Seamen
Officers’ Certificates of Competency and Service
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Excerpts of the Mercantile Marine Act 1850
Source: An Act for improving the
Condition of Masters, Mates, and Seamen, and maintaining Discipline in the
Merchant Service; General Public Statutes; 13th and 14th
year Victoria; 1850; Cap. 93
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[14th August 1850.] |
That this Act may
be cited as the “The Mercantile Marine Act, 1850…”
26. And be it
enacted, That the “Board of Trade” shall deliver to every Applicant who is
reported by the Local Examiners to have passed the Examination satisfactorily,
and to have given satisfactory Evidence of his Sobriety, Experience, Ability,
and general good Conduct on Shipboard, a Certificate to the Effect that he is
competent to act as Master or Mate, herein-after called a Certificate of
Competency.
27. And it be
enacted, That Persons who have before the First Day of January One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one served as Masters or Mates in the British
Merchant Service, or have attained or hereafter may attain the Rank of
Lieutenant, Master, Passed Mate, or Second Master, or any higher Rank, in the
Naval Service of Her Majesty or of the East India Company, shall be
entitled without Payment of any Fee, to Certificates of Service as Masters or
Mates (as the Case may be), differing in Form from “Certificates of Competency,”
and herein-after called “Certificates of Service;” and each of such
Certificates shall contain Particulars of the Name, Place, Time of Birth, and
of the Length and Nature of the previous Service of the Person to whom the same
is delivered; and the “Board of Trade” shall deliver to any Person who proves
himself to have served as Master in such Manner and before such Time aforesaid,
or to have attained the Rank as aforesaid, and who also gives full and
satisfactory Account of the Particulars aforesaid, a “Certificate of Service”
either as Master or Mate, as he may desire, and shall deliver to any Person who
proves himself to have served as Mate in such Manner and before such Time as
aforesaid, and who also gives a full and satisfactory Account of the
Particulars aforesaid, a “Certificate of Service” as Mate; and the “Board of
Trade” may also, in Cases in which it thinks fit so to do, give Certificates of
Competency in lieu of Certificates of Service to any deserving Persons who have
attained such Rank as above mentioned, or who before this Act comes into
operation have obtained Certificates from the “Board of Trade,” without
requiring them to be examined.
28. And be
enacted, That if any Master or Mate is convicted of a Misdemeanor
under this Act, or is superseded by the Order of a Naval Court constituted as
herein-after mentioned, the “Board of Trade” may thereupon cancel or suspend
his Certificate, whether of Competency or Service; and if the “Board of Trade”
or any Local Marine Board has Reason to believe that any Master or Mate is from
Incompetency or Misconduct unfit to discharge his Duties, such Board may either
institute an Investigation, or if expedient, the “Board of Trade” may direct
the Local Marine Board at or nearest to the Place at which it may be convenient
for the Parties and Witnesses to attend to institute the same; and thereupon
such Persons as the “Board of Trade” may appoint for the Purpose, or, as the
Case may be, the Local Marine Board, shall, with the Assistance of a Local
Stipendiary Magistrate (if any), and if there is not such Magistrate, of a
competent legal Assistant to be appointed by the “Board of Trade,” conduct the
Investigation, and may summon the Master or Mate to appear, and shall give him
full Opportunity of making a Defence, either in Person or otherwise, and may
exercise any of the Powers of procuring Evidence herein-after given to Special
Inspectors appointed by the “Board of Trade,” and shall on the Conclusion of
the Investigation make a Report upon the Case to the “Board of Trade;” and if
such Report is to the Effect that such Master or Mate is, either from
Incompetency, or from habitual Drunkenness, or from tyrannical Habits, unfit to
discharge his Duties, the “Board of Trade” may cancel or suspend his
Certificate, whether of Competency or Service; and every Master or Mate whose
Certificate is cancelled or suspended shall thereupon deliver it to the “Board
of Trade,” or as it may direct; and such Board may at any subsequent Time grant
a fresh Certificate to any Person whose Certificate has been cancelled, and it
may pay the Expense of any such Investigation as aforesaid, and may pay to such
Magistrate or legal Assistant as aforesaid such Remuneration as it may deem
fit: Provided always, that no Person interested in any Ship shall take part in
any Investigation relating thereto or to the Conduct or Competency of any
Master or Mate thereof.
29. And be
enacted, That all Certificates, whether of Competency or Service, shall be made
in duplicate, and one Part shall be delivered to the Person entitled to the
Certificate, and the other shall be kept and recorded by the Registrar of
Seamen or by such other Person as the “Board of Trade” may direct so to do; and
the Board shall give the Registrar or such other Person immediate Notice of all
Orders made by it for cancelling, suspending, altering, or otherwise affecting
any Certificate; and the Registrar or such other Person as aforesaid shall thereupon
make a corresponding Entry in the Record of Certificates; and a Copy purporting
to be certified by the Registrar or his Assistant or by such Person aforesaid
of any Certificate shall be primâ facie Evidence
of such Certificate, and a Copy purporting to be so certified as aforesaid of
any Entry made as aforesaid in respect of any Certificate shall be prima facié Evidence of the Truth of the Matters stated in
such Entry; and in case any Master or Mate proves to the Satisfaction of the “Board
of Trade” that he has innocently lost or been deprived of any Certificate
already granted to him, the Board shall, upon Payment of such Fee (if any) as
it may direct, cause a Copy of the Certificate to which by the Record so kept
as aforesaid he appears to be entitled to be made out and certified as
aforesaid, and to be delivered to him, and any Copy which purports to be so
made and certified as aforesaid shall have all the Effects on the Original.
30. And be it
enacted, That no “Foreign-going Ship” shall go to Sea, unless the Master and
the First and Second Mates or the only Mate (as the Case may be), if engaged to
serve in those Capacities at the Commencement of the Voyage, have obtained and
possess valid Certificates either of Competency or Service appropriate to their
several Stations; and no Officer of Customs shall clear Outwards any such “Ship”
or permit any such “Ship” to proceed to sea unless such appropriate
Certificates are produced to him; and the Tidewaiters left on board shall be
maintained at the Expense of the Master or Owner until such Certificates are
produced, and Clearance may be delayed till such Expense is satisfied.
31. And be it
enacted, That every Person who makes or procures to be made or assists in
making any false Representation for the Purpose of obtaining for himself or for
any other Person a Certificate either of Competency or Service, or who
fraudulently forges or alters, or procures to be forged or altered, or assists
in forging or altering, any such Certificate or any official Copy of any such
Certificate, or who fraudulently makes use of any such Certificate or any Copy
of any such Certificate which is forged, altered, cancelled, suspended, or to
which he is not justly entitled, for each Offence shall either be deemed guilty
of a Misdemeanor, or shall be liable summarily to a
Penalty not exceeding Fifty Pounds, or to Imprisonment not exceeding Three
Months, with or without hard Labour, as the Justice of the Court hearing the
Case may think fit; and every Person who neglects or refusing to give up a
cancelled or suspended Certificate when required by the “Board of Trade” so to
do, or who, having been engaged to serve as Master or as First or Second Mate
or Only Mate of any “Foreign-going Ship,” goes to Sea as such Master or Mate
without being at the Time entitled to and possessed of a valid and appropriate
Certificate, or who employs any Person as Master or Mate of any such “Ship” as
aforesaid knowing him not to be entitled at the Time to a valid and appropriate
Certificate, shall for each such Offence be liable to a Penalty not exceeding
Fifty Pounds.