480. The following persons shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860), namely:-(a) every Director General of Shipping, Director of Shipping, Principal Officer, Surveyor, Shipping Master, Radio Inspector, Registrar and Shipping Authority appointed under this Ordinance;(b) every person appointed under section 81 for the purpose of examining the qualifications of persons desirous of obtaining Certificates of Competency under this Ordinance;(c) every person appointed under this Ordinance to report information as to shipping casualties;(d) every Judge, assessor, scientific referee or other person acting under part X;(e) every person authorised under this Ordinance to make inquiry or investigation under Part X;(f) every person directed to make an investigation into an explosion or fire on board ship under section 426;(g) every Presiding Officer and member of a Marine Board convened under section 428;(h) every Receiver of Wreck, and all persons whom he calls to his aid;(i) every other officer or person appointed under this Ordinance to perform any functions thereunder.

481. (1) No Court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence under this Ordinance or any rule or regulation made thereunder. (2) No Court shall take cognizance of an offence under this Ordinance or any rule or regulation made thereunder except upon a report made by an officer authorised by the Government in this behalf.

482. Any person committing any offence under this Ordinance or any rule or regulation made thereunder may be tried for the offence in any place in which he may be found, or which the Government may by notification in the official Gazette, direct in this behalf, or in any other place in which he might be tried under any other law for the time being in force.

483. The penalties to which masters and owners of Special Trade Passenger Ship are liable under Part V shall be enforced only on information laid at the instance of the Certifying Officer, or, at any port or place where there is no such officer, at the instance of such other officer as the Government may specify in this behalf.

484. Notwithstanding anything contained in section 32 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898), a Magistrate of the first class may pass any sentence authorised by or under this Ordinance any person convicted of an offence under this Ordinance or rule or regulation made thereunder.

485. (1) If the person committing an offence under this Ordinance is a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing in this sub section shall render any such person liable to any punishment under this Ordinance, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub section (1), where an offence under this Ordinance has been committed by a company, and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, partner, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, partner, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence, and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

486. (1) Whenever, in the course of any legal proceeding under this Ordinance instituted at any place in Bangladesh before any Court of Magistrate or before any person authorised by law or by consent of parties to receive evidence, the testimony of any witness is required in relation to the subject matter, and the defendant or the person accused, as the case may be, after being allowed a reasonable opportunity for so doing, does not produce the witness before the Court, Magistrate or person so authorised, any deposition previously made by the witness in relation to the same subject matter before any Court, Judge or Magistrate in Bangladesh, or, if elsewhere, before a Marine Board or before any Bangladesh Consular Officer, shall be admissible in evidence-(a) if the deposition is authenticated by the signature of the Presiding Officer of the Court or the Judge or Magistrate or of the Presiding Officer of the Marine Board or of the Consular Officer, before whom it is made;(b) if the defendant or the person accused had an opportunity by himself or his agent of cross examination of the witness; and(c) where the proceeding is criminal, if it is proved that the deposition was made in the presence of the person accused. (2) It shall not be necessary in any case to prove the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed such deposition; and a certificate by such person that the defendant or the person accused had an opportunity of cross examining the witness, and that the deposition, if made in a criminal proceeding, was made in the presence of the person accused, shall, unless the contrary proved, be sufficient evidence that he had that opportunity and that it was so made

487. (1) Whenever, in any proceeding against any seaman or apprentice belonging to any ship for the offence of desertion, or absence without leave, it is alleged by one fourth, or if their number exceeds twenty by not less than five, of the seamen belonging to the ship, that the ship is by reason of un-seaworthiness, over loading, improper loading, defective equipment, or for any other reason, not in a fit condition to having cognizance of the case shall take such means as may be in its power to proceed to sea, or that the accommodation in the ship is insufficient, the Court having cognizance of the case shall take such means as may be in its power to satisfy itself concerning the truth or untruth of the allegation, and shall for that purpose receive the evidence of the persons making the same, and may summon any other witness whose evidence it may think is desirable to hear, and shall, if satisfied that the allegation is groundless, adjudicate in the case, but if not so satisfied shall, before adjudication, cause the ship to be surveyed. (2) A seaman or apprentice charged with desertion, or with absence without leave, shall not have any right to apply for a survey under this section unless he has before deserting or absenting himself without leave complained to the master of the circumstances so alleged in justification. (3) For the purposes of this section, the Court shall require any Surveyor or, if such Surveyor cannot be obtained without unreasonable expense or delay, then any other competent person appointed by the Court and having no interest in the ship, her freight, or cargo, to survey the ship, and to answer any question concerning her which the Court thinks fit to put. (4) Such Surveyor or other person shall survey the ship, and make his written report to the Court, including an answer to every question put to him by the Court, and the Court shall cause the report to be communicated to the parties and unless the opinions expressed in the report are proved to the satisfaction of the Court to be erroneous, shall determine the questions before it in accordance with those opinions. (5) Any person making a survey under this section shall for the purposes thereof have all such powers as are specified in sub section (3) of section 416. (6) The costs, if any, of the survey shall be determined in accordance with the scale of fees fixed by the Government, by notification in the official Gazette, in this behalf. (7) If it is proved that the ship is in a fit condition to proceed to sea, or that the accommodation is sufficient, as the case may be, the costs of the survey shall be paid by the person upon whose demand or in consequence of whose allegation the survey was made, and may be deducted by the master or owner out of the wages due or to become due to that person, and shall be paid over to the Government. (8) If it is proved that the ship is not in a fit condition to proceed to sea, or that the accommodation is insufficient, as the case may be, the master or owner of the ship shall pay the cost of the survey to the Government, and shall also be liable to pay to the seaman or apprentice who has been detained in consequence of the said proceeding before the Court under this section such compensation for his detention as the Court awards.

