Officers and Crew of the Vessel

 Sailing Mate’s Qualification

1. Possess the qualifications required by the
marine or navigation laws or regulations.
2. Not to be disqualified in accordance
therewith for the discharge of the
position.
 Sailing Mate
• The second in command of the vessel and takes
over in case of disability of the captain.
• Duties:
• He is mandated to provide himself with charts of
the seas in which he will navigate and to keep a
Binnacle Book.
• Like captain, he is responsible for damages to the
vessel and cargo due to his own negligence or
want of skill in addition to criminal liability.
 Conflict between Master and Sailing Mate
(Authority vs Technical Knowledge)
• Formalities to be observed by the sailing
mate:
1. He shall state to the captain the proper
observations in the presence of the other officers;
2. Should the captain disagree, the sailing mate
shall make the proper protest signed by him and
by one other officer in the logbook;
3. Thereafter, the sailing mate shall obey the
captain.
 Second Mate
 The second mate is the third in command,
takes over only in case of disability of the
captain and the sailing mate.
 Assumes the powers and responsibility in
case of captain or sailing mate’s
disqualification.
 Engineers
 Classes of Engineers:
1. Marine engineer- who may be either a chief
engineer, second engineer, third engineer or fourth
engineer.
2. Motor engineer- who may be either a chief motor
engineer, second motor engineer, third motor
engineer, bay river and lake engineer, or fourth
engineer.
 Responsibility for negligence of engineer
Engineers are officers of the vessel and they can give
orders and intervene ONLY in cases pertaining to the
engine or motor apparatus of the vessel.
 The Crew
• As to nationality
(Art 634) provides that the crew MUST be four
fifth Filipino except in foreign ports;
That in case of insufficiency of Filipino sailors in
foreign ports, the captain MAY complete the crew
with foreign sailors with the CONSENT of the
consul or marine authorities
 Same was already amended by subsequent
legislation and the Presidential Decrees on
Philippine Flag Ships and Dual Registry and Tariff
Custom Code of the Philippines.
 Meaning of Complement and Crew
 Complement of the ship refers to all the persons
on board, from the captain to the cabin boy,
necessary for the management , maneuvers, and
service , and consequently, the complement
includes the crew, the sailing mates, engineers,
stokers, and other employees on board not
having specific designations except passengers or
persons whom the vessel is transporting.
 Crew refers to the aggregate of seamen who man
a ship or vessel, including the master and officer.
 Nature of Seaman’s Contract
 A seaman’s contract has a nature of LEASE OF
SERVICE. One binds himself to render services in
the vessel in consideration of compensation
stipulated and the ship agent or owner has
agreed to keep him in the vessel and pay him the
amount stipulated for his work or services.
 For foreign bound seaman, the contract of
manning must conform with the Standard
format of service agreement approved by the
POEA.
 Kinds of Seaman’s Contracts
1. For each voyage
Fixed compensation for the entire amount of
voyage regardless of its duration.
2. By the month
Compensation is fixed at a certain amount per
month, for as many months as the voyage may
take.
3. On share or on freight
Payment is part of the resultant profits of the
voyage.
 Formalities Required for Seaman’s Contract
• Seaman’s agreement for overseas duty:
1. It must be in writing and in accordance with
the Standard Contract of the POEA;
2. It must be signed by the parties;
3. It must be approved by the POEA;
4. It must be read to the seamen concerned.
 Discharge of Seaman
• If the contract does not fix a period, a seaman may not be
discharged without just cause until the end of the voyage.
•If discharge is for valid cause, it seems reasonable implication of
law that a seaman shall receive only the wages earned as of the
time discharge.
•If discharge is prior to the commencement of voyage, the captain
may refuse a seaman to go on board and leave him on land.
•If discharge is made after the commencement of the voyage, the
captain may not abandon the seaman except for the following
reasons:
•a. Perpetration of a crime
•b. Repeated insubordination
•c. Repeated incapacity and negligence
•d. Habitual drunkenness
•e. Any occurrence which incapacitates the seaman to perform the work
entrusted to him.
•f. Desertion
 Seaman’s Right to Rescind Contract
• A seaman cannot ordinarily rescind his
contract except by reason of legitimate
impediment which may have occurred to him.
Nor may have transfer from the service of one
ship to another without the written
permission from the captain. Effects are:
1. The second contract shall be void.
2. The captain may compel him to perform his first
contract, or at his expense to look for a person to
substitute him;
3. He shall lose the wages earned on his first contract.
 Revocation of Voyage
• Article 638 applies to two cases
1. Where voyage is revoke by the ship agent or of
