173. This Chapter shall apply to apprentices as it applies to seamen.

174. The Government may make rules with respect to the relief, maintenance, and return to a proper return port, of ship wrecked seamen and of seamen found otherwise in distress at any place outside Bangladesh, and with respect to the circumstances in which, and the conditions subject to which, seamen may be relieved, and provided with passages, and generally for carrying out the purposes of this Chapter ; and a distressed seaman shall not have any right to be relieved, maintained or sent to a proper return port except in the cases and to the extent and on the conditions provided for in such rules.

175. (1) The Bangladesh Consular Officer at or near the place outside Bangladesh where a seaman is in distress shall, on application being made to him by or on behalf of the distressed seaman, provide, in accordance with rules made in this behalf, for the return of the seaman to a proper port and also for his necessary clothing and maintenance until his arrival at such port. (2) Where any expenses other than excepted expenses are incurred by or on behalf of the Government on account of a distressed seaman either for his maintenance, necessary clothing, conveyance to a proper return port, or in case of death, for his burial, or otherwise in accordance with this Ordinance, those expenses, together with the wages, if any, due to the seaman, shall be a charge upon the ship, whether a Bangladesh ship or not, to which the distressed seaman belonged, and shall be a debt due to the Government from the master of the ship, or from the owner of the ship for the time being, or, where the ship has been lost, from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or where the ship has been transferred to some person not being a citizen of Bangladesh, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer, and also, if the ship be a ship other than a Bangladesh ship, from the person, whether principal or agent, who engaged the seamen for service in the ship. (3) All excepted expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Government in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance shall constitute a debt due to the Government for which the seaman in respect of whom they were incurred and the owner or agent of the ship to which that seaman belonged at the time of his discharge or other event which resulted in his becoming a distressed seaman shall be jointly and severally liable; and the owner or agent shall be entitled to recover from the seaman any amount paid by the owner or agent to the Government in settlement or part settlement of such debt, and may apply to the satisfaction of claim so much as may be necessary to any wages due to the seaman. (4) All excepted expenses incurred in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance in respect of any distressed seaman by the owner or agent of the ship to which the seaman belonged at the time of his discharge or other event which resulted in his becoming a distressed seaman shall constitute a debt due to the owner or agent for which the seaman shall be liable; and the owner or agent may apply to the satisfaction of his claim so much as may be necessary of any wages due to the seaman, but shall not be entitled to recover from the seaman any repatriation expenses other than excepted expenses. (5) In any proceedings for the recovery of any expenses which in terms of sub-section (2) or sub section (3) are a debt due to the Government, the production of an account of the expenses and proof of payment thereof by or on behalf of or under the direction of the Government shall be prima facie evidence that the expenses were incurred in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance by or on behalf of the Government. (6) Any debt which may be due to the Government under this section may be recovered by any Officer authorised by it in writing in this behalf from the person concerned in the same manner in which wages may be recovered by seamen. (7) For the purpose of this section, “excepted expenses” are expenses incurred in cases where the certificate of the proper authority obtained on leaving a seaman behind states, or the Government is otherwise satisfied, that the cause of the seaman being left behind is desertion, or disappearance, or imprisonment for misconduct, or discharge from the ship on the ground of misconduct, or otherwise due to the fault of the seamen.

176. (1) A seaman may be sent to a proper return port by any reasonable route either by sea or land or if necessary by air or partly by anyone and partly by any other of these modes. (2) Provision shall be made for the return of the seaman as to the whole of the route if it is by sea, or as to any part of the route which is by sea, by placing the seaman on board a Bangladesh ship which is in want of men to make up its complement, or, if that is not practicable, by providing the seaman with a passage in any ship, whether a Bangladesh ship or not, or with the money for his passage, and, as to any part of the route which is by land or air, by paying the expenses of his journey and of his maintenance during the journey or providing him with means to pay those expenses. (3) Where the master of a ship is required under this Chapter to provide for the return of a discharged seaman to a proper return port, the master may, instead of providing the seamen's passage or the expenses of his journey or of providing the seaman with means to pay his passage or those expenses, deposit with the Bangladesh Consular Officer such sum as that Officer considers sufficient to defray the expenses of the return of the seaman to a proper return port.

177. (1) The master of a Bangladesh ship shall receive on board his ship and afford passage and maintenance to all distressed seamen whom he is required by the Bangladesh Consular Officer to take on board his ship, and shall, during the passage, provide every such distressed seaman with accommodation equal to that normally provided for the crew of the ship and subsistence proper to the rank or rating of the said distressed seaman: Provided that the master of the ship shall not be required to receive on board his ship a distressed seaman in terms of this section if the Bangladesh Consular Officer is satisfied that accommodation is not and cannot be made available for such seaman. (2) If the master of any such ship, when required so to do under sub section (1), fails or refuses to receive on board his ship, or to give a passage of subsistence to, or to provide for, a distressed seaman, he shall, for each offence be punishable with fine which may extend to five thousand Taka.

178. If in any case, any question arises as to what return port a seaman is to be sent to or as to the route by which he should be sent, it shall be decided by the Bangladesh Consular Officer supervising the repatriation, and in deciding any such question, regard shall be had both to the convenience of the seaman and to the expense involved, and also where that is the case, to the fact that a Bangladesh ship which is in want of men to make up its complement is about to proceed to a proper return port.

179. (1) Where a distressed seaman is for the purpose of his return to a proper port placed on board a Bangladesh ship, the Bangladesh Consular Officer by whom the seaman is so placed shall endorse on the agreement with the crew of the ship particulars of the seaman so placed on board. (2) On the production of a certificate signed by the Bangladesh Consular Officer by whose directions distressed seamen were received on board, specifying the number and the names of the distressed seamen and the time when each of them was received on board, and on a declaration made by the master stating the number of days during which each distressed seaman has received subsistence, the full complement of his crew and the actual number of seamen employed on board his ship and every variation in that number, whilst the distressed seamen received maintenance, the master shall be entitled to be paid in respect of the subsistence and passage of every seaman so conveyed and provided for by him, exceeding the number, if any, wanted to make up the complement of his crew, such sum for each day as the Government may, by rules made in this behalf, allow.

180. In any proceeding under this Chapter, a certificate of the Government or of such officer as the Government may specify in this behalf to the effect that the seaman named therein is distressed shall be conclusive evidence that such seaman is a distressed seaman within the meaning of this Ordinance.