MARITIME COMMERCE ARTICLE 589.
If two or more persons should be part
TITLE ONE
VESSELS
ARTICLE 573. Merchant vessels constitute property
which may be acquired and transferred by any of the
means recognized by law. The acquisition of a vessel
must appear in a written instrument, which shall not
produce any effect with respect to third persons if not
inscribed in the registry of vessels.
The ownership of a vessel shall likewise be
acquired by possession in good faith, continued for three
years, with a just title duly recorded.
In the absence of any of these requisites, continuous
possession for ten years shall be necessary in order
to acquire ownership.
A captain may not acquire by prescription the
vessel of which he is in command.
ARTICLE 574. Builders of vessels may employ the
materials and follow, with respect to their construction
and rigging, the systems most suitable to their interests.
Ship owners and seamen shall be subject to what the
laws and regulations of the public administration on
navigation, customs, health, safety of vessels, and other
similar matters.
TITLE TWO
PERSONS WHO TAKE PART IN MARITIME
COMMERCE
SECTION ONE
SHIPOWNERS AND SHIP AGENTS
ARTICLE 586. The shipowner and the ship agent shall
be civilly liable for the acts of the captain and for the
obligations contracted by the latter to repair, equip, and
provision the vessel, provided the creditor proves that
the amount claimed was invested for the benefit of the
same.
By ship agent is understood the person
entrusted with provisioning or representing the vessel in
the port in which it may be found.
ARTICLE 587. The ship agent shall also be civilly liable
for the indemnities in favor of third persons which may
arise from the conduct of the captain in the care of the
goods which he loaded on the vessel; but he may
exempt himself therefrom by abandoning the vessel with
all her equipments and the freight it may have earned
during the voyage.
ARTICLE 588. Neither the shipowner nor the ship agent
shall be liable for the obligations contracted by the
captain, if the latter exceeds the powers and privileges
pertaining to him by reason of his position or conferred
upon him by the former. Nevertheless, if the amounts
claimed were invested for the benefit of the vessel, the
responsibility therefor shall devolve upon its owner or
agent.
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owners of a merchant vessel, a partnership shall be
presumed as established by the co-owners. This
partnership shall be governed by the resolutions of the
majority of the members. If the part owners should not
be more than two, the disagreement of views, if any,
shall be decided by the vote of the member having the
largest interest. If the interests are equal, it should be
decided by lot.
The person having the smallest share in the
ownership shall have one vote; and proportionately the
other part owners as many votes as they have parts
equal to the smallest one.
A vessel may not be detained, attached or levied
upon in execution in its entirety, for the private debts
of a part owner, but the proceedings shall be limited to
the interest which the debtor may have in the vessel,
without interfering with the navigation.
ARTICLE 590. The co-owners of a vessel shall be civilly
liable in the proportion of their interests in the common
fund, for the results of the acts of the captain, referred to
in Article 587. Each co-owner may exempt himself from
this liability by the abandonment, before a notary, of the
part of the vessel belonging to him.
ARTICLE 591. All the part owners shall be liable, in
proportion to their respective ownership, for the
expenses for repairing the vessel, and for other
expenses which are incurred by virtue of a resolution of
the majority.
They shall likewise be liable in the same
proportion for the expenses for the maintenance,
equipment, and provisioning of the vessel, necessary for
navigation.
SECTION TWO
CAPTAINS AND MASTERS OF VESSELS
ARTICLE 609. Captains, masters or patrons of vessels
must be Filipinos, have legal capacity to contract in
accordance with this code, and prove the skill, capacity,
and qualifications necessary to command and direct the
vessel, as established by marine or navigation laws,
ordinances, or regulations, and must not be disqualified
according to the same for the discharge of the duties of
the position. If the owner of a vessel desires to be the
captain thereof, without having the legal qualifications
therefor, he shall limit himself to the financial
administration of the vessel, and shall in trust the
navigation to a person possessing the qualifications
required by said ordinances and regulations.
ARTICLE 610. The following powers shall be inherent in
the position of captain, master or patron of a vessel:
1. To appoint or make contracts with the crew in the
absence of the ship agent, and to propose said crew,
should said agent be present; but the ship agent may not
employ any member against the captain's express
refusal.
2. To command the crew and direct the vessel to the port
of its destination, in accordance with the instructions he
may have received from the ship agent.
3. To impose, in accordance with the contracts and with
the laws and regulations of the merchant marine, and
when on board the vessel, correctional punishment upon
those who fail to comply with his orders or are wanting in
discipline, holding a preliminary hearing on the crimes
committed on board the vessel on the seas, which
crimes shall be turned over to the authorities having
jurisdiction over the same at the first port touched.
4. To make contracts for the charter of the vessel in the
absence of the ship agent or of its consignee, acting in
accordance with the instructions received and protecting
the interests of the owner with utmost care.
