98. Qualifications for and medical examination of seamen—
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that with effect from such date as may be specified in the notification, seamen generally or any category of seamen in particular shall not be engagedf or carried to seas to work in any capacity in any ship or in any class of ships so specified, unless each one of them possesses the prescribed qualifcations.

(2) Except as otherwise provided under the rules made under sub-section (3), no person shall engage or carry to sea any seaman to work in any capacity in any ship or in any class of ships specified in this behalf by the Central Government, unless the seaman is in possession of a certificate in the prescribed form granted by the prescribed authority to the effect that he is physically fit to be employed in that capacity.

(3) The Central Government may make rules for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this section; and in particular, and, without prejudice to the generality of such power, any rules so made may provide for—

(a) the courses of training to be pursued, the vocational standards to be attained or the tests to be passed by seamen generally or by any class of seamen in particular;

(b) the standard of physical fitness required of seamen, different standards being laid down, if necessary for different classes of seamen having regard to the age of the seamen to be examined or the nature of the duties to be performed by them;

(c) the nature of the medical examination of seamen, the authorities by which the examination shall be conducted, and the fees payable therefor;

(d) the form and contents of medical certificates and the period of their validity;

(e) the re-examination by such medical authority as may be specified of persons who have been refused medical certificates of physical fitness in the first instance and the fees payable for such re-examination;
(f) the circumstances in which, or the conditions subject to which, any seaman or class of seamen, or any ship or class of ships, may be exempted from the operation of sub-section(2).

99. Prohibition of engagement of seamen in Indian Port without discharge certificate— No person shall engage or carry to sea any seaman under this Act in any ship, except a home-trade ship of less than two hundred tons gross, from any port in India unless the seaman is in possession of a certificate of discharge or a continuous certificate of discharge issued under this Part.

100. Agreements with crew— The master of every Indian ship, except a home-trade ship of less than two hundred tons gross, shall enter into an agreement (in this Act called the agreement with the crew) in accordance with this Act with every seamen whom he engages in, and carries to sea as one of his crew from, any port in India.

101. Form and contents of the agreement— (1) An agreement with the crew shall be in the prescribed from, and shall be dated at the time of the first signature thereof, and shall be [signed by the master] before any seaman signs the same.

(2) The agreement with the crew shall contain as terms thereof the following particulars, namely:-

(a) the name of the ship or ships on board which the seaman undertakes to serve;

(b) either the nature and, as far as practicable, the duration of the intended voyage or engagement or the maximum period of the voyage or engagement, and the places of parts of the world, if any, to which the voyage or engagement is not to extend;

(c) the number and description of the crew of different categories in each department;

(d) the time at which each seaman is to be on board or to begin work;

(e) the capacity in which each seaman is to serve;

(f) the amount of wages which each seaman is to receive;

(g) a scale of the provisions which are to be furnished to each seaman, such scale being not less than the scale fixed by the Central Government and published in the Official Gazette;

(h) a scale of warm clothing and a scale of additional provisions to be issued to each seaman during periods of employment in specified cold regions;

(i) any regulations as to conduct on board and as to fines or other lawful punishments for misconduct, which have been sanctioned by the Central Government as regulations proper to be adopted, and which the parties agree to adopt;

(j) payment of compensation for personal injury or death caused by accident arising our of and in the course of employment;

(k) where it is agreed that the services of any seaman shall end at any port not in India, a stipulation to provide him either fit employment on board some other ship bound to the port at which he was shipped or to such other port in India as may be agreed upon, or a passage to some port in India free of charge or on such other terms as may be agreed upon;

(l) stipulations relating to such other matters as may be prescribed.

(3) The agreement shall provide that in the event of a dispute arising outside India between the master, owner or agent of a ship and a seaman in respect of any matter touching the agreement, such dispute shall be referred to the Indian consular officer whose decision thereon shall be binding on the parties until the return of the ship to the port in India at which the seaman is to be discharged.

Provided that in the case of a ship other than an Indian ship, no such dispute shall be referred to the Indian consular officer if such reference is contrary to the rules of international Law.

(4) The agreement with the crew shall be so framed as to admit of stipulaitons, to be adopted at the will of the master and seaman in each case (not being inconsistent with the provisions of this Act) respecting the advance and allotment of wages and may contain any other stipulations which are not contrary to law.

102. Engagement of seaman where agreement is made out of India— If the master of a ship registered at a port outside India has an agreement with the crew made in due form according to the law of that port or of the port in which her crew were engaged and engages a seaman in any port in India, not being the holder of a certificate of discharge or a continuous certificate of discharge issued in India, the seaman may sign the agreement so made, and it shall not be necessary for him to sign an agreement under this Act.

