§11106 Wages on Justifiable Complaint of Seamen

Summary

If a seaman abroad tells a consular officer that the ship broke its agreement because it was poorly supplied, unsafe, or the officers were cruel, the officer must look into it. If the officer agrees the complaint is valid, the ship’s master must pay any unpaid wages plus one month’s extra pay, and the seaman can leave the ship. The master must give the seaman work on another ship or passage to the port where the seaman signed on, to the nearest U.S. port, or to a port the seaman accepts. If a ship does not have enough good food and a seaman had to take less or bad rations, a court can order a fair extra allowance as wages. That does not apply if the seaman willingly failed to work or was lawfully confined for misconduct during that time, unless the cut in rations was unreasonable. It also does not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or to yachts.