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Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Chapter IV : Engagement, Discharge, Repatriation, Payment, Discipline and General Treatment of Seafarers and Cadets

147. Delivery to proper officer of property of seafarer who dies

[Section 147 heading substituted by section 29(a) of Act No. 12 of 2015]

 

(1) If a seafarer of a South African ship dies during a voyage, the master of the ship shall within forty-eight hours after arrival at the ship's next port of call where there is a proper officer report all the circumstances of the death to that officer, and shall within the same period deliver the property of the deceased seafarer to the proper officer, unless that officer directs that such delivery be made to the proper officer at some other port, in which case the master shall act accordingly.

 

(2) If a seafarer of a South African ship dies in the Republic, the master or owner of the ship shall deliver the property of the deceased seafarer to the proper officer at the port where the seafarer was discharged or was to have been discharged.

 

(3) The master of the ship shall, as soon as is practicable, report the death to the next-of-kin of the seafarer.

 

[Section 147 substituted by section 29(d) of Act No. 12 of 2015]