Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)Chapter IV : Engagement, Discharge, Repatriation, Payment, Discipline and General Treatment of Seafarers and Cadets169. Expenses of medical attendance in cases of injury or illness |
| (1) | If the master or a seafarer of a South African ship receives any hurt or injury or suffers from any illness (not being a hurt, injury or illness due to his or her own willful act or default or to his or her own misbehaviour), resulting in his or her being discharged or left behind at a place other than his or her proper return port, the expense of providing the necessary medical advice, attendance and treatment and medicine, and also the expenses of the maintenance of the said master or seafarer in a manner appropriate to his or her rank or rating, until he or she is cured or dies or is returned to and arrives at a proper return port, and of his or her conveyance to that port, and in case of death the expense of his or her burial, shall be defrayed by the owner of the ship, without any relative deduction from the wages of the master or seafarer concerned. |
[Section 169(1) substituted by section 20 of Act No. 12 of 2015]
| (2) | If the master or seafarer is on account of any illness or injury temporarily removed from his or her ship, at a port other than his or her proper return port, for the purpose of preventing infection, or otherwise for the convenience of the ship, and subsequently returns to duty, the expenses of removal, medical attendance and treatment, and of maintenance while the master or seafarer is away from the ship, shall be defrayed in like manner. |
[Section 169(2) substituted by section 20 of Act No. 12 of 2015]
| (3) | The expenses of all medical attendance and treatment given to a master or seafarer whilst on board his or her ship shall be defrayed in like manner. |
[Section 169(3) substituted by section 20 of Act No. 12 of 2015]
| (4) | In all other cases any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner for any master or seafarer in respect of illness, and also any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner in respect of the burial of any master or seafarer who dies whilst on service, shall, if proved to the satisfaction of the proper officer, be deducted from the salary or wages of the master or seafarer. |
[Section 169(4) substituted by section 20 of Act No. 12 of 2015]
| (5) | Nothing contained in this section shall deprive any person of any benefit to which he may be entitled under Chapter VIII of the Workmen's Compensation Act 30 of 1941 and to which this section does not entitle him. |
| (6) | A seafarer shall not be entitled to receive the same benefit under this section and also under the Workmen's Compensation Act 30 of 1941; but his employer who has incurred any expense under this section which the Workmen's Compensation Commissioner would, but for the provisions of this section, have been liable to defray, shall, if he has paid all assessments for the payment of which he is liable under that Act, be entitled to recover that expense from the Workmen's Compensation Commissioner. |
[Section 169(6) substituted by section 29(i) of Act No. 12 of 2015]
| (7) | In this section the expression "seafarer" includes every person employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship, but in the case of a ship which is a fishing boat, does not include any person who is entitled to be remunerated only by a share in the profits or the gross earnings of the working of the boat. |
[Section 169(7) substituted by section 29(i) of Act No. 12 of 2015]