charterers without cause;
2. Where the destination is changed by the will of
the ship agent with just cause.
 Articles 639 to 641 apply to the revocation of the
voyages from a just cause independent of the
will of the ship agent or the charterers.
 Just Causes for Revocation of the Voyage
1. A declaration of war or interdiction of commerce
with the power to whose territory the vessel was
bound.
2. The blockade of the port of its destination , or
the breaking out of an epidemic after the
agreement.
3. The prohibition to receive in said port the goods
which make up the cargo of the vessel.
4. The detention or embargo of the same by the
government, or for any reason independent of
the ship agent.
5. The inability of the vessel to navigate.
 Arbitrary Revocation Before and After
Commencement of the Voyage
• Revocation without just cause before sea voyage
contemplates two cases:
1. Where the contract fixes a monthly compensation-
a discharge sailor shall be entitled to the wages he has
earned plus indemnity of one
month’s salary.
2. Where the contract fixes an amount for the whole
voyage- the sailor shall be entitled to the wages he
has earned, and the equivalent of one month’s salary,
both of which amounts shall be computed to the
approximate number of days of the voyage should
have lasted.
•Revocation without just cause after the vessel has
put to sea covers two cases:
1. Where the contract fixes a compensation by
one month- the discharged member of the crew shall
received the amount that he might have earned had
the vessel proceeded to the port of destination, plus
the passage to said port or to the port of sailing of the
vessel.
2. Where the contract fixes an amount for
the voyage- the seaman shall receive the entire
amount fixed for the voyage, plus the passage to the
port of destination or to the port of sailing of the
vessel, as may be convenient to him.
 If Vessel and Cargo are Lost
•Article 643 states that if the vessel and her cargo should
be totally lost, by reason of capture or wreck, all rights
shall be extinguished, both as regards the crew to
demand any wages, whatsoever, and as regards the ship
agent to recover the advances made.
•This was amended by Employees’ Compensation under
Labor Code under which the loss of the vessel does not
extinguish the ship owner’s liability to pay compensation
for the death of or injuries to the member of the crew.
•Under Salvage Law, the crew is not entitled to reward for
the salvage of their vessel because it is the duty of the
master and crew to save their own ship.
Preference Between Seamen on Salvage and
Freightage
 When there are seamen engaged on
wages and others engaged in shares, under the
law, the former exclude the latter as to the
proceeds from the salvage of the vessel,
because the latter group is entitled only to their
part of the freightage of the cargo saved. But
the law also recognizes the right of preference
of the former group to the freightage of the
cargo saved. Neither one of them could exclude
the other. The most logical solution therefore is
to divide the freightage between the two
groups.
 Seamen Falling Sick
• A seaman who falls sick shall not lose his right to
wages unless his sickness is the result of his own fault.
Cost of attendance and cure will come from common
funds in the form of a loan.
•If injury is a result of a service or defense of a vessel,
attendance and cure shall be deducted from the
common funds/ the proceeds of the freightage.
•Contractual stipulations containing renunciation of
benefits, limitation or reduction of wages in case of
sickness or injury would be void.
 If Seaman Dies
 If seaman should die during voyage, wages earned and
not received according to his contract and the cause of
death will be given to his heirs.
Contract may be:
1. On wages
2. For fixed sum for the whole voyage
3. On shares
Cause of death may be:
1. Natural
2. In the defense of the vessel
Ship owner is not liable if seaman commits suicide except
in case of mental alienation which is incumbent upon the
heirs of the deceased to prove.
 Lien on Vessel
Engines, rigging, equipment and freight shall
be liable for the wages of the crew engaged
per month or per trip, liquidation and
payment to take place between one voyage
and the other.
After a new voyage has been begun, credits
on such kind pertaining to the preceding
voyage shall lose their preference.
 When Crew freed from Obligations
Officers and Crew of the Vessel shall be free from
obligations in the following cases:
1. If before commencing the voyage, the captain
attempts to change it, or if there a naval war with
the nation to which the vessel was destined.
2. If a disease should breakout and be officially
declared an epidemic in the port of destination.
3. If the vessel should change owner or captain.

Rescission of contract is allowed before the voyage

but not after the voyage.
 Supercargoes
Persons who discharges administrative duties
assigned to him by ship agent or shippers,
keeping an account and record of
transactions required in the accounting book
of the captain.