Section 119: Recovery of money advanced for distressed seaman

(1)
Where any expenses, other than excepted expenses as defined by this section, are incurred by or on behalf of the Federal Government or are incurred by the Government of any foreign country and repaid to that Government by or on behalf of the Federal Government on account of any distressed seaman:
(a)
for the maintenance, medical expenses, necessary clothing and conveyance of the distressed seaman to a proper return port; or
(b)
in case of death of the distressed seaman for his burial, or otherwise in accordance with this Act, the expenses, together with the wages, if any, due to the distressed seaman, shall be charged upon the ship to which the distressed seaman belonged and shall be a debt due to the Federal Government from the master of the ship.
(2)
For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the master of the ship includes:
(a)
the owner of the ship for the time being; or
(b)
where the ship has been lost, the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss; or
(c)
where the ship has been transferred to persons not qualified to own a registered Nigerian ship, the owners for the time being or the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer;
(d)
in the case of a seaman or cadet who belonged to any foreign ship, the person, whether principal or agent, who engaged the seaman or cadet for service on the ship.
(3)
The debt, in addition to any penalties which may have been incurred, may be recovered by the Minister on behalf of the Federal Government in the court and in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seamen.
(4)
In any proceedings for the recovery of debt under this section, the production of the account, if any, of the expenses furnished in accordance with this Act and proof of payment of the expenses by or on behalf of the Minister or by Minister's direction, shall be sufficient evidence that the expenses were incurred or repaid under this Act by or on behalf of the Federal Government.
(5)
For the purpose of this section, "excepted expenses" means:
(a)
expenses incurred in cases where the certificate of the appropriate officer obtained on leaving a seaman or cadet behind states, or the Minister is otherwise satisfied, that the cause of the seaman or cadet being left behind is desertion, disappearance, imprisonment for misconduct or discharge from his ship by a naval court on the ground of misconduct; and
(b)
expenses incurred on account of the return to a proper return port of a distressed seaman who has been discharged at the port at which he was shipped, or at some neighbouring port.