Section 168:
Ships to have sufficient provisions and water.
(1) All Indian ships and all ships upon
which seamen have been engaged shall have on board sufficient provisions and water of good quality
and fit for the use of the crew on the scale specified in the agreement with the crew.
(2) If any person making an inspection under section 176 finds the provisions or water to be of
bad quality and unfit for use or deficient in quantity, he shall signify it in writing to the master of the
ship and may, if he thinks fit, detain the ship until the defects are remedied to his satisfaction.
(3) The master shall not use any provisions or water so signified to be of bad quality and shall in
lieu of such provisions or water, provide other proper provisions or water and he shall, if the
provisions or water be signified to be deficient in quantity, procure the requisite quantity of any
provisions or water to cover the deficiency.
(4) The person making the inspection shall enter a statement of the result of the inspection in the
official log book, and shall, if he is not the shipping master, send a report thereof to the shipping
master and that report shall be admissible in evidence in any legal proceeding.
(5) If the inspection was made in pursuance of a request by the members of the crew and the
person making the inspection certifies in the statement of the result of the inspection that the
complaint was false and either frivolous or vexatious, every member of the crew who made the
request shall be liable to forfeit to the owner out of his wages a sum not exceeding one week's wages.
(6) The master of the ship and any other person having charge of any provisions or water liable to
inspection under this section shall give the person making the inspection every reasonable facility for
the purpose.
1[(7) The master of the ship or any person having charge over the ship shall maintain such
standards, in accordance with the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention, for the quantity and
quality of food and drinking water, and the catering standards applicable to food provided to the
seamen on ships, as may be prescribed.
(8) The master of the ship or any person having charge over the ship shall undertake educational
activities to promote awareness and implementation of the standards referred to in sub-section (7).]
Notes:
1. Ins. by Act 32 of 2014, s. 13 (w.e.f. 1-4-2015).