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2. The accommodation shall include the necessary lavatory and sanitary
accommodation and such other accommodation as is prescribed.
3. The hospital shall, wherever practicable, be placed on the top deck aft
or on the boat deck as far alt as practicable.
4. The master of a vessel who fails to comply with this Section and who
suffers his vessel to enter any port or place in Australia shall be guilty of
an offence.
Penalty (on master or owner) 100l."
The Norwegian regulations provide that in vessels with a crew of 12 men and
upwards there shall be a "special sick ward," properly lighted and ventilated, and
with bunks as follows:—
Crews 12-17 men 1 bunk
„ 18-30 „ 2 bunks
„ 31-45 „ 3 „
„ 46 and upwards 4 „
but this regulation does not apply to fishing, whaling and sealing vessels below 200
tons register nor to the Coasting and European short sea routes.
Other minor requirements by way of improvement on existing standards may be
mentioned as:—
Metal bunks Australia.
Bunks not to be against ship side Norway.
Separate lockers outside sleeping berth for oilskins, boots, &c. do.
Galley not in crew's quarters (except in Arctic vessels) do.
Daily cleaning and ventilating of quarters, by watch on duty do.
In this review—necessarily condensed and abbreviated—it is merely sought to show
that a decidedly active movement is taking place in the right direction as regards the
seaman.
The difference is that the two Governments quoted are seeking powers to make
these various sanitary improvements compulsory in their vessels, while the British
Merchant Shipping Act does nothing of the kind except to a very limited degree.
The method adopted by other authorities of classifying vessels by their
tonnage is good. It gives some idea, in the first place, of the probable amount of space
at disposal. The placing of vessels engaged on short sea routes and coasting trades as
a separate class is also wise, as conditions here often differ widely from vessels in the
overseas trade.
Progress on similar lines should certainly be made with British shipping. It
would not be difficult to transform or modify the existing "Instructions" into definite
Regulations to be enforced under penalty and by summary proceedings.
Under existing circumstances, a nuisance may exist during a whole voyage, and,
only be abated when in a port in this country after inspection and an intimation had
been served on the owners: e.g., overcrowding may have existed for a long period and
the nuisance abated by forthwith discharging the crew after the vessel's arrival.