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This agreement made this ........ day Ofc... ss by and between the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corp., party of the first part, here- inaiter called the corporation, and of i hg ea , party of the second: part, hereinafter called the agent, witnesseth: Whereas, the corporation is operating the vessel and certain other vessels and desires ee ee Now, therefore, it is agreed as follows: First. The. corporation hereby appoints the agent as its agent for the operation of the vessel .......... and such other vessels as the corporation has as- signed and may from time to time assign to the agent for such purpose. “Second. The corporation will provide and pay for all provisions, wages, and consular shipping and dis- charging fees of the master, officers, and crew; and for all the cabin, deck, engine room, and other neces- sary stores; and will maintain the vessel in a thoroughly efficient state in hull, machinery and equipment, for and “during” service. Third, the agent— — (a) Shall act as such agent and operate the ves- sels in such trade or service as the corporation shall from time to time direct, the agent being at all times subject to the orders of the corporation as to voyages, cargoes, priorities of cargoes, charters, rates of freight and other charges, and as to any and all matters arising out of or connected with the use of the vessels. (b) Shall, as agent for the corporation, provide and pay for all the fuel, fresh water, stevedoring, port charges, pilotages, agencies, commissions, con- sular charges, except those pertaining to the master, officers and crew, and all other expenses which are usually borne by a time charterer of a vessel. : (c) Shall exercise due diligence to see that all freight is prepaid, except when otherwise instructed by the corporation, or where the prevailing customs under the particular circumstances of the specific voyage and trade from a foreign or dependency port are to the contrary, in which case freight may e made payable at destination in accordance with the usual practice. All freight in cases where cargo is perishable or not worth the freight charges must be prepaid. (d) Shall issue or cause to be issued to shippers, without prejudice to the terms of the charter party covering any vessel operated hereunder, customary LANS of the government for handling its large fleet of bear the main expenses of operation whereas the ship operator will obtain S SY . — aT ancy tr mca ce ay ae 0 perating Agreement freight contracts and bills of lading, and shall exer- cise due diligence to see that such documents con- tain all exemptions and stipulations usual to the particular trade or service in which the vessel may be engaged, and reserve to the corporation a lien upon all cargoes for the payment of freight, primage charges, dead freight, demurrage, forward- ing charges, advance charges for carriage to port of shipment, for contributions in general average and special charges on cargo, and for all fines or damages which the vessel or cargoes may incur by reason of illegal, incorrect, or insufficient marking or addressing of packages, or description of their contents, and make the shipments subject to custo- mary war clauses, to the act of congress of Feb. 13, 1893, known as the “Harter act,” and to a pro- vision that all general average shall be settled, unless otherwise directed by the corporation, at New York in accordance with York-Antwerp rules of 1890, and Antwerp rule of 1903, and where they are not sufficient, in accordance with the rules and customs in such matters at the port of New York, and also subject to the following clause: “Tf the owner of the ship shall have exer- cised due diligence to make said ship in all respects seaworthy and _ properly manned, equipped and supplied, it is hereby agreed that in case of loss, damage, danger or disaster resulting from fault or negligence of the pilot, master or crew, in the navigation or manage- ment of the ship, or from latent or other de- fects or unseaworthiness of the ship whether existing at the time of shipment or at the be- ginning of the voyage, or on the voyage, but not discoverable by due diligence, the owner shall not be liable therefor, and the consignee or owners of the cargo shall not be exempt from liability for contribution in general aver- age, or for any special charges incurred, but with the ship owner shall contribute in general average and shall pay such special charges as if such loss, damage, danger or disaster had not resulted from such fault, negligence, latent or other defect, or unseaworthiness.” (e) Shall collect all freights and other money due the corporation, advance all funds for all ex- penses properly to be paid by him as agent for the vessel other than requisition hire, and take proper general average security. (f) Shall hold all money collected on behalf of the corporation, and shall deposit the same in na- tional banks, or banks which are members of the United States ‘Federal Reserve association, as a separate trust fund, to be designated “ (name of agent) Shipping Board Fund,” and shall not. j (Onay= 5 wr A WY DY } D 4 4 ae Z 1s the cabin, deck, engine room, and other necessary stores; and will main- — merchant vessels are gradually , being disclosed. The first step taken will be to turn “released” vessels over to private American lines to operate on a commission basis. An agency agreement was proposed by. the. ship- ping board last summer, but was «re- vised after the signing of the armis-. tice with Germany at the solicitation of the ship operators. Under the new plan of operation the government will a set fee for his administration of the boats. The Emergency Fleet corporation will bear the expenses of “all the fuel, fresh water, stevedoring, port charges, pilotages, agencies, commis- sions, consular charges.” The Emer- gency corporation also will pay for . te all provisions, wages and consular shipping and discharging fees of the master, officers and crew; and for all 84 tain the vessel in a thoroughly effi- cient state in hull, machinery and equipment.” 3 An agency fee will be allowed the. operator in the following amounts: A-—On the outbound movement from — United States ports: (1) On general cargo: 2% per cent on avere,e freight rate of $5 or less per ton. 21%4 per cent on average freight