CHAPTER XX.
SHIP'S BUSINESS.
Modern shipping business is transacted with greater rapidity
than formerly due to the development of telegraphic communication
between ships at sea and land stations, thus enabling the owner
to keep in constant touch with the shipmaster so, nowadays, it is
seldom that the master of a ship is called upon to transact business
as if he were the sole representative of the ship completely cut
off from the shipowner, consignees or agents, and acting on his
own initiative. Most of the business is done by the owners'
authorised agents, who make the necessary arrangements pending
the ship's arrival, and often complete the essential documents
after she has sailed. This is particularly the case in cargo liners
owned by firms that grant through bills of lading from the place of
origin to destination, no matter how far inland they may be, the
forwarding business being transacted by the owners' agents at the
various places of transfer where the goods may be handled. But
the system of examination in the commercial and legal duties of
shipmasters assumes that the candidate is not merely master of the
vessel but, in effect, the owner also, and, as such, he is expected to
approach all matters connected with the transaction of the ship's
business, whether it be of an ordinary or of an extraordinary
character, with prescience, and to act to the best of his ability as
if the ship and cargo were uninsured and belonged solely to himself.
Every shipmaster should have a copy of the Merchant Shipping
Act at hand for reference in cases of doubt or difficulty.
For convenience of reference the following subjects have been
arranged in alphabetical order:—
A. A.—A certificate given to the master of a foreign-going vessel
by the superintendent of the shipping office. It certifies that the
master has engaged his crew and has produced the ship's register,
his certificate, officers* and engineers' certificates, load line certificate,
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