[CHAPTER 316-1ST SESSION] (H. R. 3576] AN ACT To make effective the provisions of the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title 52 of the Revised Statutes is amended by inserting after section 4438 thereof a new section designated section 4438a, to read as follows: "SEC. 4438a. (1) That the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936 (International Labor Organization Draft Convention Numbered 53, concerning the minimum requirement of professional capacity for masters and officers on board merchant ships'), as ratified by the President on September 1, 1938, with understandings appended, and this section shall apply to all vessels, however propelled, navigating on the high seas, which are registered, enrolled and licensed, or licensed under the laws of the United States, whether permanently, temporarily, or provisionally, including yachts enrolled and licensed, or licensed, with the exception of "(a) ships of war; "(b) Government vessels, or vessels in the service of a public authority, which are not engaged in trade; (c) wooden ships of primitive build, such as dhows and junks; "d) unrigged vessels; "(e) all vessels of less than two hundred gross tons. "(2) All laws in effect on the effective date of this section covering the issuance, duration, renewal, suspension, and revocation of licenses of masters, mates, chief engineers, and assistant engineers be, and they are hereby, made applicable to the issuance, duration, renewal, suspension, or revocation of licenses of masters, mates, chief engineers, and assistant engineers of all vessels to which the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936, and this section apply, to such extent and upon such conditions as may be required by the regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce: Provided, That examinations for licenses of masters, mates, chief engineers, and assistant engineers of fishing vessels, not subject to the inspection laws of the United States, shall be oral: Provided further. That applicants for licenses as masters, mates, chief engineers, and assistant engineers of fishing vessels not subject to the inspection laws of the United States shall not be required to obtain a certificate from the United States Public Health Service based upon the subject of ship sanitation, and first aid. "(3) Any license issued (whether before, or on, or after, the effective date of this section) to a master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer of a vessel to which this section applies shall be deemed to be a certificate of competency for a master or skipper, navigating officer in charge of a watch, chief engineer, or engineer in charge of a watch, respectively. "(4) No person shall be engaged to perform, or shall perform on board any vessel to which this section applies, the duties of master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer unless he holds a license to perform such duties, issued in accordance with the provisions of subsection 2 of this section: Provided, That a license as master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer of vessels subject to this section may be issued without examination at any time prior to October 29, 1941, to any applicant who has had sufficient practical experience in the position for which he applies to be licensed and has no record of any serious technical error against him: Provided further, That no person to whom a license as master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer is issued without examination may serve under authority of that license as master, mate, chief engineer, or assistant engineer on any vessel subject to the inspection laws of the United States. "(5) It shall be unlawful to engage or employ any person or for any person to serve as a master, mate, or engineer on any such vessel who is not licensed by the inspectors; and anyone violating this section shall be liable to a penalty of $100 for each offense. "(6) If any collector of customs has reason to believe, on complaint or otherwise, that a vessel subject to this section and to the regulations established thereunder is about to proceed to the high seas from a port in the United States or any Territory over which the United States exercises jurisdiction, except the Philippine Islands and the Panama Canal Zone, in violation of any provision of this section or of any provision of the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936, he may, by written order served on the master or officer in charge of such vessel, detain her until such time as this section shall have been complied with. Clearance shall be refused to any vessel which shall have been ordered detained. If the vessel be ordered detained the master may, within five days, appeal to the Secretary of Commerce, who may, after investigation, affirm, set aside, or modify the order of the collector. "(7) Foreign vessels to which the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936, applies shall be subject to such inspection, within the jurisdiction of the United States, except the Philippine Islands and the Panama Canal Zone, as may be necessary to determine that there has been a compliance with the terms of the convention, and in case of any breach of the provisions of the convention by such vessel the collector of customs may, by written. order served on the master or officer in charge of such vessel, detain her and refuse clearance to her until such time as the convention shall have been complied with; the collector shall also immediately notify the consul of the country in which the vessel is registered. If the vessel be ordered detained the master may, within five days, appeal to the Secretary of Commerce, who may, after investigation, affirm, set aside, or modify the order of the collector. "(8) No provision of the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936, or of this section, shall apply to any vessel of the United States of less than two hundred gross tons, nor shall any provision of that convention or this section be deemed to alter, amend, or repeal any statute of the United States in effect