574 NICHOLLS'S SEAMANSHIP AND NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE
they are offered and accept equivalent employment in another
ship.
Period of Agreement Expiring Abroad.—If the date of term-
ination of the Articles of Agreement occurs when the vessel is abroad,
the Consul may grant an extension of the period, but if not it then
becomes a question of a mutual agreement between the master
and the crew regarding rate of wages. Failing an agreement on the
point, the crew must be repatriated and wages paid up to the date
of their arrival home. $
Deserters.—A seaman is said to be a deserter when he
unjustifiably leaves a ship in the course of a voyage or engagement
without having been discharged and with the intention of not
returning
In the event of any of the crew deserting the ship, notice should
at once be given to the Local Authorities (Police) with a full
description of the men and any other useful information having a
view to their arrest and return to ship. In many places the ship is
liable to a heavy fine if they remain ashore.
Take the Articles to the Shipping Master or Consul and have
them endorsed with a certification that the reason of the men being
left behind is desertion. This is very important, as otherwise the
deserter will probably become classed as a " distressed seaman "
and as such the owner will become liable for repatriation expenses.
Make an entry in the official log book of the fact and details of
the desertion, also a list of the effects left on board and the amount
due on account of wages.
Deserters forfeit all the wages they have earned and any effects
they may leave on board. Their effects must be handed over to
the Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office at the end of the
voyage within 48 hours of arrival, also their wages less all expenses
incurred in engaging substitutes. These expenses must be set out
in a " re-imbursement" account form provided by the Board of
Trade, and should be supported by vouchers whenever possible.
In this account may also be included the amount paid to the
substitutes beyond what the deserters would have earned.
The Consul may order the effects left behind by deserters in a
foreign port to be sold, in which case the amount realised, less the
expense incurred, is handed to the Consul. The master or owners