Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
P. vi., Сн. xix.
BOTTOMRY.
27З
State or Elective Consul of the district in which his ship is then lying,
requesting his authority to do so, and mentioning that he is acting
in conformity with the regulations as above. The Consul must
immediately appoint surveyors to examine the provisions or to ascertain
the extent of the damage and the necessity for repairs, and to estimate
the cost of such repairs. The captain will then, if the necessity is
proved, be permitted to borrow, on a bottomry bond, a sum not
exceeding that fixed by the surveyors.1 The obligation on the part of
the captain to apply to the Consular Officer for permission to effect a
bottomry loan, only exists in ports where Russian Consular Officers
reside. In other places there is no such obligation.2
In Consular practice, the manner in which a bottomry loan is
effected is as follows :—
The captain, accompanied by his agent or broker, presents himself
at the Consulate for a preliminary consultation. The duty of the
Consular Officer is then to ascertain the necessity for the loan and the
circumstances which have led the captain to fix the amount of the
loan at a certain sum ; to find out whether the owners are aware of
the captain’s intention or not, and whether he has been empowered
by them to contract the loan, either by a formal power of attorney or
otherwise, or whether he has the consent of their local agents. These
preliminaries settled, the day and hour are fixed for negotiating the
loan, an advertisement is inserted in the local papers, and the agent
or broker is instructed to give notice, on ’Change, to persons who
engage in such transactions. On the day appointed, the persons
interested assemble at the Consulate, and it is the duty of the Consul
to negotiate the loan on the most satisfactory terms for the captain
and owners. After settling the question of the seaworthiness, &c.,
of the vessel, the nature of the voyage, the method and date of
repayment of the loan, &c., the Consul’s chief concern is, firstly, to fix
the rate of exchange at which the sum advanced on the mortgage is
to be repaid, if the currency at the place of destination of the vessel is
different, and secondly to stipulate for as low a premium or rate of
interest for the loan as possible. The efforts of the Consul in the
owner’s interests are most important, as the captain, through ignorance
of the language and inexperience of such transactions, and from the
difficulties of his position, is often very helpless in carrying out the
negotiations.
A satisfactory understanding having been arrived at, a deed of
agreement is drawn up by the Elective or State Consular Officer in
the Consular book, in the presence of the captain, his broker or agent,
and the lender. This deed of agreement should state the causes and
circumstances of the loan, and all the conditions agreed upon, i.e. an
exact declaration of the route to be followed by the ship, a statement
of the changes, if any, in the crew, made by the desire of the lender,
the quantity of provisions necessary (for what period of time), the
rate of exchange at which the loan is made, the amount of interest on
the loan, the character of the mortgage (whether ship, freight and/or
1 Cons. Reg., Art. 68.
2 Opinion of the Commission appointed in 1903 for the Revision of Laws
relating to Shipping.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
