on vessels are applied for' before the City Court of Stockholm. A vessel’s
home-port is decided on by the owner, who must give notice of it for registration.
Amongst the provisions regulating the rights and duties of the master, those
laying upon him the chief care and responsibility for the sea-worthiness of the
vessel are particularly important. The master’s duty with regard to the seaworthiness
of the vessel covers not only the vessel itself, but also the equipment,
crew, provisioning etc., the stowing of the cargo, and everything appertaining
thereto. During the voyage he shall do everything to keep the vessel in a
seaworthy condition. Neglect of this entails punishment, which may also under
certain circumstances fall upon the owner or other person who, in the owner’s
place, has had anything to do with the vessel. Under special circumstances,
■defined in the maritime law, the master has to take measures for making an
inspection of the vessel, to make a written report to the Board of Trade, i. e.
th e nearest consul and render his maritime declaration, etc.
Up to the present time, the control of the seaworthiness of ships in general
has only been exercised in this manner, that is has been chiefly a restraining
control. Only the passenger and emigrant ships have, as a rule, been subjected
to a preventive control as to their seaworthiness. From 1915 and onwards,
however, new legislation in these questions, based on the report published in
1910 by the so-called Committee on the Safety of Navigation, will be in foree,
through which a directive state control will be established, with the object of
superintending the observance of certain rules laid down in advance by law for
•ordinance as to the condition or safety of ships. At the same time, thé; restraining
control will be in some respects developed and perfected. The preventive
control is to be exercised partly by a Central Inspection Office attached to
th e Board of Trade and partly by local inspectors. Detailed rules as to the
requirements with regard to their construction and equipment etc., which ships
in general or ships employed for certain purposes are to satisfy, have also been
laid down. The new legislation will give the inspection authorities the right,
within certain limits, to prohibit the use of a ship with regard to which such
■defects or grievances are established that its use would manifestly endanger the
lives of the persons on board.
A right possessed by the crew, which aims at securing the employment |of
■seaworthy vessels, is that they are entitled to obtain their discharge if the master
neglects to put the vessel in a seaworthy condition, in the event of its not being
in such a condition for the voyage it is about to make; the-master is_. also
■obliged to have the vessel surveyed to ascertain its seaworthiness, when mère
than half the crew demand it, and, in case of the vessel’s being already laden,
if the mate or engineer join in the demand for such survey.
In this connection it ought to be mentioned that, when a maritime declaration
is before the borough court, two experts have to assist the court, and that, in
the event of special technical knowledge being needed, a third expert may ¡be
•called in. I f a vessel has been lost or abandoned, or considerable damage has
been caused by its running aground or colliding with another vessel, or in certain
other contingencies, the Court shall, with the help of the maritime declaration,
■open an inquiry (maritime examination) in order to clear up thoroughly the
•causes of the disaster.
The obligations o f ship-owners towards the master and crew, when they leave
th e ir service by reason of particular circumstances mentioned in the maritime
law, are regulated by law. The cost of sending home master and crew, in cases
where they have left their service at a foreign port, on account of shipwreck,
■condemnation, or capture of the vessel as a good prize during war, is defrayed
hy the State.
The maritime law regulates the relation between consigner, charterer and consignee,
such as the signing of a charter-party or agreement concerning the carriage
of goods; the calculation of lay days or time of waiting allowed by the charter-
party for loading or unloading; the legal relation between the charterer and consignee
according to the bill o f lading; the raising of a bottomry-loan, or loan
with the -vessel, freight, or cargo as pledge. I t contains also provisions concerning
wrecks, damage by collision, salvage money, marine insurance, etc. I t ought
to be mentioned that the so-called silent prior rights, the maritime claims proper
which carry with them the right of pledge of vessel and cargo, entitle those
possessing them to the settlement of claims before those due to other creditors.
Amongst these maritime claims are the claims for pay due to master and crew,
and the prescription period for this claim is one year from the date on
which the service ceased. The prescription periods for other claims is fixed by
the ¡¡provisions of common or of maritime law.
The crew of a Swedish vessel shall be signed on as the law directs when the
vessel runs to foreign ports, or, if it only plies between home ports, when the
ship is to be assigned to the 1st or 2nd class of passenger vessels; this rule,
however, does not apply if the voyage undertaken is only a pleasure voyage or
some other occasional voyage. Also in other cases the master is entitled to
have -the crew signed on. In Sweden itself shipping as well as paying-off the
crew is effected by the representative of the Seamen Registry Office, or in
some cases by the town clerk; abroad by a Swedish consul. When shipping a
crew ton a Swedish vessel within the kingdom, it has to be observed that two
thirds of ■'the crew, including the master, are Swedish subjects; th a t every
member of the crew is entered on the list at a Swedish Seamen Registry
Office and is in possession of a sailor’s booh, unless he is, or has been, in the
navy; and that the vessel-carries the proper officers. When men are shipped
abroad, less • stringent regulations are in force. The person signing on the crew
has i also to see th a t every member of the crew is supplied with a contra-book
by the master, as well as that the master, in cases where such are prescribed,
has. a ship’s log and an engine-room log of the prescribed description; besides
this, he is to make the necessary entries in his register o f seamen shipped and
to prepare a muster-roll of the vessel, unless such has already been done. Even
for foreign vessels, there are, in Sweden, certain obligations to be observed when
shipping a Swedish seaman, in which connection it is necessary to draw up a
fixed 'agreement between the master and the Swedish seaman. The number of the
crew of a Swedish vessel shall be kept up to th a t appearing in the muster-roll.
On a merchant ship of 30 tons or- more (gross) burden, as well as on every
passenger vessel — with which in this connection is meant a merchant vessel
used for the conveyance of passengers, which, apart from the crew and other
persons engaged or performing duties on the vessel, has accommodation for more
than 12 persons paying for accommodation — there is to be a qualified master
as well as other qualified officers. As regards what is to be looked upon as a
qualified officer in every particular case, detailed rules are laid down for the
different routes (in home waters, the Baltic, European waters, Atlantic transoceanic
routes etc.) taken by the vessel, its nature (steam-ship or sailing vessel)
its burden, horse power, etc. Competency is based upon certificates issued by
the Board of Trade, of which there are, for deck officers, four kinds: captain’s
certificate, mate’s certificate, skipper’s certificates of the 1st and 2nd class. For
the engineers the Board issues, certificates of three classes. As qualification to
act as master a captain’s certificate is required: for voyages in the Baltic on
all passenger vessels, for European voyages on steam ships and on sailing vessels
of over 500 tons burden, and for trans-oceanic voyages on all vessels. For motor
vessels regulations corresponding to those for steam-ships are in force with regard
lo the deck-officers.