1: All those who travel upon the Sea are obliged to take the Oath Upon the Deep, for even those who do not shall continue to be bound by it.
2: Piracy and witchery are crimes against all and may be avenged freely. Let them be put to death or left as flotsam for Valritra to avenge. Let those who recover pirated goods or lay hold of a witch be entitled to one-third of what is recovered, but only if the offender be returned to face his accuser.
3: All water aboard a boat will be as if entrusted to the captain. Upon need it will be his to distribute freely to all.
4: Freight is the mother of wages. A merchant shall retain six shares of safely-carried cargo. A captain's pay will include two shares; the mates will divide a share; the carpenters and boatswains will divide a half-share; the crews and cooks will divide a half-share.
5: No passenger is to cook, nor split wood, nor kindle fires aboard a ship.
6: If a passenger comes on board and has gold, let him entrust it to the captain. If he does not entrust it and says: "I have lost gold, or silver," no effect is to be given to what he says, since he did not entrust it to the captain.
7: If a ship is lying in harbor or on a beach, and is robbed of its anchors, tackle, articles or cargo; when the thief is caught and he confesses, he should be flogged and make good the damage he has done twice over, even if he must be pressed into service until the payment is made.
8: If the sailors of a ship, by direction of their captain, steal the goods of a merchant or passenger, let the captain make good the damage twofold to those who were robbed, and let the sailor receive a hundred blows. If the sailor commits the theft of his own accord and is caught and convicted by witnesses, let him be well-beaten. Whatever he has stolen, let him make good the loss to the person robbed.
9: If a captain brings the ship into a place which is infested with thieves and pirates, although the passengers testify to the captain what is at fault with the place, and there is a robbery; let the captain make good the loss to the sufferers. On the other hand, if the passengers bring the ship in, in spite of the captain's protests, and something untoward happens, let the passengers bear the loss.
10: If sailors set to fighting, let then fight with words and let no man strike another. If a man strikes another on the head and opens it, or injures him in some other way; let the first pay the second's fees and expenses and his wages for the whole time he is away from work taking care of himself.
11: If sailors are fighting, and one strikes the other with any object, and one returns the blow; he did it from necessity. If the man who gave the first blow is killed or maimed, it is to go harmless, for he suffered what he wished to inflict.
12: If the captain is deliberating about jettison let him ask the passengers who have goods on board and let them take a vote what is to be done. Let there be brought into contribution the goods; the bedclothes and wearing apparel and utensils are all to be valued; and if jettison takes place, with the captain and passengers the loss should be proportional.
13: If the captain and crew are negligent and there is an injury or wreck, let the captain or the crew be responsible to the merchant for making the damage good. If it is through the merchant's negligence that ship and cargo are lost, let the merchant be responsible. If no default of either captain, crew or merchant, and a loss or wreck occur, what is saved from ship and cargo is to come into contribution.
14: If a man makes a deposit in a ship or in a warehouse, let him make it with a man known to him and 'Worthy of confidence before three witnesses. If the amount is large, let him accompany the deposit with a writing. If the man who agreed to take charge of the deposit says that it is lost, he must show where the wall was broken through or how the theft took place and take an oath there was no fraud on his part. If he does not show it, let him restore the goods safe as he received them.
15: If a man hires a Ship and pays earnest money, and afterwards says: "I have no need of it," he forfeits the earnest money. But if the captain acts wrongfully let him give back to the merchant double the earnest money.
16: Where a man hires a ship, to be binding it must be in writing and signed by the parties, or it is void. Let them also write in penalties if they wish. If they do not write penalties, and there is a breach, either by the captain or the hirer-if the hirer provides the goods. . . let him give half the freight to the captain. If the captain commits a breach, let him give half-freight to the merchant. If the merchant wishes to take out the cargo, he will give the whole freight to the captain.
17: If there is a contract between merchant and captain let it be in writing and binding. If the merchant does not provide the cargo in full, let him provide freight for what is deficient, as they agreed in writing.
18: If in the open sea a ship is overset or destroyed, let him who brings anything from it safe to land receive instead of reward one-fifth of what he saves.
19: If gold or silver or anything else is raised from the sea from a depth of eight fathoms, let the salvor receive one-third. If raised from fifteen fathoms let the salvor have one-half, by reason of the danger of the sea. Where things are cast from sea to land and found there, or carried to within one cubit of the land, let the salvor have one-tenth of what is salved.
20: If there be any persons left afloat it shall be the duty of every captain to return them to the next vicegerency. Fair passage may be charged and a week after landfall given to make good. Those who do not make good may be pressed into service to pay their debt.
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