(n) any claim in respect of the construction, repair or equipment of a ship or respect of any port dues, fee and other charges to the port authorities under the indian ports act, 1908, as amended from time to time or rates and other charges due under 15 of 1908 the major port trusts act, 1963; 38 0f 1963, (0) notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of sections 150 and 5 151 of the merchant shipping act, 1958, any claim by a master or member of the crew 44 of 1958, of a ship for wages including any sum allotted out of wages or adjudged to be due which may be recoverable as wages; (p)any claim by a master, shipper, charterer or agent in respect of disbursements made on account of a ship; lo (g) any claim arising out of an act which is or is claimed to be in the nature of general average explanation—for the purposes of this clause, "general average" means any extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure voluntarily and reasonably made or incurred in time of peril for the purpose of preserving the ship property imperilled in the common i~ adventure; (p) any claim arising out of bottomry (3) while exercising jurisdiction under clause (b) of sub-section (2), the court may settle any account outstanding and unsettled between the parties in relation to a ship, and direct that the ship, or any share thereof, shall be sold, or make such other order as the court 20 thinks fit (4) the provisions of this section shall apply - spective of the residence or (a) in relation to all ships whether indian or not domicile of owners thereot (6) in relation to all maritime claims, wherever arising (including, in the case of 257 cargo or wreck salvage, claims in respect of cargo or wreck found on land); and (©) 10 all registered mortgages or charges, whether legal or equitable, including mortgages and charges created under any foreign law | conditions    | in    ||---------------|-------|| respect       | of    || claims        | in    || action        | jn    |6 (1) the admiralty jurisdiction of the court shall not be invoked by an action in rem by arrest of a ship, in the case of a ship registered in india as an indian ship, unless six clear 30 days' notice in writing is served upon the registered owner or the master ofthe ship intended to be proceeded against, stating the cause of action and the quantum of claim and the date and time of application to the court for arrest and calling upon the owner or master to provide security for the claim to the satisfaction of the admiralty court in lieu of the arrest and where such a security is provided, the court shall entertain the action without arresting the ship and 357 shall order the arrest of the ship only in the event of failure to provide such security (2) notwithstanding anything contained in this act or any other law for the time being in force, the admiralty jurisdiction of the high court shall not be invoked by an action in rem unless the ship against which the proceedings have been commenced is within the territorial or inland waters of india atthe time of commencement of the proceedings and as such within the jurisdiction of that high court: provided that no such ship shall be arrested unless there is failure to provide security (3) the admiralty jurisdiction of the court shall not be invoked by an action in rem against a vessel arising out ofa breach of contract and a claim in such case may be enforced by an action in personam under this act us 7 (j) the jurisdiction of the court may be invoked by an action in personam in the jurisdiction in personam (i) referred to in clauses (a) to (c) of sub-section (2) of section 5; or gi of maritime lien or charge on any ship or its property including bunker (2) in the case of any such claim as is mentioned in clauses (e) to (r) of sub-section (2) of section 5, where— (a) the claim arises in connection with a ship; and (6) the person who would be liable on a claim in an action in personam (hereinafter referred to as "the relevant person") was, when the cause of action arose, the owner, or charterer, or in possession, or in control, of a ship, admiralty jurisdiction may be invoked (whether or not the claim gives rise to a maritime lien on that ship) by an action in rem against,— (0 that ship, if at the time when the action is brought the relevant person is either the beneficial owner of that ship as respects all the shares in itor the charterer of it under a charter by demise; or (i any other ship of which, at the time when the action is brought, the relevant person is the beneficial owner as respects all the shares in it (3) where, in the exercise of its admiralty jurisdiction, the court orders any ship or its property to be sold, the court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any question arising as to ttle to the proceeds of sale, 8 (/) this section applies to any claim for damage or loss of life or personal injury arising out of— | (a)           | a               | collision    | between    | ships;    | ot    ||---------------|-----------------|--------------|------------|-----------|-------|| qe            |                 |              |            |           |       || restrictions  | on              |              |            |           |       || cntertainment | of              |              |            |           |       || actions       | in              |              |            |           |       || 'personam     | in              |              |            |           |       || collision     | and             |              |            |           |       || 'other        | simi           |              |            |           |       || cases         |                 |              |            |           |       || (b)           | the             | carrying     | out        | of        | or    || cone          | or              | more         | ships;     | or        |       || (c)           | non-compliance, | on           | the        | part      | of    || regulations  |                 |              |            |           |       |nin (2) while exercising admiralty jurisdiction, a court shall not entertain any personam against any defendant unless— (a) such defendant, at the time of commencement of the action, actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain in india: 30 provided that an action may be entertained in any case where there are more defendants than one if the defendant who does not actually and voluntarily reside lr carry on business or personally works for gain in india is made a party to such action either with the leave of the court, or each of such defendants acquiesces in, such institution; of (8) the cause of action, wholly or in part, arises in india, including inland waters of india or within the limits of a port of india; or (c) an action arising out of the same incident or series of incidents is pending, 3s in a court or has been heard and determined by such court; or (d) a ship is beneficially owned or chartered by demise by the defendant and such ship has been arrested and proceedings are pending in respect thereof jr (3) the court shall not entertain any action in personam to enforce a claim to which this section applies until any proceedings previously brought by the plaintiff in any court outside india against the same defendant in respect of the same incident or series of incidents have been discontinued or have otherwise come to an end, us (4) the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) of this section shall apply to counterclaims (except counter-claims in proceedings arising out of the same incident or series of incidents) as they apply to actions, and a reference to the plaintiff and the defendant for this purpose shall be construed as reference to the plaintiff in the counter-claim and the defendant in the counter-claim respectively (3) the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) of this section shall not apply to any action or counter-claim if the defendant submits or agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of 'the court (6) subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), the court shall have jurisdiction to entertain an action in personam to enforce a claim to which this section applies whenever 5 any of the conditions specified in clauses (a) to (d) of sub-section (2), are satisfied and 'where applicable, the rules of the court relating to the service of process outside the jurisdiction shall apply : directions by court 9 notwithstanding anything contained in section 5 of this act, it shall be open to the court in its discretion, at any stage of the proceedings to treat proceedings in rem or |0 in personam, either in whole or in part, and to grant such reliefs and make such directions and orders (including amendments to the pleadings) as it may consider appropriate and just 10 on the sale of a ship by the court in exercise of its admiralty jurisdiction, the ship shall vest in the purchaser free from all encumbrances | vesting      | of        ||--------------|-----------|| rights       | onsale    || of           |           || ship         |           || distribution | of        || sale         | proceeds, |11, (/) in an action in rem, where the court has ordered the property proceeded against to be sold— (a) a notice in the manner provided in sub-section (2) shall be given by the court; and (6) any party which obtains a decree or order against the said property may 20 claim such reliefs as are provided in sub-section (3) (2) for the purposes of clause (a) of sub-section (1), a notice shall be given in one international and one national newspaper as the court may specify containing following particulars, namely:— (a) number of the action; as (6) names of the parties to an action; (©) gross sale proceeds; and (d) the order of priority of the claim to the sale proceeds (2) any party referred to in clause (6) of sub-section (/) may apply to the court by a notice of motion for an order determining the order of priority of the claims against the 30 proceeds of the sale of the property () the court shall determine order of priority of the claim to the sale proceeds on expiration of period of ninety days from the publication of notice under sub-section (2): provided that any party having a claim to the property or the proceeds of sale thereof may apply to the court before the expiry of period of ninety days for leave to 35 intervene and prove claims by filing an action before it or by filing a suit before any other appropriate court before the expiration of that period (5) the court may extend period of ninety days on the application of any party which has instituted proceedings before any other court as provided in sub-section (4) or before the court of competent jurisdiction in india for obtaining a decree against the property yo or proceeds of sale and the said court shall not disburse the sale proceeds or determine priority until thirty days after the disposal of the said suit or action and any appeal therefrom (6) notwithstanding the provisions contained in sub-section (3) above, the court may determine priority among the parties and direct payment out of the sale proceeds on mn by any party which has obtained a decree or order against the ship or its 4s~ property if the court is of the opinion that the claim of the applicant is entitled to priority over the claim in respect of which a suit or action has been instituted: provided that the court shall provide opportunity of hearing to all parties