5. To adopt all proper measures to keep the vessel well
supplied and equipped, purchasing all that may be
necessary for the purpose, provided there is no time to
request instruction from the ship agent.
6. To order, in similar urgent cases while on a voyage,
the repairs on the hull and engines of the vessel and in
its rigging and equipment, which are absolutely
necessary to enable it to continue and finish its voyage;
but if he should arrive at a point where there is a
consignee of the vessel, he shall act in concurrence with
the latter.
ARTICLE 611. In order to comply with the obligations
mentioned in the preceding article, the captain, when he
has no funds and does not expect to receive any from
the ship agent, shall obtain the same in the successive
order stated below:
1. By requesting said funds from the consignee of the
vessel or correspondents of the ship agent.
2. By applying to the consignees of the cargo or to those
interested therein.
3. By drawing on the ship agent.
4. By borrowing the amount required by means of a loan
on bottomry.
5. By selling a sufficient amount of the cargo to cover the
sum absolutely indispensable for the repair of the vessel
and to enable it to continue its voyage.
In these two last cases he must apply to the
judicial authority of the port, if in the Philippines, and to
the consul of the Republic of the Philippines if in a
foreign country, and where there is none, to the local
authority, proceeding in accordance with the provisions
of Article 583, and with the provisions of the law of civil
procedure.
ARTICLE 616. If the provisions and fuel of the vessel
should be consumed before arriving at the port of
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destination, the captain shall order, with the consent of
the officers of the same, the arrival at the nearest port to
get a supply of either; but if there are persons on board
who have provisions of their own, he may force them to
deliver said provision for the common consumption of all
those who may be on board, paying the price thereof at
the same time, or at the latest, at the first port reached.
the captain, and the ship agent may furthermore
discharge him.
ARTICLE 618. The captain shall be civilly liable to the
ship agent, and the latter to the third persons who may
have made contracts with the former;
1. For all the damages suffered by the vessel and its
cargo by reason of want of skill or negligence on his part.
If a misdemeanor or crime has been committed, he shall
be liable in accordance with the Penal Code.
2. For all the thefts committed by the crew, reserving his
right of action against the guilty parties.
3. For the losses, fines, and confiscations imposed an
account of violation of customs, police, health, and
navigation laws and regulations.
4. For the losses and damages caused by mutinies on
board the vessel or by reason of faults committed by the
crew in the service and defense of the same, if he does
not prove that he made timely use of all his authority to
prevent or avoid them.
5. For those caused by the misuse of the powers and the
non-fulfillment of the obligations pertaining to him in
accordance with Articles 610 and 612.
6. For those arising by reason of his going out of his
course or taking a course which he should not have
taken without sufficient cause, in the opinion of the
officers of the vessel, at a meeting with the shippers or
supercargoes who may be on board. No exceptions
whatsoever shall exempt him from this obligation.
7. For those arising by reason of his voluntarily entering
a port other than that of his destination, outside of the
cases or without the formalities referred to in Article 612.
8. For those arising by reason of non-observance of the
provisions contained in the regulations on situation of
lights and maneuvers for the purpose of preventing
collisions.
ARTICLE 620. The captain shall not be liable for the
damages caused to the vessel or to the cargo by force
majeure; but he shall always be so for those arising
through his own fault, no agreement to the contrary
being valid. Neither shall he be personally liable for the
obligations he may have contracted for the repair,
equipment, and provisioning of the vessel, which shall
devolve upon the ship agent, unless the former has
expressly bound himself personally or has signed a bill
of exchange or promissory note in his name.
ARTICLE 622. If while on a voyage the captain should
learn of the appearance of privateers or men of war
against his flag, he shall be obliged to make the nearest
neutral port, inform his agent or shippers, and await an
occasion to sail under convoy, or until the danger is over
or he has received express orders from the ship agent or
the shippers.
ARTICLE 623. If he should be attacked by a privateer,
and, after having tried to avoid the encounter and having
resisted the delivery of the effects of the vessel or its
cargo, they should be forcibly taken away from him, or
he should be obliged to deliver them, he shall make an
entry thereof in his freight book and shall prove the fact
before the competent authority at the first port he
touches.
After the force majeure has been proved, he
shall be exempted from liability.
ARTICLE 624. A captain whose vessel has gone through
a hurricane or who believes that the cargo has suffered
damages or averages, shall make a protest thereon
before the competent authority at the first port he
touches, within twenty-four hours following his arrival
and shall ratify it within the same period when he arrives
at his destination, immediately proceeding with the proof
of the facts, and he may not open the hatches until after
this has been done.
The captain shall proceed in the same manner,
if, the vessel having been wrecked; he is saved alone or
with part of his crew, in which case he shall appear
before the nearest authority, and make a sworn
statement of facts.
The authority or the consul shall verify the said
facts receiving sworn statements of the members of the
crew and passengers who may have been saved; and
taking such other steps as may assist in arriving at the
facts he shall make a statement of the result of the
proceedings in the log book and in that of the sailing
mate, and shall deliver to the captain the original record
of the proceedings, stamped and folioed, with a
memorandum of the folios, which he must rubricate, in
order that it may be presented to the judge or court of
the port of destination. The statement of the captain shall
be accepted if it is in accordance with those of the crew
and passengers; if they disagree, the latter shall be
accepted, always saying proof to the contrary.
ARTICLE 637. Neither may the captain discharge a
seaman during the time of his contract except for just
cause, the following being considered as such:
1. The perpetration of a crime which disturbs order on
the vessel.
2. Repeated insubordination, want of discipline, or non-
fulfillment of the service.
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3. Repeated incapacity and negligence in the fulfillment
of the service he should render.
4. Habitual drunkenness.
5. Any occurrence which incapacitates the seaman to
perform the work entrusted to him, with the exception of
that provided in Article 644.
6. Desertion.
The captain may, however, before getting out on
a voyage and without giving any reason, refuse to permit
a seaman whom he may have engaged to go on board,
and leave him on land, in which case he will be obliged
to pay him his wages as if he had rendered services.
This indemnity shall be paid from the funds of
the vessel if the captain should have acted for reasons of
prudence and in the interest of the safety and good
services of the farmer. Should this not be the case, it
shall be paid by the captain personally.
After the voyage has begun, during the same,
and until the conclusion thereof, the captain may not
abandon any member of his crew on land or on sea,
unless, by reason of some crime, his imprisonment and
delivery to the competent authority in the first port
touched should be proper, a matter obligatory or the
captain.
ARTICLE 639. If the revocation of the voyage should
arise from a just cause independent of the will of the ship
agent and charterers, and the vessel should not have left
the port, the members of the crew shall have no other
right than to collect the wages earned up to the day on
which the revocation took place.
ARTICLE 640. The following shall be just causes for the
revocation of the voyage.
1. A declaration of war or interdiction of commerce with
the power to whose territory the vessel was bound.
2. The blockade of the port of its destination, or the
breaking out of an epidemic after the agreement.
3. The prohibition to receive in said port the goods which
make up the cargo of the vessel.
4. The detention or embargo of the same by order of the
government, or for any other reason independent of the
will of the ship agent.
5. The inability of the vessel to navigate.
ABOITIZ SHIPPING V. CA (G.R. NO. 84458) Consequently, under the foregoing circumstances, the
victim Anacleto Viana is still deemed a passenger of said
Facts: carrier at the time of his tragic death.
Anacleto Viana boarded the vessel M/V Antonia
owned by petitioner Aboitiz Shipping Corp at the port at
San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, bound for Manila. The
vessel arrived at Pier 4, North Harbor, Manila and was
taken over by Pioneer Stevedoring for the latter to
unload the cargoes from the said vessel pursuant to their
Memorandum of Agreement. An hour after the
passengers and Viana had disembarked the vessel the
crane operator began its unloading operation. While the
crane was being operated, Viana who had already
disembarked the vessel remembered that some of his
cargoes were still loaded there. He went back and while
he was pointing to the crew where his cargoes were, the
crane hit him pinning him between the side of the vessel
and the crane resulting to his death. A complaint for
damages was filed against petitioner for breach of
contract of carriage. Petitioner contends that Viana
ceased to be a passenger when he disembarked the
vessel and that consequently his presence there was no
longer reasonable. CA affirmed the trial courts order
holding Aboitiz liable. Hence the petition.

Issue:
Whether or not petitioner is still responsible as a
carrier to Viana after the latter had already disembarked
the vessel.

Ruling:
YES.
The rule is that the relation of carrier and
passenger continues until the passenger has been
landed at the port of destination and has left the vessel
owners dock or premises. Once created, the
relationship will not ordinarily terminate until the
passenger has, after reaching his destination, safely
alighted from the carriers conveyance or had a
reasonable opportunity to leave the carriers premises.
All persons who remain on the premises a reasonable
time after leaving the conveyance are to be deemed
passengers, and what is a reasonable time or a
reasonable delay within this rule is to be determined
from all the circumstances, and includes a reasonable
time to see after his baggage and prepare for his
departure. The carrier-passenger relationship is not
terminated merely by the fact that the person transported
has been carried to his destination if, for example, such
person remains in the carriers premises to claim his
baggage.
The primary factor to be considered is the existence of a
reasonable cause as will justify the presence of the
victim on or near the petitioners vessel. We believe
there exists such a justifiable cause. When the accident
occurred, the victim was in the act of unloading his
cargoes, which he had every right to do, from petitioners
vessel. As earlier stated, a carrier is duty bound not only
to bring its passengers safely to their destination but also
to afford them a reasonable time to claim their baggage.