Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com LIFEBOATMEN'S (QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATES) RULES, 1963 CONTENTS 1. Short title and commencement 2. Definitions 3. Life boatman to be certificated 4. Time and place of examination 5. Eligibility 6. Application for examination 7. Application by shipowner, etc. 7A. Application by shipowner, etc. 8. Obligation to wear Life-jackets 9. Nature of Examination 10. Nature of life-boats and life-rafts used for examination 11. Minimum marks for success in the examination 12. Issue of Certificate 13. Endorsement on Continuous Discharge Certificate 14. Duplicate copy of Certificate LIFEBOATMEN'S (QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATES) RULES, 1963 11. Published in the Gazette in India, 1963, Pt. II, Sec. 3 (i), p. 185. In exercise of the powers conferred by Cl. (h) of sub-section (2) of Sec. 288 and Sec. 344 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) and in supersession of all previous rules and orders on the subject, the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, the same having been previously published as required by sub-section (1) of Sec. 288 of the said Act, namely 1. Short title and commencement :- (1) These rules may be called the Lifeboatmen's (Qualifications and Certificates) Rules, 1963. (2) They shall come into force at once. 2. Definitions :- In these rules (a) "Appendix" means an Appendix to these rules; (b) "Life Saving Appliances Rules" means the rules for the time being in force prescribing the Life Saving Appliances to be carried by Indian ships going to sea; (c) "Principal Officer" means the Principal Officer of the Mercantile Marine Department of the district concerned. 3. Life boatman to be certificated :- Any person who has passed the examination held in accordance with these rules shall be granted a certificate of efficiency as a lifeboatman. 4. Time and place of examination :- (1) The examination shall be conducted by a nautical Surveyor, a Principal Officer, or any Pilot or other person who possesses a certificate of competency as Master of a foreign-going ship and who is specially authorised in this behalf by the Principal Officer at the port of Bombay, Calcutta, 1 [or Madras or the surveyor-in-Charge of the Mercantile Marine Department, Cochin Jamnagar, Mormugao or Visakhapamam]. (2) The date on which, and the time and place at which, the examination shall be held shall be published on the notice board in the office of the Mercantile Marine Department concerned. 1. Subs, by G.S.R. 611, dated 28th March, 1970. 5. Eligibility :- No person shall be eligible to appear for the examination unless he (a) is not less than 18 years of age; (b) is free from any physical or mental disability which would render him unfit for discharging the duties of a lifeboatman; and (c) has had service at sea for not less than six months. 6. Application for examination :- Every candidate for the examination shall apply in the form set out in Appendix 'A' to the officer in charge, Mercantile Marine Department, at the port at which he desires to be examined. Every such application shall be accompanied by1 *** the Continuous Discharge Certificate of the candidate or other document evidencing his sea service. 1. Omitted by G.S.R. 339, dated 14th March, 1974. 7. Application by shipowner, etc. :- 1 (1) Where the owner, agent or master of a ship or a shipping company desires that the members of the crew of a ship should be examined, such owner, agent or master of the ship or the shipping company shall fill in the application forms on behalf of the members of the crew and apply to the Principal Officer, or, as the case may be, the Surveyor-in-Charge of the Mercantile Marine Department of the port at which he desires the members of crew of the ship to be examined. In respect of any such application the responsibility for any statement made therein shall lie on the owner, agent or master of the ship or the shipping company making the application1 ***]. (2) Where the members of the crew of a ship are to be examined not less than 10 members of the crew or such other number as the Principal Officer or the Surveyor-in- Charge of the Mercantile Marine Department may decide, shall be examined. (3) The boat and other equipment required for the conduct of the examination shall be provided by the owner, agent or master of the ship or the shipping company concerned, and the operation of swinging out and the lowering of the boat shall be under the supervision of the ship's officer or other person appointed by the owner, aent or master of the company. 1. Omitted by G.S.R. 339, dated 14th March, 1974. 7A. Application by shipowner, etc. :- 8. Obligation to wear Life-jackets :- Every candidate for the examination shall, during the course of the examination, wear a life-jacket. 9. Nature of Examination :- 1 (1) The examination shall be aimed at testing the knowledge of candidates in the theory and practice of launching and handling of life-boats and life-rafts, operation of life-boats and life-rafts, and survival procedure. (2) The examination shall consist of three parts, namely: (a) operation of swinging out and lowering of life-boats and launching of life-rafts; (b) handling of the life-boat afloat; and (c) use of equipment carried in life-boats and life-rafts and theory and practice of survival procedure. (3) The syllabus for the examination shall be as set out in Part I of Appendix B. (4) The Order of examination shall be as set out in Part II of Appendix B. 1. Subs, by G.S.R 792, dated 7th July, 1973. 10. Nature of life-boats and life-rafts used for examination :- A n y life-boat or inflatable life-raft used for the purpose of the examination shall be a life-boat or a liferaft as specified in and equipped in accordance with the Life Saving Appliances Rules. Any such life-boat used in the examination shall be a motor life-boat which is attached to a set of gravity type davits fitted with wire falls.] 11. Minimum marks for success in the examination :- (1) Each of the three parts of the examination shall carry 5 marks and any candidate who obtains a minimum of three marks in each part and a minimum of ten marks in the aggregate shall be declared successful. (2) The marks obtained by each successful candidate shall be entered in the mark sheet in the form set out in Appendix 'C' and the mark sheet and the application of the candidate with part 'B' thereof duly completed together with the documents in original received with the application shall be forwarded to the Principal Officer. (3) The Principal Officer shall then cause part C of the application to be filled in and forward it to the Director General of Shipping,. 12. Issue of Certificate :- (1) The Principal Officer shall prepare in duplicate the certificate of efficiency as lifeboatman in respect of each successful candidate in the form set out in Appendix 'D'. (2) Every successful candidate shall be required to sign his name in both the copies of the certificate in the presence of the authority delivering the certificate to him; one copy of the certificate shall be delivered to him1*** and the other shall be retained for record in the office of the Principal Officer. (3) All documents in original received with the application shall also be returned to the candidate along with the certificate. 13. Endorsement on Continuous Discharge Certificate :- The Shipping Master, when so required by a seaman holding a certificate to efficiency as lifeboatman, shall endorse the fact in the Continuous Discharge Certificate of the seaman; in every such case, the Shipping Master shall also make the necessary endorsement in the Register of Continuous Discharge Certificates maintained in his office. 14. Duplicate copy of Certificate :- If a Certificate granted under these rules is lost, defaced or mutilated, the Principal Officer may, if he is satisfied that the loss, defacement or mutilation was caused without any fault on the part of the holder of the Certificate, issue a duplicate copy of the Certificate on payment of a fee of Re. 1: Provided that the defaced or multilated certificate shall be surrendered to the Principal Officer or if the duplicate certificate is granted on the ground that the original is lost, the person to whom the duplicate certificate is granted shall surrender the original to the Principal Officer if and when it is subsequently recovered.