816

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 54

sea from any port in the colony unless the master
thereof, and, in the case of a foreign-going ship, the
first and second mates, or only mate (as the case may
be), and, in the case of a home-trade passenger ship,
the first or only mate (as the case may be), have
obtained and possess valid certificates, either of com-
petency or service, appropriate to their several
stations in such ship or of a higher grade; and
no such ship, if of 100 tons register or upwards,
can legally proceed to sea unless at least one officer
besides the master has obtained and possesses a valid
certificate, appropriate to the grade of only mate
therein or to a higher grade; and every person who,
having been engaged to serve as master, or as first or
second or only mate of any foreign-going ship, or as
master or first or only mate of a home-trade passenger
ship, goes to sea as such master or mate without
being at the time entitled to and possessed of such a
certificate as the Act requires, or who employs any
person as master, or first, second, or only mate, of
any foreign-going ship, or as master or first or only
mate of any home-trade passenger ship, without
ascertaining that he is at the time entitled to and
possessed of such certificate, for each offence incurs
a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.

2. Every certificate of competency for a foreign-
   going ship is to be deemed a higher grade than
   the corresponding certificate for a home-trade pas-
   senger ship, and entitles the lawful holder to go to
   sea in the corresponding grade in such last-mentioned
   ship; but no certificate for a home-trade passenger
   ship entitles the holder to go to sea as master or mate
   of a foreign-going ship.

3. Certificates of competency will be granted to
   those persons who pass the requisite examinations
   and otherwise comply with the requisite conditions.
   For this purpose examiners have been appointed and
   arrangements have been made for holding examina-
   tions.

4. Certificates will only be granted to persons who,
   for a period of three years immediately preceding
   their applications, or for several periods amounting
   together to three years, the earliest of which shall
   have commenced within five years prior to such
   application, have been domiciled in or have served in
   a ship or ships registered in one or more of the fol-
   lowing Australasian Colonies, namely, the Colonies
   on the Continent of Australia, New Zealand, and
   Tasmania. Certificates of competency granted con-
   trary to this rule shall be regarded as improperly
   granted.

5. In order to meet the case of persons not having
   been domiciled as required in paragraph 4, certi-
   ficates will be issued to such persons who shall
   pass the requisite examinations provided for in
   these regulations (with the exception of the ex-
   aminations for extra master, or for the volun-
   tary examination in the deviation of the com-
   pass, or for masters' and mates' voluntary examina-
   tion in steam); but such certificates will not be
   issued under the provisions of Her Majesty's Order
   in Council of the 12th February, 1876, and therefore
   will not be recognized by the Board of Trade. These
   certificates will differ in form from those issued under
   Her Majesty's Order in Council.

6. Candidates for examination must make their
   application upon the appropriate form (Exn. 2),
   which must be filled up at a Mercantile Marine
   Office (Customhouse). The Exn. 2, properly filled
   in, together with the candidate's testimonials and
   discharges, must be lodged with the Superintendent
   of the Mercantile Marine Office not later than the
   day before the day of examination, and the candidate
   must conform to any regulations in this respect which

may be laid down by the Marine Department, as,
if this be not done, delay may be occasioned.

7. Testimonials of character and of sobriety, ex-
   perience, ability, and good conduct on board ship for
   at least the twelve months of service immediately
   preceding the date of application to be examined,
   will be required of all applicants, and without pro-
   ducing them no person will be examined.

8. The testimonials of servitude of foreigners and
   of British seamen serving in foreign vessels, which
   cannot be verified, must be confirmed either by the
   Consul of the country to which such ship in which
   the candidate served belonged, or by some other
   recognized official authority of that country, or by
   the testimony of some credible person on the spot
   having personal knowledge of the facts required to
   be established. The production of such proofs,
   however, will not of necessity be deemed sufficient.
   Each case will be decided on its own merits, and if
   the sufficiency of the proofs given appears to be
   at all doubtful, it must be referred to the Marine
   Department.

9. Should any doubt exist as to the age of a candi-
   date, he will be required to produce a certificate of
   birth.

10. Foreigners must prove to the satisfaction of
    the Examiners that they can speak and write the
    English language sufficiently well to perform the
    duties required of them on board a British vessel.

11. Statements of services in ships over eighty
    tons, of which the agreements with the crews have
    been entered into in New Zealand, can be verified by
    the Superintendents of Mercantile Marine offices,
    and may be obtained on application at such offices
    upon payment of a small fee, the amount of which
    will be regulated by the amount of service required
    to be verified. Delay, inconvenience, and disappoint-
    ment will be avoided by candidates getting this
    verification beforehand.

12. Services which cannot be verified by proper
    entries in the articles of the ships in which the candi-
    dates have served cannot be counted. For instance,
    a man will state his service to have been as second or
    only mate, and to support his assertion will produce
    a certificate of discharge or of employment by the
    master to the effect that he served as mate, when, on
    reference to the articles, it appears that he has
    actually been rated as boatswain; the service in such
    a case will not be regarded as having been in the
    capacity of mate.

13. Whenever a man has, from any cause, been
    regularly promoted on a vacancy in the course of the
    voyage from the rank in which he first shipped, and
    such promotion, with the ground on which it has
    been made, is properly entered in the articles and in
    the official log-book, he will of course receive credit
    for his service in the higher grade for the period
    subsequent to his promotion.

14. Service in the coasting trade may be allowed
    to count as service, in order to qualify a candidate
    for examination for a certificate of competency for
    foreign-going ships, it being understood, however,
    that service in a lower grade than that of first or
    only mate in the coasting trade will not be recognized
    as officer's service. Two years' service as mate in
    the coasting trade, together with at least six months'
    service as master, may be allowed to count as service
    for a master's certificate for foreign-going ships, pro-
    vided the candidate's entire service at sea amounts to
    six years, and his services as mate and master in the
    coasting trade can be proved by the articles, and
    provided he has already passed an examination for
    the foreign trade, unless, under special circumstances,
    the Marine Department see fit to dispense with this
    latter provision.

15. Service in pleasure yachts under 80 tons, if