ABSTRACT
Special provisions providing for criminal penalties and deductions from wages are some of the principal distinctions between employment on shore and employment at sea. Under the regulations a disciplinary offence may only be dealt with by the master on board the ship on which it is alleged to have occurred, although this authority may be delegated by the master to another officer whose name must be entered by the master in the log. The master was to provide a report at the end of a voyage on the character of each seaman which might be endorsed on his certificate of discharge. The allegation that the master 'was on a certain date from incompetency unfit to discharge his duties' involves the misconception that the particular incident and incompetency or unfitness to discharge his duties are interchangeable terms. As one might expect, the formal relationship of employer and employee also gives rise to further disciplinary powers connected with the contract of employment.