which may have made claims and filed suit or action against the property or sale proceeds within the prescribed period of ninety days or such other period which may be extended by the court before determining priority and directing disbursement out of the sale proceeds order of priority of claims, 12 (1) the order of claims determining inter se priority in an admiralty proceeding shall be as follows:— (2) a claim on any ship or its property including bunker where there is a lo 'maritime lien and action is proceeded against ship or its property; (6) mortgages and charges on a ship or its property where an action is proceeded against ship or its property; (©) all other claims, (2) the priority among the claims inter se with respect to clause (a) of sub-section 15 (1) shall be as follo (a) claims for salvage of life, ship or its property provided that salvage of life shall take priority over other salvages; (6) wages and other sums due to the master or members of crew of the ship in respect of their employment on the ship; 20 (c) (i claims in respect of loss of life or personal injury having a direct connection with the operation of the ship; (i claims for contribution for general average; (iid claims based on tort arising out of physical damage caused by the operation of the ship other than loss or damage to cargo containers and passengers' effects as carried on the ship; (iv) bottom (@ port, canal and other waterway dues and pilotage dues (3) the following principles shall apply in determining the priority of claims inter so— 30 (q) prior claims shall exclude subsequent ones; (6) if there are more claims than one in any category of priority, they shall rank pari passu; (c) claims for various salvages shall rank in inverse order of time when the claims secured thereto accrue; as (d) claims for salvage, port dues, wages and claims in the nature of general average shall take priority over all other claims mentioned in clause (c) of subsection (2) notwithstanding the fact that the claims arose earlier maritime lien13 (1) maritime lien shall attach to a ship or its property in respect of the following, in (@) claim for salvage of life, ship or its property; (6) wages and other sums due to the master or members of crew of the ship in respect of their employment on the ship; (©) claim for loss of tife or personal injury having a direct connection with the operation of the ship; us (@) claim for contribution to general average; (©) port, canal and other waterway dues and pilotage dues; (a claim based on tort arising out of physical loss or damage caused by the operation of the ship other than the loss or damage to cargo, containers and passengers' effects carried on the ship, the date of accrual of such maritime lien being the date on which the operations giving rise to the said claim were performed (2) no maritime lien shall attach to a vessel to secure a claim which arises out of 5" of results fro to (a) damage in connection with the carriage of oil or other hazardous or noxious substances by sea for which compensation is payable to the claimants pursuant to an international convention providing for strict liability, compulsory insurance or any other means of securing such claim; (6) the radio-active properties or a combination of radio-active properties with toxic, explosive or other hazardous properties or nuclear fuel or radio-active products or waste (3) a maritime lien shall stand extinguished on the expiry of one year from the date of its creation under sub-section (/) is provided that the claim, if any, not barred by limitation, may be enforced by an action in personam: provided further that the period of one year may be extended further by the court ifthe claimant of len is unable to commence an action to enforce the lien against the ship or its property for reasons beyond his control, ro proceduce in respect of forcign ships 14, (1) in all actions under this act, the nationality of the ship proceeded against shall be stated in the plaint, and if the ship is a foreign ship, notice or institution of the suit shall be given to the consulate of the state to which the ship belongs (2) statement of service of such notice or a statement that there is no such consulate in the city, shall be made in the affidavit in support of any application for arrest of the 2° ship (3) ifa notice is served on the consulate, a copy of the said notice shall be annexed to the affidavit (4) for the purposes aforesaid, it would be sufficient service if a notice is served fon a consul or any other officer in the consulate 30 protection of owner, demise charterer, 'manager or operator of ships arrested 15, (1) the court may, as a condition of arrest of a ship, or for permitting an arrest already effected to be maintained, impose upon the claimant who seeks to arrest or who has procured the arrest of the ship an obligation to provide such security and upon such terms as may determine, for any loss or damage which may be incurred by the defendant as a result of the arrest, and for which the claimant may be found liable, including but 357 not restricted to the following:— (@) the arrest having been wrongful or unjustified; or (6) excessive security having been demanded and provided (2) where pursuant to sub-section (1), the security has been provided, the person providing such security may at any time apply to the court to have the security reduced, 4 0 modified or cancelled  chapter iil procedure and appeals| code      | of    ||-----------|-------|| procedure | to    || apply,    |       |16, (j) the provisions of the code of civil procedure, 1908 shall apply in all the 5 of 1908 proceedings before the court in so far as they are not inconsistent with or contrary to the us provisions of this act or the rules