12. Proceedings in Limitation of Liability.—
The shipowner is entitled to limit his liability on account of the ship to its value in many cases and the General Admiralty Rules promulgated by the Supreme Court provide a very valuable proceeding for this purpose. In substance, whenever an owner is threatened with a multiplicity of suits on account of damage done by his ship, or by a claim or claims in excess of her value, and he is not personally liable on such account, he may file a petition in the proper court and surrender the ship to a trustee or give a bond for her appraised value. All other suits are thereupon stayed and all creditors must present their claims in the proceeding which he has so instituted. In effect, it is a maritime bankruptcy by which the ship, or her value, is surrendered to creditors for pro rata division and the owner goes free from further claims. It is the application of one of the underlying doctrines of the maritime law by which a shipowner, on abandoning the ship, can protect himself from further responsibility on her account.
[32] In admiralty an attorney is called a proctor. The term is being generally abandoned.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
SUMMARY OF NAVIGATION LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES
Jasper Yeates Brinton[33]
| I. | Ship Registry | [228] | ||
| General | [228] | |||
| Registry and Nationality | [228] | |||
| Registry and the Flag | [229] | |||
| Registry and Ownership | [229] | |||
| Vessels Entitled to American Registry | [229] | |||
| Forms of Register, Enrollment and License | [231] | |||
| Restrictions as to Coastwise Trade | [231] | |||
| Procedure for Documenting Vessels | [232] | |||
| 1. | Presentation of Carpenter's Certificate | [232] | ||
| 2. | Surveyor's Certificate of Measurement | [232] | ||
| 3. | Securing and Marking of Official Number | [233] | ||
| 4. | Marking of Official Tonnage | [233] | ||
| 5. | Marking of Name and Home Port | [233] | ||
| 6. | Evidence that Number, Tonnage, Name and Home Port are Properly Marked | [234] | ||
| 7. | Owner's Oath | [234] | ||
| 8. | Master's Oath | [235] | ||
| 9. | Special Oath by a Corporation | [235] | ||
| 10. | Evidence of Outstanding Certificate of Inspection | [235] | ||
| Bill of Sale Not Required on Original Documentation | [236] | |||
| Surrender and Reissue of Documents | [236] | |||
| II. | Recording of Bills of Sale | [237] | ||
| III. | Preferred Mortgages under Merchant Marine Act | [238] | ||
| IV. | Change of Name | [240] | ||
| V. | Entry and Clearance | [241] | ||
| VI. | Shipping Articles | [242] | ||
| VII. | Licensing and Qualifications of Officers | [244] | ||
| VIII. | Qualifications of Seamen | [245] | ||
| Age | [246] | |||
| Service and Physical Qualification | [246] | |||
| Lifeboat Men | [246] | |||
| Language | [246] | |||
| IX. | Nationality of Officers and Crew | [246] | ||
| Officers | [246] | |||
| Crew | [247] | |||
| X. | Wages | [247] | ||
| Advances | [247] | |||
| XI. | Watch and Watch and Work-Day | [248] | ||
| XII. | Provisions for Crew | [249] | ||
| Sleeping Quarters | [249] | |||
| Washing Places | [249] | |||
| Provisions Scale | [249] | |||
| Hospital Accommodations | [250] | |||
| Warm Room and Woolen Clothing | [250] | |||
| XIII. | Personal Injuries to Seamen and Recoveries for Death | [250] | ||
| XIV. | Offenses by Seamen | [251] | ||
| Mutiny, Desertion and Disobedience | [251] | |||
| Miscellaneous Offenses | [252] | |||
| Assistance in Case of Collision | [252] | |||
| XV. | Rules of the Road | [253] | ||
| XVI. | Pilotage | [253] | ||
| XVII. | Length of Hawsers | [254] | ||
| XVIII. | Inspection of Steam Vessels | [255] | ||
| Barges | [255] | |||
| The Certificate of Inspection | [255] | |||
| Manning of Inspected Vessels | [256] | |||
| XIX. | Register Tonnage | [256] | ||
| XX. | Tonnage Taxes | [257] | ||
| XXI. | Navigation Fees | [258] | ||
| XXII. | Annual List of Merchant Vessels | [258] | ||
| XXIII. | Numbering of Undocumented Motor Boats | [258] | ||
| XXIV. | Administration of Navigation Laws | [259] | ||
| Commissioner of Navigation | [259] | |||
| Steamboat Inspection Service | [259] | |||
| Shipping Commissioners | [260] | |||
| XXV. | The Shipping Board | [260] | ||
SUMMARY OF THE NAVIGATION LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES