by LuzA » Wed Oct 23, 2019 12:49 am
Good evening,
Let's see, now, what was regulated about these matters by the international postal laws:
Universal Postal Union / Buenos Aires / 1939
Art 48 - Prepayment of correspondence on board ships
Correspondence mailed on the high seas, in the box on board a vessel, or handed to postal agents on board or to the commanders of vessels, may be prepaid, barring contrary agreement between the Administrations concerned, by means of the postage stamps and according to the postage rates of the country to which the said vessel belongs or by which it is maintained. If the mailing on board take splace during the stay at one of the two terminal ports points of the voyage or at one of the ports of call, the prepayment is valid only if it is effected by means of the postage stamps and according to the postage rates of the country in whose waters the vessel happens to be.
Art 79 - Exchange of closed mails with warships
1. Closed mails may be exchanged between the post offices of any one of the contracting countries and the commanding officers of naval divisons or warships of the same country stationed abroad, or between the commanding officer of one of those naval divisons or warships and the commanding officer of another division or ship of the same country, thru the intermediary of land or sea services of other countries.
2. Correspondence of all kinds comprised in such dispatches shall be exclusively addressed to or sent by the officers and crews of the ships of destination or origin of the mails; the rates and conditions of dispatch applicable to them are determined, according to its domestic regulations, by the Postal Administration of the country to which the ships belong.
Detailed Regulations - art. 143, 4 says, in original french language of the UPU, that "Le timbrage des correspondances déposées sur les navires incombe à l'agent des postes ou à l'officier du bord chargé du service ou, à leur défault, au bureau de poste de l'escale auquel ces correspondances sont livrées à découvert. Dans ce case, le bureau les frappe de son timbre à date et y appose la mention "Navire" "Paquebot" ou toute autre analogue."
LuzA
Postal history and philatelic literature