Status of foreign vessels.

Status as American seamen.

81.7 Status of Puerto Rican and Virgin Island seamen.

81.8

81.9

Effect of employment on American public vessels.

Effect of employment on vessels of the United States.

81.10 Effect of employment

on barges, dredges, tugs at foreign ports. 81.11 Effect of employment on American undocumented vessels.

81.12 Effect of employment on foreign vessels.

81.13 Function of the Foreign Service. 81.14 Consular responsibilities to vessels.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 81 issued under sec. 302, 60 Stat. 1001; 22 U.S.C. 842.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 81 appear at 22 F.R. 10848, Dec. 27, 1957, unless otherwise noted.

(c) "American public vessel" means any vessel owned or operated by a United States Government department or agency and engaged exclusively in official business on a non-commercial basis.

(d) "Vessel of the United States" means any vessel documented under the laws of the United States.

(e) "American undocumented vessel" means any American vessel, other than an American public vessel, which is not documented under the laws of the United States. River or inter-island craft operating in foreign waters often fall in this category.

(f) "Foreign vessel" means any foreign-owned vessel, or any vessel regardless of ownership, which is documented under the laws of a foreign country.

(g) "Master" means any person having command of a vessel.

(h) The term "crew of a vessel" includes every person employed in any capacity on a vessel in pursuance of some contract or arrangement with the owner or master, but excludes laborers or other persons hired locally for work aboard ship while the vessel is in port.

(i) "Seaman" means any person employed as a member of the crew of a vessel.

(j) "American seaman" means any seaman, regardless of nationality, who has this status (see § 81.6).

(k) "Alien seaman" means a seaman of foreign nationality who does not have status as an American seaman.

(1) "Passenger vessel" means any vessel authorized to carry more than twelve persons in addition to the master, the crew, or other persons employed or engaged on board a vessel in any capacity connected with the business of the vessel.

(m) "Classification society" means an organization for establishing safe minimum standards for the strength of the hull and the reliability of the machinery of a vessel. Classification societies are quasi-governmental. The American classification society is the American Bureau of Shipping; the British, Lloyds Register; the French, Bureau Veritas.

prescribed by the laws of the United States for merchant vessels. The type of privileges and obligations appertaining to such vessels depends upon the form and the purpose of their documentation.

§ 81.4

Status of American undocumented vessels.

American undocumented vessels are not under the jurisdiction of the United States, and consequently are not subject to the obligations nor entitled to the protection accorded vessels of the United States abroad. However, such vessels are entitled to the same degree of protection accorded any other property abroad owned by United States citizens. § 81.5

Status of foreign vessels.

Vessels under foreign registry are of no concern as such to United States consular officers except in cases where such officers are authorized to perform protective services for the vessels of a foreign power.

§ 81.6 Status as American seamen.

(a) Acquisition by United States citizens or nationals. A United States citizen or national acquires status as an American seaman by shipping on a vessel of the United States. After three or more years of relatively continuous service on merchant vessels of the United States, he may retain his status as an American seaman even if not so engaged for a period of up to one year.

(b) Acquisition by foreign citizens or nationals. A foreign citizen or national acquires status as an American seaman only by shipping on a vessel of the United States in a port of the United States. Having once acquired this status, he may thereafter reship on any vessel of the United States either in a foreign port or in a United States port without losing this status. However, if a foreign citizen or national having status as an American seaman deserts from a vessel of the United States except as a result of cruel or unusual treatment, or ships on a foreign vessel, or definitely abandons his calling as a seaman, he forfeits this status. A foreign citizen or national who has forfeited his status as an American seaman can regain such status only by following the procedure prescribed for acquiring the status originally.

§ 81.7 Status of Puerto Rican and Virgin Island seamen.

Puerto Rican and Virgin Island seamen, who are United States citizens or nationals, can acquire status as American seamen in accordance with the provisions of § 81.6 (a). Those who are not United States citizens or nationals must acquire this status in the same manner as any other foreign citizens or nationals (see § 81.6 (b)).

§ 81.8 Effect of employment on American public vessels.

The master and crew of an American public vessel are usually either military or civil-service personnel and not American seamen within the meaning of § 81.1 (j), except in individual cases where this status has been previously acquired and is still retained. However, the master and crew of a vessel, owned or chartered by a United States Government agency but operated by a private concern on behalf of that agency, who sign shipping articles before a United States shipping commissioner, are American seamen within the meaning of § 81.1 (j), and their service on such vessels affords them the same rights and privileges as service on vessels of the United States.

§ 81.9 Effect of employment on vessels of the United States.

The master and crew of a vessel of the United States are subject during the period of their employment to the jurisdiction of the United States, and are entitled to the protection of its laws in matters relating to their employment. Also as a result of this service, they may acquire and retain status as American seamen, subject to the conditions set forth in § 81.6.

§ 81.10 Effect of employment on barges, dredges, tugs at foreign ports.

The master and crew of an American documented barge, dredge, or tug, who sign United States Coast Guard shipping articles before a shipping commissioner, are American seamen and have the same rights and privileges as seamen employed on any other vessel of the United States. § 81.11 Effect of employment on Ameri

can undocumented vessels.