103. Special provisions with regard to agreements with crew of Indian ships— (1) The following provisions shall have effect with respect to every agreement made in India with the crew of an Indian ship, namely :-

(a) the agreement shall, subject to the provision of this Act as to substitutes, be signed by each seaman in the presence of a shipping master;

(b) the shipping master shall cause the agreement to be read over and explained to each seaman, in a language understood by him or shall otherwise ascertain that each seaman understands the same before he signs it, and shall attest each signature;

(c) when the crew is first engaged, the agreement shall be signed in duplicate, and one part shall be retained by the shipping master, and the other part shall be delivered to the master, and shall contain a special place or form for the descriptions and signatures of substitutes or persons engaged subsequently to the first departure of the ship;

(d) when a substitute is engaged in the place of a seaman who has duly signed the agreement and whose services are within twenty-four hours of the ship’s putting to sea lost by death, desertion or other unforeseen cause, the engagement shall, if practicable, be made before a shipping master, and if not practicable, the master shall, before the ship puts to sea, if practicable, and, if not, as soon afterwards as possible, cause the agreement to be read over and explained to the substitute; and the substitute shall thereupon sign the same in the presence of a witness, who shall attest the signature.

(2) In the case of an agreement made in India with the crew of a foreign going Indian ship, the following provisions shall have effect in addition to the provisions specified in sub-section (1), namely:-

(a) the agreement may be made for a voyage of the ship or, if the voyages of the ship average less than six months in duration, may be made to extend over two or more voyages, and agreements so made are in this Act referred to as running agreements;

(b) a running agreement may be made to extend over two or more voyages so that it shall terminate either within six months from the date on which it was executed, or on the first arrival of the ship at her port of destination in India after the expiration of that period, or on the discharge of cargo consequent upon such arrival, whichever of these dates shall be the latest.

Provided that no such running agreement shall continue in force, if, after the expiration of such period of six months as aforesaid, the ship proceeds on a voyage from a port outside India to any other such port which is not on the direct route or a customary route to her port of destination in India,

(c) on every return to a part in India before the final termination of a running agreement, the master shall discharge or engage before the shipping master at such port any seaman whom he is required by law so t discharge or engage, and shall upon every such return endorse on the agreement a statement (as the case may be) either that no such discharges or engagements have been made or are intended to be made before the ship leaves port, or that all those made have been made as required by law;

(d) the master shall deliver the running agreement so endorsed to the shipping master, and the shipping master shall, if he provision of the Act relating to agreements have been complied with sign the endorsement and return the agreement to the master.

(3) In the case of agreement made in India with the crew of a home trade Indian ship of two hundred a tons gross or more, the following provisions shall have effect in addition to the provisions specified in sub-section (1), namely:-

(a) the agreement shall not be for a period longer than six months, but if the period for which the agreement was entered into expires while the ship is not in an Indian port, the agreement shall continue in force until the ship is again in an Indian port;
Provided that, except with the consent in writing of the seamen concerned, the agreement shall not continue in force more than three months after the expiration of the period for which it was entered into:-

(b) an agreement for service in two or more ships belonging to the same owner may be made by the owner instead of by the master, and the provisions of the Act with respect to the making of the agreement shall apply accordingly.

104 Renewal of running agreements in certain cases-(1) When a running agreement has been made with the crew of a foreign-going Indian ship and the ship arrives after the expiration of a period of six months from the date on which it was executed at a port of destination in India which is not the port at which the crew have agreed to be discharged, the master may, with the previous sanction of the shipping master, renew the agreement with the crew, or may be required by the shipping master so to renew the agreement for the voyage from such port of destination to the port in India at which the crew have agreed to be discharged.

(2) If the master of the ship is required by the shipping master to renew the agreement as aforesaid and refuses so to renew it, any expenses which may be incurred by the Government for the subsistence of the crew and their conveyance to the port at which they have agreed to be discharged shall be a charge upon the ship and shall be recoverable as if they expenses incurred in respect of distressed seamen under the provisions of the Act.

105 changes in crew to be reported-(1) The master of every foreign going Indian ship and of every home-trade Indian ship of two hundred tons gross or more, the crew of which has been engaged before a shipping master, shall, before finally leaving the port where the engagement took place, sign and send to the nearest shipping master a full and accurate statement in the prescribed form, of every changed which has taken place in his crew, and that statement shall be admissible in evidence.

(2) A copy of the statement referred to in sub-section (1) shall also be sent to the seamen’s employment office concerned.

106 certificate as to agreement with crew-(1) In the case of a foreign going Indian ship or a home-trade Indian ship of two hundred tons gross or more, on the due execution of an agreement with the crew in accordance with this Act, and also when in the case of a foreign-going Indian ship, the agreement is a running agreement, on compliance by the master before the second and every subsequent voyage made after the first commencement of the agreement with the provisions of this Act respecting that agreement, the shipping master shall grant the master of the ship a certificate to that effect.

(2) the master of every such ship shall, before proceeding to sea, produce that certificate to the customs collector whose duty it is to grant a port clearance.

(3) No customs collector shall clear any such ship outwards without the production of such certificate, and, if any such ship attempts to go to sea without a clearance, the customs collector may detain her until such certificate as aforesaid is produced.