made thereunder (2) the admiralty court shall have all the powers of a civil court in dealing with any application before it and of passing such interim and other orders as it may consider necessary and appropriate to protect the interests of the parties before it |                | assistance    |   of  ||----------------|---------------|-------|| 5              | of            | 1908  || 17, (1)        |               |       || in             |               |       || pursuance      |               |       || of             |               |       || the            |               |       || provisions     |               |       || of             |               |       || section        |               |       || 140            |               |       || of             |               |       || the            |               |       || code           |               |       || of             |               |       || civil          |               |       || procedure,     |               |       || 1908,          |               |       || the            |               |       || central        |               |       || government     |               |       || shall          |               |       || appoint        |               |       || and            |               |       || publish        |               |       || in             |               |       || the            |               |       || official       |               |       || gazette        |               |       || a              |               |       || list           |               |       || of             |               |       || assessors      |               |       || with           |               |       || such           |               |       || qualifications |               |       || or             |               |       || experience     |               |       || in             |               |       || admiralty      |               |       || and            |               |       || maritime       |               |       || matters        |               |       || as             |               |       || may            |               |       || be             |               |       || prescribed    |               |       || ze             |               |       || (2)            |               |       || the            |               |       || appointment    |               |       || of             |               |       || assessors      |               |       || shall          |               |       || not            |               |       || be             |               |       || construed      |               |       || as             |               |       || a              |               |       || bar            |               |       || to             |               |       || the            |               |       || examination    |               |       || of             |               |       || expert         |               |       || witnesses      |               |       || by             |               |       || any            |               |       || of             |               |       || the            |               |       || parties        |               |       || in             |               |       || any            |               |       || admiralty      |               |       || proceeding    |               |       || (3)            |               |       || the            |               |       || central        |               |       || government     |               |       || may            |               |       || make           |               |       || rules          |               |       || prescribing    |               |       || the            |               |       || qualifications |               |       || for            |               |       || assessors,     |               |       || the            |               |       || nature         |               |       || of             |               |       || duties         |               |       || to             |               |       || be             |               |       || performed      |               |       || by             |               |       || them           |               |       || and            |               |       || the            |               |       || fees           |               |       || to             |               |       || be             |               |       || paid,          |               |       || to             |               |       || them           |               |       || and            |               |       || other          |               |       || ancillary      |               |       || and            |               |       || incidental     |               |       || matters        |               |       || reference      | 9             |       || arbitration,   |               |       |to 18 notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of any other law, it shall be open to the court in admiralty proceedings to refer, with the written consent of the parties, the entire dispute before it or such questions of law or fact raised thereby, as the court may consider necessary, to arbitration and dispose of the dispute or the questions, as the case may be, in conformity with the award unless modified by the court for reasons 15" to be recorded in writing, appeal 19 an appeal shall lie from any judgment, decree or final order of a single judge of the high court or any other court exercising admiralty jurisdiction under this chapter to a division bench of the high court  chapter v20 misceutaneou power to make rales 20 (/) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this