The captain is the supreme commander of this ship. In China, the captain and chief engineer, first mate, second mate, third mate, big tube wheel, big tube wheel, big tube wheel and big tube wheel are called senior crew members. The same is true of Germany, Japan and other countries. In Britain, America and other countries, the captain does not belong to the crew, but as a profession alone. Captain is also a professional title in China, "Captain" is an intermediate title and "Senior Captain" is a senior title.
In our country, many non-seafarers' occupations are mostly or must be held by people with the qualification of captain, such as maritime surveyor, maritime department of shipping company or international shipping management company, person in charge of shipping department, designated personnel, etc.
Captain's obligation
In a broad sense, it refers to all the obligations that the captain should undertake according to the contract and the law. In a narrow sense, it only refers to the obligations of the captain stipulated in the Maritime Law, so it is also called the legal obligations of the captain.
The specific provisions of the maritime laws of different countries on the obligations of the captain are not exactly the same, but the basic contents are the same. Mainly includes:
(1) Ensure the personal and property safety of the personnel on board. The master must take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of navigation, maintain order on board and prevent any damage to the ship, cargo or personnel on board. This obligation corresponds to the command of the captain;
(2) Save lives. When the captain receives a distress signal or finds someone in distress at sea, he should try his best to help the victims as long as there is no serious danger to the ship, crew and passengers. The captain who violates this obligation will bear legal responsibility;
(3) finally leave the ship. When deciding to abandon the ship, the captain must take all measures to let the passengers leave the ship safely before allowing the crew to leave the ship. The captain himself should leave the ship last, and try to rescue the navigation log, engine log, radio log, nautical charts, documents and valuables.
(4) Obligation to prepare and send maritime reports. When a ship is involved in an average accident, the captain shall take all possible measures to prevent the damage from expanding, and make a report on the average accident, which shall specify the detailed course of the accident and submit it to the relevant shipping administration organ that first arrived at the port after the accident. The report of general average accident shall be accompanied by written certificates of two or more crew members or informed passengers on board at the time of the accident;
(5) Treatment after ship collision. After the collision of ships, the captain of each colliding ship shall direct the crew to rescue another ship, crew and passengers, and immediately notify the other party of the ship's name, port of registry, port of origin and port of destination, and pay attention to collecting relevant evidence.