2060
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 97

REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE EXAMINATION OF ENGINEERS IN THE MERCANTILE MARINE.

PRELIMINARY.

Engineers must have certificates.—“Shipping and Seamen’s Act Amendment Act, 1896,” sec. 7.

1. Under the provisions of “The Shipping and Seamen’s Act Amendment Act, 1896,” every foreign-going ship or sea-going home-trade ship is required to have engineers according to the following scale:—

Indicated horse-power shall be assessed on the average horse-power indicated during the previous six months, as shown by the engineer’s log-book.

For the purposes of this schedule, the expression “terminal ports” means the port from which the steam-ship first takes her departure and the last port at which she calls before commencing her return voyage.

Penalty on engineers serving without certificate, and owners employing engineers without certificate.—S. 28.

2. Every person who is not possessed of a valid certificate appropriate to his grade who suffers himself to be engaged or acts in contravention of law, or who employs any person as engineer without ascertaining that he is at the time entitled to and possessed of a proper certificate, for each offence incurs a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.

Descriptions and grades of certificates.

3. The certificates of engineers are of two descriptions—viz., certificates of competency and certificates of service: and of certificates of competency there are three grades—viz., first-class, second-class, and third-class engineers’ certificates; of certificates of service there are two grades—viz., first- and second-class.

• By a “home-trade ship” is meant one which is employed in trading on the coasts of New Zealand, but not to or from the Chatham Islands, the Auckland Islands, or Campbell Island. By a “foreign-going ship” is meant every ship not included in the term “home-trade ship.”

Certificates of competency granted to persons who pass requisite examinations.—S. 26.

4. 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 the examinations at the following places and times, viz.:—

At Auckland, during the first week in January, May, and September.

At Wellington, during the first week in February, June, and October.

At Christchurch, during the first week in March, July, and November.

At Dunedin, during the first week in April, August, and December.

The examinations will commence on Monday in each case. In cases of emergency the examiners will exercise their discretion as to examining candidates at other than the prescribed periods.

Application, how to be made.

5. The application for examination is to be made on Form Exn. 3, which must be filled up at a Mercantile Marine Office (Customhouse). The Exn. 3, properly filled in, together with the candidate’s indentures of apprenticeship, testimonials, and discharges, must be lodged with the examiner of engineers not later than the day before the day of examination.

Testimonials required.

6. Applicants will be required to produce, in addition to the usual forms of discharge, satisfactory testimonials as to sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct for at least the twelve months immediately preceding the date of application to be examined, and without producing them no person will be examined. If the service has been on shore, the testimonials must be signed by an employer; if at sea, by the master and chief engineer.

7. In cases where a testimonial from the chief engineer, or from the master, is for any sufficient reason not obtainable, one may be submitted from the superintending engineer in place of that of the chief engineer, and one from the managing owner, or secretary, or chairman of a registered company, in place of that of the master; but in every such instance the testimonial must declare that the facts stated are in accordance with the reports made by the chief engineer or the master, as the case may be, or else that the facts are within the writer’s personal knowledge.

Testimonials of foreigners.

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 the ship in which the candidate served belonged, or by some other recognised 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, however, of such proofs will not of necessity be deemed sufficient. Each case must be decided on its own merits; and, if the sufficiency of the proofs given appears to be at all doubtful, the point must be referred to the Marine Department.

Certificate as to age.

9. Should any doubt exist as to the age of a candidate, he will be required to produce a certificate of birth or baptism.

Foreigners to know English.

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.

Verification of services in Mercantile Marine Offices.

11. Statements of services in ships over twenty 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 disappointment will be avoided by candidates getting this verification beforehand.

Verification of services, &c., by articles.

12. Services which cannot be verified by proper entries in the articles of the ships in which the candidates have served cannot be counted.

Service on a lake or river.

13. In addition to the required workshop-time, service on a lake or river, in a steamer in which the aggregate piston-area of the propelling-engines proper amounts to at least 2,000 (two thousand) circular inches, will be accepted towards qualifying a candidate to be examined for a certificate of competency, as follows:—