2986

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 67

109. Certificate, Meaning of.—By the word “certificate” is meant a certificate of competency granted by the Board of Trade under the Merchant Shipping Acts, or by the Government of a British self-governing dominion, colony, or possession under an Order in Council issued in pursuance of the Merchant Shipping Acts, and under the Shipping and Seamen Act, 1908. (See Appendix N.)

110. Certificates, Colonial Local.—The holder of a colonial local certificate for foreign-going ships not granted under the Merchant Shipping Acts who desires to be examined for an Imperial certificate of the same grade must prove that he has performed the amount of service required by these regulations to entitle him to hold such a certificate. Also, he must comply with the requirements of para. 15.

111. Certificates, Foreign-going.—Where a foreign-going certificate is required in order to qualify a candidate for examination the certificate may be either an ordinary certificate, or a certificate for fore-and-aft-rigged vessels, or a certificate for foreign-going steamships.

112. Officer’s Service.—For the purposes of these regulations service as first mate means service as the senior of the three watch-keeping officers on board a ship; service as second mate means service as the next in seniority; and so on. For instance, service as junior or auxiliary first mate, or as first mate under a “chief officer,” will count as first mate’s service if the chief officer did not keep a watch, but otherwise will count as second mate’s service. Similarly, service as junior or auxiliary second mate, or as second mate below an auxiliary first mate, will count as second mate’s service if there were only one watch-keeping officer above him, but otherwise will count as third mate’s service. The facts in each case must be clearly established by the candidate’s testimonials.

For the definition of “watch-keeping service” see para. 116.

113. Officer’s Service in Possession of Certificate.—Officers’ service, to be recognized as qualifying for purposes of examination, must be performed with the requisite certificate (Appendix K).

Officer’s service performed by men who have been duly promoted during the course of a voyage (see para. 117), or who, in consequence of serving in vessels plying between ports abroad, have been unable to obtain the necessary certificates, may, however, be recognized, provided that such service is in all other respects satisfactory.

114. Nature of Service determined by Actual Position on Board Ship.—Sea service in the foreign or home trade cannot be regarded as qualifying for examination for certificates of competency unless it can be verified by reference to the articles of the ship on which it was performed—e.g., service claimed by testimonial or otherwise to have been as mate when the actual rating as shown by the articles was only that of boatswain or other petty officer will not be accepted where officer’s service is required.

115. Foreign Vessels, Evidence as to Service in.—The testimonials of service of British officers and seamen serving in foreign vessels, which cannot be verified by the Marine Department, must be confirmed either by the Consul of the country to which those foreign vessels 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, however, of such proofs 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 Principal Examiner.

116. In Charge of a Watch: First Mate.—When service in charge of a watch in either the foreign or coasting trade is specified in the regulations, candidates for certificates of competency as first mate must be able to prove that during eight months at least of their service they have kept full regular watch during the whole voyage—i.e., from port to port—which, if in the foreign trade, must amount to not less than eight hours of each twenty-four hours’ service. Where a candidate can prove eight months of such full service, service performed in cases where watches were doubled at any time during the voyage will be accepted as equivalent to half the same period of full watch-keeping service. No amount of occasional service will, by itself, be accepted as qualifying service.

Master.—Candidates for certificates of competency as master will be required to have served during the whole of the time specified by the regulations in full charge of a watch, and no service performed