The master and crew of an American undocumented vessel are not subject to

the jurisdiction of the United States by reason of their employment, and are not as a matter of right entitled to the protection of its laws in questions affecting such employment. However, in the case of United States citizens employed on such a vessel, the master of the vessel may request a United States consular officer to ship and discharge such seamen in foreign ports in accordance with the procedure followed in the case of seamen on vessels of the United States, and the consular officer shall accede to such request. A United States consular officer has no authority over foreign nationals employed on American undocumented vessels, and consequently cannot ship or discharge such seamen.

§ 81.12 Effect of employment on foreign vessels.

United States citizens employed on foreign vessels are, during the period of their employment, subject to the jurisdiction of the country under whose registry the vessel operates, and have no claim at foreign ports to the special protection, in matters relating to their employment, which the laws of the United States afford seamen employed on vessels of the United States.

§ 81.13

Function of the Foreign Service.

(a) Description. The shipping and seamen function of the Foreign Service consists of the activities prescribed in Parts 81 through 88 of this chapter. These activities are for the protection or assistance of American vessels and American seamen in foreign ports and places.

(b) Post responsibility. Obviously, only Foreign Service seaport posts are required to perform many of the activities prescribed in this chapter. Inland posts are not required to perform activities attendant upon the arrival of a vessel in a foreign port. However, all posts are responsible for such activities as the relief of stranded American seamen, intervention on behalf of these seamen with local authorities, reports on the deaths of American seamen, and the conservation of their effects, etc. The responsibilities of seaport and inland consular agencies are similar to those of

other seaport and inland Foreign Service posts, except that, where the settlement of a controversy or the expenditure of funds is involved in a shipping and seaman case, the consular agency shall consult with, and act under the direction of, the supervising Foreign Service post. Theoretically. the consular district of a post determines its jurisdiction in a shipping and seaman case. However, as has been pointed out in paragraph (b) of this section, the actual responsibilities of posts differ. Also, under the provisions of the Federal statutes of the United States, even a seaport post is not required to perform many activities unless the need therefor arises at the place where the post is located. For example, post employees assigned to shipping work are not required to leave the immediate locale of the post to ship or discharge a seaman, but if a vessel is wrecked along the coast, the post having jurisdiction over the territory where the wreck occurs is responsible for reporting the wreck and carrying out the owner's instructions with reference to the conservation of the wrecked vessel. question of whether a post should perform shipping and seamen activities within the consular district, but away from the actual location of the post is one which must be decided in the light of the statute and regulations governing the performance of a particular activity.

(c) Post jurisdiction.

The

(d) Place in post organizational pattern. The shipping and seamen function is a part of the consular program of a Foreign Service post. Therefore, the consular section of a post is responsible for carrying out the activities which comprise this function. This responsibility must be discharged, however, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (e) of this section.

(e) Employee authority and responsibility. Under United States Federal statutes, in the Foreign Service only United States consular officers have authority to perform shipping and seamen activities prescribed by statute. Accordingly, employees assigned to shipping and seamen work at a Foreign Service post must be commissioned as consular officers of the United States and accredited in this capacity in the foreign country of assignment.

§ 82.1

Definition of ship's papers.

The term "ship's papers" includes the marine document of a vessel of the United States, its shipping agreement, and its crew list. "Marine document" means the certificate issued each vessel of the United States, evidencing its documentation under the laws of the United States.

§ 82.2 Acceptance and receipting for ship's papers.

A consular officer shall accept the ship's papers proffered him by the master of a vessel of the United States, or his duly qualified subordinate, and, when requested to do so, shall give a receipt therefor. This receipt need not be returned to the consular officer.

§ 82.3 Return of papers to master.

Except as provided in § 82.4, the consular officer shall return the ship's papers to the master of the vessel, provided the master has first fulfilled the following conditions:

(a) Produced a clearance of the vessel issued by the proper officer in the port;

(b) Complied with the provisions of law relating to the discharge of seamen;

(c) Paid to the consular officer arrears in wages and extra wages due seamen discharged at the port or issued wage vouchers to such seamen;

(d) Paid such fees and demands as are collectible under the law and the regulations in this part.

(R. S. 1718, 4309; 22 U. S. C. 1185, 46 U. S. C. 354)

§ 82.4 Withholding of papers.

The consular officer shall withhold the ship's papers when the ship is proceeding on a voyage or carrying cargo contrary to the laws or regulations of the United States. In the event of such withholding or contemplated withholding, the consular officer shall immediately telegraph the Department of State for instructions.

§ 82.5 Disposition of papers left at

consulate.

When the master of a vessel of the United States departs from a foreign seaport, leaving the ship's papers in the possession of the consular officer, that officer may transmit the papers with covering report to the United States consular officer at the ship's next foreign port of call if circumstances make this action advisable and if no valid reason exists for withholding the papers from the master. When return of the ship's papers to the master or some other duly qualified officer is impossible, or when the ship is en route to the United States, the consular officer shall transmit the papers to the Department of State immediately, under cover of a despatch, giving a detailed statement of the facts in the case.