Section 166
Indian consular office to decide return port to which or route by which seaman is to be sent.
The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958
About this Act
An Act to foster the development and ensure the efficient maintenance of an Indian mercantile marine in a manner best suited to serve the national interests and for that purpose to establish a National Shipping Board to provide for the registration, certification, safety and security of Indian ships and generally to amend and consolidate the law relating to merchant shipping.
If any question arises as to what return port a seaman is to be sent in any case or as to the route
by which he should be sent, that question shall be decided by the Indian consular officer concerned,
and in deciding any question under this provision the Indian consular officer shall have regard both to
the convenience of the seaman and to the expense involved, and also, where that is the case, to the fact
that an Indian ship which is in want of men to make up its complement is about to proceed to a proper
return port.