1874
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 53

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.

Physical defects.

13. When a candidate is observed to be hard of hearing, or is labouring under any other obvious physical defect, the signatories of his testimonials are required to mention that defect specifically, and to state whether it in any way interfered with the efficiency of the candidate as an engineer on watch. When these modified testimonials are such as to completely satisfy the Examiner that the defect is not such as to interfere with the efficient discharge of the applicant’s duties as engineer, the examination is proceeded with; otherwise the case is referred to the Marine Department. Candidates afflicted with nervous impediment in speech may write their answers to viva voce questions.

Testimonials of foreigners.

14. The testimonials of service of foreign engineers, and of British engineers serving in foreign vessels, which cannot be verified by the Registrar of Seamen, 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.

Verification of services, &c., by articles.

15. Service which cannot be verified by proper entries in the articles of agreement of the ships in which the candidates have served cannot be counted.

Foreigners to know English.

16. Foreign engineers 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. In every case before failing a candidate for insufficient knowledge of the English language, the Examiner should refer the matter to the Chief Examiner, who, if the failure be confirmed, will indorse the report on the form Exn. 15.

Verification of services in mercantile marine offices.

17. Statements of services in ships of 25 tons register and over of which the agreements with the crews have been entered into in New Zealand can be verified by the Superintendents of Mercantile Marine Offices if the articles expired before the 7th April, 1905, 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. If the articles expired after the above-mentioned date, they can be verified by the Registrar of Seamen, Marine Department, Wellington. Delay, inconvenience, and disappointment will be avoided by candidates getting this verification beforehand.

Issue of certificate.

18. If the candidate passes, he will receive a form (Exn. 16) authorising the Superintendent of the Mercantile Marine Office to whom it is addressed to issue the certificate. The candidate’s testimonials and other papers will be returned to him when the examination is finished if he fails to pass, and if he passes they will be returned when the certificate is issued to him. It is therefore important that the port at which the certificate is to be issued should be the same on both the form Exn. 16 and the form of application (Exn. 3). If circumstances should make any alteration necessary, the Examiner should see that it is made in both forms, otherwise delay in the issue of the certificate may be caused.

If after passing examination, services are found to have been insufficient.

19. If, after a candidate has passed his examination, it is discovered, on further investigation, that his services are insufficient to entitle him to receive a certificate of the grade for which he has passed, it will not be granted to him; but if the Marine Department are satisfied that the error in the calculation of his services did not occur through any fault or wilful misrepresentation on his part, the certificate may be issued to him, or he may be allowed to go up for re-examination without payment of further fee when he has performed the amount of service in which he was deficient, as the Marine Department may direct.

Re-examination in case of failure.

20. If the candidate fails in practical knowledge, he may not present himself for re-examination until he can produce proofs of three months’ further service at sea as an engineer on watch on the main engines or boilers from the date of failure. If he fails in arithmetic, elementary questions, or drawing only, he may come up again at any time. If a candidate for a third-class certificate fails to pass, he may not present himself for re-examination until after the expiration of three months.

Fees to be paid by applicants for examination.—“The Shipping and Seamen Act, 1903,” section 23.

21. Candidates for examination, in making their application on form Exn. 3, will be required to pay the examination fees before any step is taken towards inquiring into their services or testing their qualifications, &c. If the candidate is found not to be qualified, the fee will either be returned to him or placed to his credit until he is qualified, less any expenses that have been incurred.

How fee to be paid.

22. The fee for examination must be sent to the Chief Examiner at the office of the Chief Inspector of Machinery, Wellington, along with the application, and must be in money or postal notes. If a candidate offers a gratuity to any servant of the Department, he will be regarded as having committed an act of misconduct, and will be rejected, and not allowed to be examined for twelve months, either at the port where the offence was committed or at any other port.

On failure of candidate, fee forfeited.

23. If a candidate fails in his examination, no part of the fee he has paid will be returned to him.