelled or towed—

The owner of any barge, lighter, or other like vessel in respect of which a certificate of completion has been issued under this section shall, as soon as possible after any structural alteration which affects the position of the vessel’s submersion lines, marked as herein provided, is made in the hull or superstructures of the vessel, give written notice to a Surveyor of Ships containing full particulars of the alteration.

If the Secretary has reason to believe that—

the Secretary may exercise with respect to that vessel the powers specified in subsection (9) of this section.

In any such case, the Secretary may—

Whenever the Secretary cancels any certificate of completion under this section, he shall notify the master or the owner of the vessel or his agent of that cancellation and of the reasons therefor.

In any such case, the Secretary, if satisfied that the barge, lighter, or other like vessel complies with the provisions of this section and that the justice of the case so requires, may reissue any certificate of completion cancelled or may issue a new certificate of completion in its place.

If the provisions of this section are contravened in respect of any barge, lighter, or other like vessel, the master (if in fault) and the owner (if in fault) commit an offence against this Act.

Every person commits an offence against this Act who—

Nothing in section 284 of this Act shall apply with respect to any barge, lighter, or other like vessel to which this section applies.

The Minister may at any time, by notice in writing to the owner, direct that the provisions of this section shall not apply with respect to any specified barge, lighter, or other like vessel on and after a date specified in the notice; and the provisions of this section shall cease to apply to that vessel accordingly.”

Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section 504 of this Act, regulations may be made under that section requiring ships that carry passengers and do not ply or proceed beyond restricted limits to be provided with and to display identification plates or other identification marks of such nature and subject to such conditions as are prescribed in the regulations.

If any of the regulations made pursuant to this section is not complied with in relation to any ship, the owner (if in fault) and the master (if in fault) commit an offence against this Act.”

No ship shall carry any livestock, whether as deck cargo or below deck, except in accordance with a permit first obtained from the Secretary, or a Surveyor of Ships duly authorised by the Secretary, specifying the type and number of livestock that may be carried. Every such permit may be general or special.

Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section 504 of this Act, regulations may be made under that section as to the granting of such permits and as to the conditions upon or subject to which such permits may be granted (including provisions to be made for the welfare of the livestock carried).

In any case where a permit has been granted for the carriage of livestock pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, a Surveyor of Ships may inspect the ship for the purpose of seeing that the conditions of the permit have been carried out, and for that purpose shall have all the powers of a Marine Inspector under this Act.

Every master who loads or stows any livestock below deck except in accordance with a permit under subsection (1) of this section or of any conditions subject to which any such permit was granted commits an offence against this Act, and the ship may be detained, and for the purposes of section 490 of this Act a Surveyor of Ships shall have all the powers conferred by that section on a Superintendent.

In this section the term ‘livestock’ means horses, mules, asses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and all circus and menagerie animals.”

For each port of registry appointed under section 383 of this Act there may from time to time be appointed under the provisions of the State Services Act 1962 one or more suitable persons to be Assistant Registrar or Assistant Registrars of Ships.

On the occurrence from any cause of a vacancy in the office of the Registrar of Ships for any port (whether by reason of death, resignation, or otherwise), and in the case of the illness, absence, or temporary incapacity of the Registrar of Ships for any port (from whatever cause occurring), every Assistant Registrar of Ships for that port shall have and perform all the powers, functions, and duties of the Registrar, and for that purpose every reference in this Part of this Act to the Registrar shall be deemed to include a reference to an Assistant Registrar of Ships.

The fact that an Assistant Registrar of Ships exercises or performs any power, function, or duty as aforesaid shall be conclusive evidence of his authority to do so, and no person shall be concerned to inquire whether the occasion has arisen requiring him to do so.”

Every Registrar shall transmit to the Secretary returns, in such form and at such times as the Secretary directs, of registrations, transfers, transmissions, mortgages, and other dealings with ships which have been registered by or communicated to him in his capacity of Registrar, and of the names of the persons concerned in the same, and of such other particulars as the Secretary directs.

Every Registrar shall on or before the fifteenth day of January in every year transmit to the Secretary a list of all ships registered at the port for which he is the Registrar, and also of all ships whose registration has been transferred or cancelled at that port since the last preceding return.”