THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, MARCH 5, 1937.
17. Service in Foreign Vessels.-The testimonials of service of Engineers serving in foreign vessels, which cannot be verified by the Registrar General of Seamen, must be con- firmed either by the Consul of the country to which the ship in which the applicant served belonged, or by some other recognised official authority of that country; or by the testi- mony of some credible person on the spot, having personal knowledge of the facts required to be established. The pro- duction, however, of such proofs will not of necessity be deemed sufficient. Each case must be decided on its merits; and if the sufficiency of the proofs given appears to be at all doubtful, the point must be referred to the Chief Examiner.
18. Calculation of Service. The applicant's service, as shown on his discharges, should be reckoned by the calendar month, i.e., the time included between any given day in any month and the preceding day of the following month, both inclusive. The number of complete' months from the com- mencement of the period, ascertained in this way, should be computed, after which the number of odd days should be counted. The day on which the agreement commences as well as that on which it terminates should both be included and all odd days should be added together and reckoned at 30 to the month.
19. Gaps in Service. The Examiner should be parti- cularly careful to ascertain that there are no gaps in the applicant's service during which his conduct is not properly accounted for, before he is allowed up for examination.
20. Testimonials: Workshop Service.--All applic- ants will be required to produce, in addition to the official discharge certificates, testimonials as to their workshop service and as to their service at sea. The testimonials as to workshop service must be signed by the employer, and must testify to the applicant's conduct and ability, and state what kind of work he was engaged on (e.g. fitting, erecting, turning, machine work, etc.), and for how long. (See rule 35).
21. Testimonials: Sea Service. Every applicant should produce testimonials in respect of the qualifying period of his service signed, in each case, by the Chief Engineer under whom his service has been performed, stating his actual rank on watch, the number of engineers simultaneously on watch on the main propelling machinery, and the nature of the duties performed by him. When the applicant is a Chief Engineer he should produce testimonials signed by the Engineer Superintendent, or by the Managing Owner, or Secretary of the Company. It is desirable that the whole of the applicant's sea service should be covered by testimonials certifying to his sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct, but testimonials will be required for at least the last 18 months at sea preceding the date of the application to be examined.
It is desirable that testimonials signed by Chief Engineers be endorsed by the Master or by the Engineer Superintendent; testimonials signed only by the company's Superintendent or other officials should not, as a rule, be regarded as sufficient..
If, in any case, testimonials appear to have been withheld for improper or inadequate reasons, full particulars should be reported by the Examiner to the Chief Examiner.
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