In re Ritchie

' OLIVER J. CARTER, District Judge.

Petitioner is a seaman who seeks to recover a sum on deposit in the Registry of this Court; the sum represents wages that were due petitioner at the time he left the vessel MS Reef Knot at Yokohama, Japan. The master of the vessel logged petitioner as a deserter and paid his wages into the Registry of the Court, pursuant to 46 U.S.C.A. § 706. That section provides that wages forfeited for desertion are applied first to the payment of any expense incurred by the master or owner by reason of the desertion, and the balance is to be paid by the master to any…