ARTICLE XXIV—OF THE REGISTRY OF VESSELS.

 

§630.  No vessel shall be entitled to be registered in this Kingdom, or to be deemed a Hawaiian vessel, and entitled to the privileges appertaining thereto, unless such vessel be wholly owned by a subject or subjects of this Kingdom; provided, however, that any vessel fitted out for the prosecution of the whale or seal fishery, may be registered in the name of any part owner of such vessel, actually domiciled in this Kingdom, whether a subject or not.

 

§631.  Upon application made to the Collector-General of Customs, pursuant to the terms of the last preceding section, in writing and under oath, setting forth the name and description of the vessel, whether the same is domestic or foreign built, and if foreign built, how acquired, accompanied by the evidences of title, said Collector-General shall cause such vessel to be measured, and her tonnage correctly ascertained, according to the mode hereinafter prescribed.

 

§632.  Either of several owners of a vessel may make application for her registry, but he shall set forth in his application the share of each owner respectively.

 

The six hundred and thirty-second section of the Civil Code is hereby amended by adding thereto the following words:

 

“Such application must be accompanied by the certificate of some competent person to be chosen by the Collector-General, that the vessel applied for is seaworthy, and in good order, otherwise no register will be granted.  The fee for such certificate shall be three dollars.

 

§633.  The tonnage of every vessel shall be ascertained as follows:  If such vessel be double-decked, take the length thereof from the fore part of he main stem, to the after part of the stern-post, above the upper deck, the breadth thereof, at the broadest part above the main wales, half of which breadth shall be accounted the depth of such vessel; then deduct from the length three-fifths of the breadth, multiply the remainder by the breadth, and the product by the depth, divide this last product by ninety-five, and the quotient thereof shall be deemed the true tonnage of such vessel.  If such vessel shall be single-decked, take the length and breadth, as above directed, in respect to a double-decked vessel, deduct from the length three-fifths of the breadth, then, take the depth from the under side of the deck-plank to the ceiling in the hold, multiply and divide as aforesaid, and the quotient shall be deemed the tonnage of such vessel.

 

§634.  Upon application being made for the registry of any foreign built vessel, unless such vessel shall have been sold under a judicial decree of some court of this Kingdom, the Collector-General shall notify the Minister of Foreign Affairs of such application; and it shall be the duty of said minister to inquire, officially, of the accredited representative, or consul, if such there be in this Kingdom, of the nation to which said vessel belongs, whether any legal impediment exists to her registry; and upon receipt of a reply, he shall communicate the same to the Collector-General, for his guidance.

 

§635.  The collector-General shall, upon ascertaining the tonnage of any vessel intended to be registered, and being satisfied that no legal impediment exists to her registry, proceed to register the same in his office, as aHawaiian vessel, and shall issue to the applicant therefor a certificate of such registry, in the following form:

 

No___

  

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that pursuant to the laws of the Hawaiian Islands, the ________, of ___ tons, whereof ________,  a ________, is owner (or if several owners, setting forth the name and share of each) and being ________ rigged, having ___ Masts, (here further describing her) has been duly registered as a Hawaiian vessel, at the Custom House in Honolulu, and is therefore entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining to Hawaiian vessels, whether in the ports of this Kingdom, or those of other nations, or upon the high seas.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and official seal, at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands this ___ Day of ________, A. D., 18___

(L.S.) _________                                                                                         

Collector-General of Customs.

 

§636.  Upon the registration of any vessel, as provided in the last preceding section, the Collector-General shall exact from the party applying for such registry, a bond with good and sufficient surety, to be approved by said Collector-General, in the penal sum f not less than two hundred dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars, as shall be graduated by the Collector-General I proportion to the tonnage of the vessel, conditioned that the certificate of such registry shall be solely used for the vessel for which it is granted, and shall not be sold, lent, or otherwise disposed of, to any person whomsoever; and that in case said vessel (if the same be not a vessel employed in the whale or seal fishery) shall become either wholly or in part, the property of any alien foreigner or foreigners, or in case she shall be lost, taken by an enemy, burnt or broken up, the said certificate of registry shall be returned to the said Collector-General within six months after such change of ownership, loss, capture, burning or breaking up: provided, however, that in case of capture, burning or loss, the obligors in such bond shall be exonerated from liability thereon, upon satisfactory proof to the Collector-General that such certificate of registry could not be preserved.

