23.—(1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), no person who employs a seafarer on a ship shall require the seafarer to work for a period of 12 months or longer before being entitled to repatriation.
(2) A shipowner shall repatriate a seafarer employed on a ship in the following circumstances:
(a)
where the seafarer’s employment agreement of the seafarer concerned has expired;
(b)
where the seafarer’s employment agreement has been terminated by the seafarer for justified reasons or by the shipowner;
(c)
where the seafarer is no longer able to carry out his duties under his seafarer’s employment agreement or cannot be expected to carry them out, in the following circumstances:
(i)
the seafarer has an illness or injury or other medical condition which requires his repatriation when found medically fit to travel;
(ii)
the seafarer is taken to any country in the event of shipwreck;
(iii)
the shipowner is not able to continue to fulfil his legal or contractual obligations as an employer of the seafarer by reason of insolvency, sale of ship, change of ship’s registration or any other similar reason;
(iv)
the ship is bound for a war zone, as defined by written law or the seafarer’s employment agreement, to which the seafarer does not consent to go;
(v)
termination or interruption of employment in accordance with an industrial award or collective agreement;
(vi)
the seafarer is left behind in any country for any reason.
(3) A shipowner shall repatriate a young seafarer who has served for 6 months, or any shorter period of time as determined under his seafarer’s employment agreement or a collective agreement, without leave on board a ship that has not returned to his country of residence during that time and will not return to his country of residence in the next 3 months.
(4) A young seafarer who is found to be unsuited to life at sea after having served on a ship for at least 4 months during his first foreign‑going voyage, shall be given the opportunity to be repatriated at no expense to himself and in accordance with this section from the first suitable port of call in which there are consular services of Singapore or of the state of his nationality or residence.
(5) A shipowner shall notify the authority of the state which issued the papers enabling the young seafarer concerned to take up seagoing employment, of such repatriation referred to in subsection (4) and the reasons therefor.
(6) A seafarer shall be entitled to be repatriated to any of the following places with which he has a substantial connection:
(a)
the place at which the seafarer agreed to enter into the engagement;
(b)
the place stipulated by an applicable collective agreement;
(c)
the seafarer’s country of residence;
(d)
such other place as may be mutually agreed at the time of engagement;
(e)
such other place as may be determined by the Director as appropriate.
(7) A seafarer shall have a right to choose from among the destinations referred to in subsection (6), the place to which he is to be repatriated.
(8) A seafarer shall be entitled to be repatriated by appropriate and expeditious means.
(9) A shipowner shall bear the costs of repatriating a seafarer in his employment until the seafarer is landed at a destination in accordance with subsection (6), including expenses for such items as may be prescribed.
(10) No person shall require any seafarer to make an advance payment towards the costs of repatriation or be entitled to recover, or to make any deduction for, the costs of repatriation from the seafarer’s wages or other entitlements except where the seafarer has been found after due inquiry by the Director to have been in serious default of his employment obligations.
(11) Where a seafarer referred to in subsection (2)(c)(ii) or (vi) remains in the country mentioned therein after the end of a period of 3 months, the person who last employed him as a seafarer shall not be liable under this section to make provision for the seafarer’s return or for any matter arising after the end of that period, unless he has, before the end of that period, been under an obligation imposed on him under this section to make provision with respect to the seafarer.
(12) Where it appears to the Director that a shipowner is unable to make, has failed to make or fails to continue to make provisions necessary for the repatriation of a seafarer in his employment under this section, the Director may, in his discretion, make such provision and recover from the shipowner any costs and expense incurred by the Director in making such provision.
(13) Nothing in this section shall prejudice any right of a shipowner to recover the costs of repatriation under third-party contractual arrangements.
(14) A shipowner shall cause a legible copy of this section and any regulations relating to the repatriation of seafarers made under this Act in English, and the working language of the ship if it is not English, to be carried on board the ship and to be made available to seafarers.