326. Submersion of load line of ships other than Indian ships. -
The provisions of section 313 shall apply to ships other than Indian ships, while they are within any port in India as they apply to Indian ships subject to the following modifications, namely:-(a)[ no ship belonging to a country to which the Load Line Convention applies being an existing ship of one hundred and fifty tons gross or more or being a new ship of twenty-four metres or more in length shall be detained and no proceedings shall be taken against the owner or master thereof by virtue of the said section except after an inspection by a surveyor as provided by section 323; and](b)the expression "the appropriate load line" in relation to any ship other than an Indian ship shall mean-(i)in the case of a ship in respect of which there is produced on such an inspection as aforesaid a valid international load line certificate, [or, as the case may be, an international load line exemption certificate] [ Inserted by Act 25 of 1970, Section 13 (w.r.e.f. 21.7.1968).] the load line appearing by the certificate to indicate the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the Load Line Convention, to be loaded;(ii)in any other case, the load line which corresponds with the load line indicating the maximum depth to which the ship is for the time being entitled under the load line rules to be loaded, or, if no load line on the ship corresponds as aforesaid, the lowest load line thereon.
