To prevent the possible spread of communicable diseases on board vessels that may arise from improper handling of dead bodies, the following requirements are hereby promulgated for compliance by all inter-island shipping companies:

a)      In case of death at sea, the dead should be enveloped in a sheet saturated with one of the strong disinfecting solutions and at once buried at sea or placed in a coffin and satisfactorily sealed.

b)      If burial at sea is not done, the remains should be kept in a suitable area far from passenger accommodations, galleys and messrooms.

c)      Remains should be disembarked at the nearest port of call for embalming or burial if it will take more than 24 hours to reach its port of destination.

d)      The remains when landed should be accompanied by a death certificate duly accomplished.

Adopted: 8 March 1960

(SGD.) J. C. AZURIN
Colonel, B. Q.
Director of Quarantine

Effective: 8 March 1960