(1) When a railway administration contracts to carry passengers or goods partly by railway and partly by sea, a condition exempting the railway administration from responsibility for any loss of life, personal injury or loss of or damage to goods which may happen during the carriage by sea from act of God, public enemies, fire, accidents from machinery, boilers and steam and all and every other dangers and accidents of the seas, rivers and navigation of whatever nature and kind shall, without being expressed, be deemed to be part of the contract, and, subject to that condition, the railway administration shall, irrespective of the nationality or ownership of the ship used for the carriage by sea, be responsible for any loss of life, personal injury or loss of or damage to goods which may happen during the carriage by sea, to the extent to which it would be responsible under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958), if the ships were registered under that Act and the railway administration were owner of the ship and not to any greater extent.
(2) The burden of proving that any such loss, injury or damage as is mentioned in sub-section (1) happened during the carriage by sea shall lie on the railway administration.