488. Where any area within which any Court or Magistrate has jurisdiction, either under this Ordinance or under any other law for any purpose whatever, is situated on the coast of any sea, or abutting on or projecting into any bay, channel, lake, river, or other navigable water, every such Court or Magistrate shall have jurisdiction over any vessel being on, or lying or passing off, that coast, or being in or near that bay, channel, lake, river, or navigable water, and over all persons on board that vessel or for the time being belonging thereto, in the same manner as if the vessel or persons were within the limits of the original jurisdiction of the Court of Magistrate.

489. Where any person, being a citizen of Bangladesh, is charged with having committed any offence on board any Bangladesh ship on the high seas, or in any foreign port or harbour, or on board any ship other than a Bangladesh ship to which he does not belong, or, not being a citizen of Bangladesh, is charged with having committed any offence on board any Bangladesh ship on the high seas, and that person is found within the jurisdiction of any Court or Magistrate which would have had jurisdiction to take cognizance of the offence if it had been committed on board a Bangladesh ship within the limits of its or his ordinary jurisdiction, that Court or Magistrate shall have jurisdiction to try the offence as if it had been so committed

490. (1) Whenever any damage has in any part of the world been caused to property belonging to the Government, or to any citizen of Bangladesh or a company, by a ship other than a Bangladesh ship, and at any time thereafter that ship is found in any port or place in Bangladesh including the territorial waters thereof, the Supreme Court may, upon the application of any person who alleges that the damage was caused by the misconduct or want of skill of the master or any member of the crew of the ship, issue an order directed to any Principal Officer, Collector of Customs, or other person named in the order, requiring him to detain the ship until such time as the owner, master or agent thereof has satisfied any claim in respect of the damage, or has given security to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court to pay all costs and damages that may be awarded in any legal proceedings that may be instituted in respect of the damage, and the officer or person to whom the order is directed shall detain the ship accordingly. (2) Whenever it appears that, before an application can be made under this section, the ship in respect of which the application is to be made will have departed from Bangladesh or the territorial waters thereof, any Principal Officer or Collector of Customs may detain the ship for such time as to allow the application to be made and the result thereof to be communicated to the officer detaining the ship, and that officer shall not be liable for any costs or damages in respect of the detention unless the same is proved to have been made without reasonable grounds. (3) In any legal proceedings in relation to any such damage as aforesaid, the person giving security shall be made a defendant and shall, for the purpose of such proceedings, be deemed to be the owner of the ship that has occasioned the damage.

491. (1) Where under this Ordinance a ship is authorised or ordered to be detained, any commissioned officer of the Bangladesh Navy, or any Principal Officer, Pilot or Collector of Customs may detain the ship. (2) If any ship after detention, or after service on the master of any notice of, or order for, such detention, proceeds to sea before she is released by competent authority, the master of the ship shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one lakh Taka. (3) If a ship so proceeding takes to sea, when any person authorised under this Ordinance to detain or survey the ship is on board thereof in the execution of his duty, the owner, master or agent of such ship shall each be liable to pay all expenses of, and incidental to, such person being so taken to sea, and shall also be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to twenty thousand Taka, or with both. (4) When any owner, master or agent is convicted of an offence under sub-section (3), the Magistrate convicting him may inquire into and determine the amount payable on account of expenses by such owner, master or agent under that sub section, and may direct that the same shall be recovered from him in the manner provided for the recovery of fines.

492. When an order under this Ordinance for the payment of any wages or other money is made by a Shipping Master or a Magistrate or other officer or authority, and the money is not paid at the time or in the manner directed, the sum mentioned in the order, with such further sum as may be thereby awarded for costs, may, under a warrant to be issued for that purpose by a Magistrate, be levied by distress and sale of the movable property of the person directed to pay the same.

493. Where any Court of Magistrate or other officer or authority has power under this Ordinance to make an order directing payment to be made of any seaman's wages, fines or other sums of money, then if the person so directed to pay the same is the master, owner or agent of a ship and the same is not paid at the time or in the manner directed by the order, the Court or Magistrate or officer or authority, as the case may be, may, in addition to any other power it or he may have for the purpose of compelling payment, by warrant, direct the amount remaining unpaid to be levied by distress and sale of the ship and her equipment.

494. If any ship other than a Bangladesh ship is detained under this Ordinance or if any proceedings are taken under this Ordinance against the master, owner or agent of any such ship, notice shall forthwith be served on the Consular Officer of the country in which the ship is registered, at or nearest to the port where the ship is for the time being, and such notice shall specify the grounds on which the ship has been detained or the proceedings have been taken

495. Where for the purposes of this Ordinance any document is to be served on any person, that document may be served- (a) in any case, by delivering a copy thereof personally to the person to be served, or by leaving the same at his last place of abode; (b) if the document is to be served on the master of a ship, where there is one, or on a person belonging to a ship, by leaving the same for him on board that ship, with the persons being or appearing to be in command or charge of the ship; and (c) if the document is to be served on the master of a ship where there is no master and the ship is in Bangladesh, on the managing owner of the ship, or, if there is no managing owner, on some agent of the owner residing in Bangladesh, or where no such agent is known or can be found, by affixing a copy thereof to the mast of the ship

496. Where any document is required by this Ordinance to be executed in the presence of or to be attested by any witness or witnesses, that document may be proved by the evidence of any person who is able to bear witness to the requisite facts without calling the attesting witness or the attesting witnesses or any of them.

497. A Magistrate imposing a fine under this Ordinance may, if he thinks fit, direct the whole or any part thereof to be applied in compensating any person for any detriment which he may have sustained by the act or default in respect of which fine is imposed or in or towards payment of the expenses of the prosecution.