act (2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, the central government may regulate by rules, the practice and procedure of admiralty 2f jurisdiction under this act including fees, costs and expenses in such proceedings (3) until rules are made under sub-section (2) by the central government, the existing rules governing the exercise of admiralty jurisdiction in the high courts shall be applicable () every rule made, under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after the rule is 'made, before each house of parliament, while itis in session for a total period of thirty days 30 which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, hat any such modification or annulment shall af be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule 21, (/) the following enactments are hereby repealed— repeal and savings128 13 viet (a) the admiralty offences (colonial) act, 184 2% 23 & 24 vie (6) the admiralty jurisdiction (india) act, 1860; 2s & 28 viet (©) the admiralty court act, 1861; - © 10 $3 s4 viet yo (d) the colonial courts of admiralty act, 1890; 27, 16 of 1891, (©) the colonial courts of admiralty (india) act, 1891; \) the provisions of letters patent, 1865 in so far as they apply to the admiralty jurisdiction of the bombay, calcutta and madras high courts (2) notwithstanding the repeal of any of the enactments mentioned in sub-section us (1), any rule, notification, regulation, bye-law or order previously issued shall, in so far as such rule, notification, regulation, bye-law or order is not inconsistent with any of the provisions of this act or any rule made under section 20, continue in force as if it had been issued or made under the corresponding provisions of this act  statement of objects and reasonsthe admiralty laws in india are based on the british acts which are more than century old while the british acts has been revised from time to time, the admiralty laws applicable to india remained unchanged 2 the maritime industry has been highlighting the need to update india's admiralty laws to be responsive to the needs of the industry and to ensure that the maritime disputes are disposed of expeditiously and effectively 3 the supreme court in its judgment in mv, elizabeth & others vs harwan investment and trading pvt ltd, (st 1992 (2) sc (5) advised on the need to codily and clarify the admiralty laws of the country i also advised 10 update these laws to serve the needs of the shipping industry the matter was, accordingly, referred to the law commission various issues including representations from the shipping industry were examined by the law 'commission in its 15st report tabled in parliament in august, 1995 the law commission recommended for enacting a new admiralty act of india the present proposal is to give effect to the said recommendations, 4, the objective of the proposed admiralty bill is to consolidate and amend the law relating to admiralty jurisdiction of courts, legal proceedings in connection with ships, their arrest, detention and sale and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, itis proposed to enlarge the scope of the legislation to cover claims pertaining to pollution damages, loss of life, personal injury, towage of ships, pilotage of ships, port dues, disbursement made by the ship owners and agents of ships 5, the bill, inter alia, provides for vesting of civil jurisdiction in respect of various types of claims pertaining to shipping industry in high courts, power of supreme court to transfer any proceedings from one high court to another, power of the high court to confer 'admiralty jurisdiction in consultation with the chief justice of india on any principal civil court of the stat, italso spells out admiralty jurisdiction and mode of exercising it, conditions in respect of claims in an action in em, jurisdiction in personam, restrictions on entertainment of actions in cases pertaining to action én personam in collision of ships 6 the bill also makes provisions for vesting of rights on sale of ships, distribution of sale proceeds, order of priority of claim, maritime lien, procedure in respect of foreign ships and protection of owner, demisecharterer, manager or operator of ships arrested, the bill also provides for application of code of civil procedure, assistance of assessors, reference to arbitration and appeal it also confers upon the central government the power to make rules besides provision for repeal of the existing laws on the subject as recommended by the law commission 7 the proposed bill takes into account the needs of the maritime industry and will be conducive to the efficiency and development of the industry 8 the bill seeks to achieve the above stated objectives tlr baalu, new dewi; the 31st march, 2008  memorandum regarding delegated legislationsub-clause (3) of clause 17 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules prescribing the qualifications for assessors, the nature of duties to be performed by them and the fees to be paid to them and other ancillary and incidental matters sub-clause (1) of clause 20 empowers the central government to make mules for carrying out the provisions of the bill sub-clause (2) of clause 20 empowers the central government to 'make rules to regulate the practice and procedure of admiralty jurisdiction including fees, {costs and expenses in such proceedings and al! such rules made under the provisions of the bill are required to be laid in parliament 'the matters in respect of which rules may be made in accordance with the provisions of the bill are matters of procedure and detail and itis not practicable to provide for them in the bill itself, the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of normal character