 

§637.  Every vessel duly registered as in this article provided, shall be deemed in law a Hawaiian vessel, and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining to domestic vessels.  The certificate of registry of such vessel shall be prima facie evidence of the ownership and nationality thereof.

 

§638.  Whenever any foreign built vessel shall have been newly registered by the Collector-General of Customs, he shall notify the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and at the same time forward to said minister the foreign register of such vessel, or in default thereof, a statement of such information as he may possess, in respect to the disposition which has been made of such register.  Upon receiving such foreign register, or information relating thereto, the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall transmit the same to the accredited representative, or consul, if such there be in this Kingdom, of the nation to which such vessel formerly belonged, and shall notify such representative, or consul, of the new registration of the said vessel.

 

§639.  The collector-General shall preserve in his office a duplicate of each certificate of registry granted by him, and in case of the loss, or destruction of any such certificate, he shall furnish, upon the application of the owner of the vessel, to which such certificate belonged, and at his expense, a certified copy of the duplicate original, which copy shall possess the same weight and validity as the original certificate.

 

§640.  It shall be the duty of the Collector-General to keep a record of all transfers, by sale or otherwise, and all mortgages, or hypothecations, of any Hawaiian registered vessel, or any part thereof; and no such transfer, mortgage or hypothecation, shall be valid or effectual unless made by a written instrument, nor until such instrument shall have been deposited with said Collector-General for record.  The time of such deposit shall be noted by said Collector-General, or his deputy, upon the back of every such instrument respectively, and the same shall be deemed to have been recorded from that time; provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall not be held to apply to bottomry bonds, and other hypothecations of a like nature, made in a foreign country.

 

That Section 640 of the Civil Code be and the same is hereby amended by adding thereto the following words:

 

“To entitle such transfers, mortgages, or hypothecations to be recorded, they must be acknowledged by the party or one of the parties executing the same, before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments under the laws of this Kingdom.  And for the better carrying into effect the provisions of this Act, the Collector-General of Customs and his deputy are also authorized to take acknowledgments in such cases and charge the sum of one dollar for each party signing.”

 

§641.  Every transfer of a registered vessel, or any part thereof, when duly made and recorded as prescribed in the last preceding section, shall entitle the transferee, being a Hawaiian subject, or otherwise entitled to the right of registry of such vessel, to all the rights and interests of the original registered owner, in respect to such vessel and registry.

 

§642.  Upon the payment or discharge of any mortgage, or hypothecation, upon a registered vessel, or any part thereof, it shall be the duty of the mortgagee or pledgee, or his lawful representative, to execute and deliver to the mortgagor or pledger a release duly acknowledged, which shall be entered of record by the Collector-General; or to cancel the same upon the record by written entry of satisfaction thereon, under penalty of a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, for every such neglect or refusal, and under a further liability to pay all damages occasioned thereby.

 

§643.  In case of the transfer, mortgage, or hypothecation of a registered vessel, or any part thereof, it shall be the duty of the owner or owners of such vessel to produce her certificate of registry, to the Collector-General, within three ays thereafter, or if the vessel be not at the time within the Kingdom, then immediately after her return; and the Collector-General shall note in brief, such transfer, mortgage, or hypothecation, upon the back of said certificate.  Upon a violation of the provisions of this section, every such vessel shall be liable to seizure, condemnation and sale.

 

§644.  Whenever any certificate of registry is given up to the Collector-General, upon the transfer of the vessel to which such certificate belonged, he shall, before re-issuing such certificate with his endorsement of transfer thereon, or before granting a new certificate of registry to such vessel, exact of the owner or owners, the bond prescribed by Section 636.

 

 

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