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Maritime Transport Act 1994

Duties in relation to maritime activity - Duties in relation to crewing

22: Employer’s duties in relation to seafarers of New Zealand ships on overseas voyages

You could also call this:

"What employers of New Zealand ship seafarers must do when sailing overseas"

If you are an employer of seafarers on a New Zealand ship going on an overseas voyage, you have some important duties. You must enter into an agreement with each seafarer before the ship departs, which includes details about their employment. You also need to make sure the seafarer can easily access this agreement on the ship.

You must give your seafarers written notice if you want to end their employment. When the voyage ends, or if a seafarer is left behind due to injury, shipwreck, illness, or being discharged without a reason, you must help them get back to their home country, the port where they were employed, or the port where the voyage started.

If a seafarer asks, you must give them a certificate that says how well they worked and if they did what they were supposed to do. If you do not do what you are supposed to do, the seafarer can claim back the reasonable expenses they had to pay to get back home, which includes things like transportation, accommodation, and food.

You should know what an overseas voyage is, which means a trip to a port outside New Zealand. Reasonable expenses include things like transportation costs, accommodation, and food, from when the seafarer was left behind until they get back home.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM335663.

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"Rules for pleasure boats leaving New Zealand for another country"

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"What ship owners must do to look after their crew"

Part 3Duties in relation to maritime activity
Duties in relation to crewing

22Employer’s duties in relation to seafarers of New Zealand ships on overseas voyages

  1. Every employer of a seafarer on any New Zealand ship, other than a pleasure craft, going on an overseas voyage shall,—

  2. prior to the departure of the ship,—
    1. enter into articles of agreement, in a form approved by the Director as meeting the requirements of the relevant convention and subsection (2), with every seafarer (except the master), in relation to the voyage; and
      1. post the articles of agreement up in a place on the ship easily accessible from the seafarer’s quarters; and
      2. ensure that any termination of a period of employment of a seafarer is by notice in writing; and
        1. make provision on termination of the voyage, or where the seafarer has been left behind by the ship by reason of—to return each seafarer to his or her own country, or to the port where that seafarer was employed, or to the port where the voyage commenced, or to such other place (if any) as may be agreed between the employer and the seafarer; and an employer of a seafarer shall be deemed to have made adequate provision under this paragraph if the seafarer has been provided with suitable employment on board a vessel proceeding to one of the foregoing destinations; and
          1. injury sustained during his or her employment on the ship; or
            1. shipwreck; or
              1. illness, which is not due to the seafarer’s own wilful act or default; or
                1. discharge for any cause for which the seafarer cannot be held responsible,—
                2. provide to the seafarer, if requested by the seafarer, a certificate as to the quality of the seafarer’s work and whether the seafarer has fully discharged his or her obligations under any articles of agreement with the employer.

                  1. The articles of agreement shall include a statement that the agreement shall be terminated by—

                  2. mutual consent of the employer and the seafarer; or
                    1. death of the seafarer; or
                      1. loss or total unseaworthiness of the ship.

                        1. A seafarer on a New Zealand ship may recover from the seafarer’s employer, or any agent of the employer, the reasonable expenses incurred by the seafarer in returning to his or her own country, or to the port where the crew member was employed, if the employer of that seafarer does not comply with the employer’s obligations under subsection (1)(c).

                        2. For the purposes of this section,—

                          overseas voyage means a voyage to a port outside New Zealand

                            reasonable expenses means all reasonable transportation charges, accommodation, and food expenses, in respect of the period commencing when the seafarer was left behind and ending with the end of the return journey; and includes maintenance in respect of the period commencing when the seafarer was left behind and ending with the time fixed for the seafarer’s return journey departure.