Act Number: 44

Act Name: The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958

Year: 1958

Enactment Date: 1958-10-30

Long Title: 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.

Ministry: Ministry of Shipping

Department:

Section 420: Prevention of overloading or overcrowding.
    (1) The Central Government may make rules regulating the carriage of cargo or passengers in sailing vessel and the protection of life and property on board such vessels.
     (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:--
         (a) the assignment of free board to sailing vessel;
         (b) the marking of such free board on such vessels and the maintenance of such markings;
         (c) the survey of the space allotted to passengers on board such vessels;
         (d) the scale and type of accommodation to be provided for each passenger.
     (3) Any sailing vessel attempting to ply or proceed to sea without free board markings or any sailing vessel which has been so loaded as to submerge such marking may be detained by a proper officer until free board markings are made in accordance with the rules made in this behalf or the vessel is so loaded that such markings are not submerged.
     (4) Nothing in this section relating to free board, shall apply to any sailing vessel in respect of which a load line has been assigned under Part IX.
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