(1) The Indian ambassador at or near the place where a seafarer is abandoned shall, on an application being made to him by the abandoned seafarer, provide in accordance with the rules made under this Act for the return of that seafarer to a proper return port and also for his necessary clothing and maintenance until his arrival at such port.
(2) An abandoned seafarer shall not have any right to be maintained or sent to a proper return port except to the extent and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
(3) All repatriation expenses, other than excepted expenses, incurred by or on behalf of the Central Government in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall constitute a debt due to the Central Government for which the ship owner or his agent or the vessel to which the seafarer in respect of whom they were incurred belonged at the time of his discharge or other event which resulted in his becoming an abandoned seafarer shall be liable, and the ship owner or his agent shall not be entitled to recover from the seafarer any amount paid by him to the Central Government in settlement or part settlement of such debt.
(4) All excepted expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Central Government in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall constitute a debt due to the Central Government for which the seafarer in respect of whom they were incurred and the ship owner or his agent or the vessel to which that seafarer belonged at the time of his discharge or other event which resulted in his becoming an abandoned seafarer shall be jointly and severally liable, and the ship owner or his agent shall be entitled to recover from the seafarer any amount paid by him to the Central Government in settlement or part settlement of such debt, and may apply to the satisfaction of his claim so much as may be necessary of any wages due to the seafarer.
(5) All excepted expenses incurred in accordance with the provisions of this Act in respect of any abandoned seafarer by the ship owner or his agent or the vessel to which he belonged at the time of his discharge or other event which resulted in his becoming an abandoned seafarer shall constitute a debt due to the ship owner or his agent for which the seafarer shall be liable, and the ship owner or his agent may apply to the satisfaction of his claim so much as may be necessary of any wages due to the seafarer but he shall not be entitled to recover from the seafarer any repatriation expenses other than excepted expenses.
(6) In any proceedings for the recovery of any expenses which in terms of sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) are a debt due to the Central Government, the production of an account of the expenses and proof of payment thereof by or on behalf of or under the direction of the Central Government shall be prima facie evidence that the expenses were incurred in accordance with the provisions of this Act by or on behalf of the Central Government.
(7) Any debt which may be due to the Central Government under this section may be recovered by any officer authorised by it in writing in this behalf from the person concerned in the same manner as the wages are recoverable under section 86.
Explanation.---For the purposes of this section,---
(a) "excepted expenses" means repatriation expenses incurred in cases where the cause of the seafarer being left behind is desertion or absence without leave or imprisonment for misconduct or discharge from his vessel on the grounds of misconduct;
(b) " repatriation expenses" means expenses incurred in returning an abandoned seafarer to a proper return port and in providing him with necessary clothing and maintenance until his arrival at such port, and includes in the case of a shipwrecked seafarer, the repayment of expenses incurred in conveying him to a port after shipwreck and maintaining him while being so conveyed;
(c) "shipping master" means a shipping master,---
(i) for the port at which the seafarer entered into, or is believed to have entered into, an agreement; or
(ii) where the seafarer did not enter into an agreement in India, for the port to which the seafarer has returned, or is expected to return, on the completion of his latest voyage.