PART III
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

7. Director - General of Shipping
8. Mercantile Marine Department
9. Surveyors
10. Radio Inspectors.
11. Shipping Offices
12. Seamen's employment Offices
13. Seamen's welfare officers

7. Director General of Shipping-- (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a person to be the Director-General of Shipping for the purpose of exercising or discharging the powers, authority or duties conferred or imposed upon the Director-General by or under this Act.

(2) The Central Government may, by general or special order, direct that any power,authority or jurisdiction exercisable by it under or in relation to any such provisions of this Act as may be specified in the order shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be so specified, be exercisable also by the Director-General or by such other officer as may be specified in the order.

(3) The Director-General may, by general or special order, and with the previous approval of the Central Government, direct that any power or authority conferred upon or delegated to, and any duty imposed upon, the Director-General by or under this Act may, subject to such conditions and restrictions as he may think fit to impose, be exercise or discharged also by such officer or other authority as he may specify in this behalf.

8. Mercantile Marine Department-- (1) the Central Government may establish and maintain at each the ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras and at such other port in India as it may consider necessary an office of the Mercantile Marine Department for the administration of this Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(2) The Office of the Mercantile Marine Department at the port of Bombay, Calcutta or Madras shall be in the charge of a principal officer, and the office at any other port shall be in the charge of such officer as the Central Government may appoint in this behalf.

(3) In the discharge of their duties, the principal officer and other officers shall be subject to the control of the Director-General.

9. Surveyors—(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint at such ports as it may consider necessary as many persons as it may think fir to be surveyors for the purposes of this Act.

(A) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1), the Central Government, in the case of cargo ships, may, by notification in the Official Gazette authorise any person or body of persons, on such terms and conditions as may be specified therein, to be surveyor or surveyors for the purposes of this Act.]

(2) The surveyors may be nautical surveyors, ship surveyors or engineer and ship surveyors.

(3) At any port at which no surveyor appointed under this section is available, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint any qualified person to perform the functions of a surveyor under this Act.

(4) All acts done under this Act by a Principal Officer of the Mercantile Marine Department or a person appointed under sub-section (3) relating to matter within the competence of a surveyor shall have the same effect as if done by a surveyor for the purposes of this Act.

10. Radio inspectors— The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint as many radio inspectors as it may consider necessary for the purpose of securing that the requirements of this Act and the rules and regulations thereunder relating to radio telegraphy, radio telephony and direction finders are compiled with.

11. Shipping Offices – (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish a shipping office at every port in India in which it thinks it necessary so to do and shall appoint thereto a shipping master and as many deputy shipping masters and assistant shipping masters as it may consider necessary.

(2) Shipping masters, deputy shipping masters and assistant shipping masters shall exercise their powers and discharge their duties subject to the general control of the Central Government or of any intermediate authority which the Central Government may specify in this behalf.

(3) The Central Government may direct that any port at which no separate shipping office is established, the whole or any part of the business of the shipping office shall be conducted at the custom house or at the office of the port officer or at such other office as the Central Government may specify, and thereupon the same shall be conducted accordingly.

(4) All acts done by or before a deputy shipping master, and assistant shipping master and the officer to whom any business of the shipping office is committed under sub-section (3) shall have the same effect as if done by or before a shipping master of the purposes of this Act.

12. Seamen’s employment offices-- (1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish at every port in India in which it thinks it necessary so to do, a seamen’s employment office and shall appoint thereto a director and as many deputy directors and assistant directors as it may consider necessary.

(2) The directors, deputy directors and assistant directors shall exercise their powers and discharge their duties subject to general control of the Central Government or of any intermediate authority which the Central Government may specify in this behalf.

(3) All acts done by or before a deputy or assistant director shall have the same effect as if done by or before a director for the purposes of this Act.

(4) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that at any port at which no separate seamen’s employment office is established, the functions of the seamen’s employment office in that port shall be discharged by such person or body of persons as it may specify in the notification, and thereupon the office of the person or body of persons so specified shall be deemed to be the seamen’s employment office established at that port for the purposes of this Act.

13. Seamen’s welfare officers— (1) The Central Government may appoint seamen’s welfare officers at such ports in or outside India as it may consider necessary.

(2) A seamen’s welfare officer appointed under sub-section (1) shall perform—

(a) in the case of any such officer appointed at any port in India, such functions in relation to welfare of seamen as may be assigned to him by the Central Government.

(b) in the case of any such officer appointed at any port outsides India, such functions in relation to welfare of seamen and such functions of an Indian consular officer under Part VII as may be assigned to him by the Central Government.

(3) If any seamen’s welfare officer appointed at any port outside India performs any functions assigned to an Indian consular officer under Part VII, such functions shall have the same effect as if they had been performed by an Indian consular officer for the purposes of that Part.

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