Article 115p. 115

COMMERCIAL LAWS NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS, CORPORATION, INSURANCE, TRANSPORTATION, BANKING

5. Any occurrence which incapacitates the sailor to carry

out the work under his charge, with the exception of the

provisions contained in Article 644.

6. Desertion.

The captain may, however, before setting out on a voyage

and without giving any reason whatsoever, refuse to

permit a sailor he may have engaged from going on

board and may leave him on land, in which case he will

be obliged to pay him his wages as if he had rendered

services.

This indemnity shall be paid from the funds of the vessel

if the captain should have acted for reasons of prudence

and in the interest of the safety and good service of the

former. Should this not be the case, it shall be paid by the

captain personally.

After the vessel has sailed, and during the voyage and

until the conclusion thereof, the captain can not abandon

any member of his crew on land or on the sea, unless, by

reason of being guilty of some crime, his imprisonment

and delivery to the competent authority is proper in the

first port touched, which will be obligatory on the captain.

ARTICLE 638. If, the crew having been engaged, the

voyage is revoked by the will of the agent or of the

charterers before or after the vessel has put to sea or if

the vessel is in the same manner given a different

destination than that fixed in the agreement with the

crew, the latter shall be indemnified because of the

rescission of the contract according to the case, viz:

1. If the revocation of the voyage should be decided before

the departure of the vessel from the port, each sailor

engaged shall be given one month's salary, besides what

may be due him in accordance with his contract, for the

services rendered to the vessel up to the date of the

revocation.

2. If the agreement should have been for a fixed amount

for the whole voyage, there shall be graduated what may

be due for said month and days, calculating the same in

proportion to the estimated duration of the voyage, in the

judgment of experts, in the manner established in the

law of civil procedure; and if the proposed voyage should

be of such short duration that it is calculated at one

month more or less, the indemnity shall be fixed for

fifteen days, discounting in all cases the sums advanced.

3. If the revocation should take place after the vessel has

put to sea, the sailors engaged for a fixed amount for the

voyage shall receive the salary which may have been

offered them in full as if the voyage had terminated, and

those engaged by the month shall receive the amount

corresponding to the time they might have been on

board and to the time they may require to arrive at the

port

of

destination,

the

captain

being

obliged,

furthermore, to pay said sailors the passage to the said

port or to the port of sailing of the vessel, as may be

convenient for them.

4. If the agent or the charterers of the vessel should give

said vessel a destination other than that fixed in the

agreement, and the members of the crew should not

agree thereto, they shall be given by way of indemnity

half the amount fixed in case No. 1, besides what may be

owed

them

for

the

part

of

the

monthly

wages

corresponding to the days which have elapsed from the

date of their agreements.

If they accept the change, and the voyage, on account of

the greater distance or for other reasons, should give rise

to an increase of wages, the latter shall be privately

regulated, or through amicable arbitrators in case of

disagreement. Even though the voyage may be to a

nearer point, this shall not give rise to a reduction in the

wages agreed upon.

If the revocation or change of the voyage should originate

from the shippers or charterers, the agent shall have a

right to demand of them the indemnity which is justly

due.

ARTICLE 639. If the revocation of the voyage should arise

from a just cause independent of the will of the agent or

charterers, and the vessel should not have left the port,

the members of the crew shall not have any other right

than to receive the wages earned up to the day on which

the revocation took place.

ARTICLE 640. The following shall be just causes for the

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 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 order of the

Government, or for any other reason independent of the

will of the agent.

5. The inability of the vessel to navigate.

ARTICLE 641. If, after a voyage has been begun, any of the

first three causes mentioned in the foregoing article

should occur, the sailors shall be paid at the port the

captain may deem it advisable to make for the benefit of

the vessel and cargo, according to the time they may

have served thereon; but if the vessel is to continue the

voyage, the captain and the crew may mutually demand

the enforcement of the contract.

In case of the occurrence of the fourth cause, the crew

shall continue to be paid half wages, if the agreement is

by month but if the detention should exceed three

months, the engagement shall be rescinded and the

crew

shall

be

paid

what they should have earned,

according to the contract, if the voyage had been made.

And if the agreement had been made for a fixed sum for

the voyage, the contract must be complied within the

terms agreed upon.

In the fifth case, the crew shall not have any other right

than be entitled to recover the wages earned; but if the

disability of the vessel should have been caused by the

negligence or lack of skill of the captain, engineer, or

sailing mate, they shall indemnify the crew for the loss

suffered, always reserving the criminal liability which may

be proper.

ARTICLE 642. If the crew has been engaged to work on

shares they shall not be entitled, by reason of the

revocation, delay, or greater extension of the voyage, to

anything but the proportionate part of the indemnity

paid into the common funds of the vessel by the persons

liable for said occurrences.

ARTICLE 643. If the vessel and her freight should be

totally lost, by reason of capture or wreck, all rights of the

crew

to

demand

any

wages

whatsoever

shall

be

extinguished, as well as that of the agent for the recovery

of the advances made.

If a portion of the vessel or freight should be saved, or

part of either, the crew engaged on wages, including the

captain, shall retain their rights on the salvage, so far as

they go, on the remainder of the vessel as well as value of

the freightage or the cargo saved; but sailors who are

engaged on shares shall not have any right whatsoever to

the salvage of the hull, but only on the portion of the

freightage saved. If they should have worked to collect

the remainder of the ship-wrecked vessel, they shall be

given an award in proportion to the efforts made and to

the risks encountered in order to accomplish the salvage.

ARTICLE 644. A sailor who falls sick shall not lose his right

to wages during the voyage, unless the sickness is the

result of his own fault. At any rate, the costs of the

attendance and cure shall be defrayed from the common

funds, in the form of a loan.

If the sickness should be caused by an injury received in

the service or defense of the vessel the sailor shall be

attended and cured from the common funds, there

being deducted before anything else from the proceeds

of the freight, the cost of the attendance and cure.

© Compiled by RGL

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