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82
The following letter (dated 30th June, 1909) was received from the Board
of Trade, and was duly considered by the Port Sanitary Committee:—
"Marine Department,
"7, Whitehall Gardens,
"London, S.W.,
"30th June, 1909.
"Sir,
"With reference to your letter of the 6th instant forwarding
copy of a report by the Medical Officer of Health for the Port of London,
and communicating the views of the Port of London Sanitary Committee
in connection with the inspection by one of their officers of certain
provisions on board the s.s. " Pontop," when lying in the Royal Victoria
Docks, I am directed by the Board of Trade to request you to lay before
the Committee the following information as to the powers vested in the
Board of Trade by the Merchant Shipping Acts with respect to provisions
intended for the use of crews.
"Section 198 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (of which a copy is
enclosed) provides that if three or more of the crew of a British ship
complain of the provisions or water supplied to them to a Superintendent,
Consular Officer, &c., the latter may cause the provisions or water to be
examined (by an Inspector of Ships' Provisions if in the United
Kingdom), and if on examination any defect is found, the master
is bound under a penalty not exceeding Twenty Pounds to remedy that
defect. Under this section such an inspection may be made at any time.
Section 206 of the same Act (copy enclosed) requires the inspection of
certain provisions only in the case of ships going on certain long voyages
only, the inspection to be made before shipment whenever practicable.
Under Section 26 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1906, an Inspector may
inspect any provisions or water intended for the use of the crew
of a ship to which the scale of provisions prescribed by Section 25 of that
Act applies, and which is going from any port in the United Kingdom.
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"Section 26 does not, however, require inspection in the case of every
ship, and with the staff of inspectors available it would be impracticable
to secure this, nor do the Board of Trade consider it necessary.
"Apart from these powers it is always open to the crew to claim under
Section 199 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (copy enclosed)
allowance for short or bad provisions, and this is frequently done,
sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully.
"The Board of Trade desire me in conclusion to state that in
their opinion the statutory requirements and the present system afford
adequate protection against the supply of bad or insufficient provisions
to ships' crews, although it may occasionally happen, as in the case of