on the effective date of this section with regard to any such vessel. "(9) The Secretary of Commerce shall establish such regulations as may be necessary to secure the enforcement of the provisions of this section by any officer of the United States authorized to enforce the navigation or inspection laws of the United States. "(10) The Secretary of Commerce or any officer of the Department of Commerce authorized by the Secretary of Commerce may, upon application therefor, remit or mitigate any fine or penalty incurred under this section or any regulation thereunder. "(11) No provision of the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936, nor of this section, shall apply to any vessel, however propelled, navigating on the Great Lakes. "(12) Where used in this section (a) the term 'high seas' means all waters outside the line dividing the inland waters from the high seas, as defined in section 2 of the Act of February 19, 1895; "(b) the term 'unrigged vessel' means any. vessel that is not self-propelled. "(13) Nothing contained in the Officers' Competency Certificates Convention, 1936, nor in this section, shall be deemed to extend any provision of section 2 of the Act of March 4, 1915, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. IV, title 46, sec. 673), or to alter, modify, or repeal any statute of the United States in effect on the effective date of this section, except as hereinbefore provided. "(14) This section shall become effective on October 29, 1939: Provided, That licenses may be issued by boards of local inspectors in accordance with the provisions of this section at any time prior to such date. "(15) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section." Approved, July 17, 1939. [CHAPTER 409-18T SESSION] [H. R. 6076] AN ACT To provide for the registry of pursers and surgeons as staff officers on vessels of the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be registered staff officers in the United States merchant marine in the following grades: (1) Chief purser, (2) purser, (3) senior assistant purser, (4) junior assistant purser, and (5) surgeon. The Secretary of Commerce (in this Act called the Secretary) shall register, and issue certificates of registry to, qualified individuals applying for registry in such grades, as hereinafter provided, and every such individual when so registered and serving in the staff department on a vessel of the United States shall rank as a staff officer on such vessel. Officers registered under the provisions of this Act and pursers' clerks shall constitute a separate and independent department on vessels of the United States to be known as the staff department under the charge of the senior registered purser on such vessel, who shall be responsible solely to the master. On oceangoing vessels licensed to carry more than one hundred passengers, such officer in charge of the staff department shall be a registered chief purser; and whenever more than three persons are employed in the staff department on such vessels, exclusive of surgeons, there shall be a minimum of one registered senior assistant purser and one registered junior assistant purser in such staff department. No person shall be eligible for registry as a staff officer under the provisions of this Act who is not a citizen of the United States. SEO. 2. No applicant for registry under the provisions of this Act shall be required to take an examination to qualify therefor, but the Secretary shall require satisfactory proof of good character, citizenship, and such minimum periods of service as he shall deem necessary to establish the requisite knowledge, skill, and experience to qualify applicants for the respective stations. Applicants for registry as surgeon shall be required to possess a valid license as physician and surgeon issued under the authority of a State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia. SEC. 3. Each staff officer receiving a certificate of registry under the provisions of this Act shall make oath or affirmation before an officer empowered to administer oaths, to be designated by the Secretary, that he will faithfully and honestly perform all the duties required of him by law. No such staff officer shall be required to obtain any other certificate of service or efficiency or behavior as a condition of service in such capacity other than as herein provided. SEC. 4. (a) Staff officers registered under the provisions of this Act who are members of the Naval Reserve Corps shall wear on their uniforms such special distinguishing insignia as may be approved by the Secretary of the Navy. (b) The uniform stripes, decoration, or other insignia to be worn by such officers shall be of gold braid or woven gold or silver material, and no member of the ship's crew other than such staff officers shall be allowed to wear any uniform with such staff officer's identifying insignia. SEC. 5. (a) It shall be unlawful to employ any person or for any person to serve in any grade or perform the duties of any grade specified in section 1 of this Act on any such vessel of the United States designated therein unless he shall be in bona fide possession of a certificate of registry, issued under the provisions of this Act, as an officer in such grade; and anyone violating this provision shall be liable to a penalty of $100 for each offense: Provided, That in the event no registered staff officer is available and obtainable at the time of sailing, the vessel may sail with an unregistered staff officer or without any staff officer: Provided further, That such staff officer shall not be included in the vessel's inspection certificate. (b) Any staff officer registered under the provisions of this Act who shall change by addition, interpolation, or erasure of any kind, any certificate of registry referred to in this section shall have his registry and his certificate of registry revoked and be punished by a fine of not more than $100: Provided, That the provisions of this Act shall not apply to any vessel of the United States operated on bays, sounds, inland waterways, and lakes, other than the Great Lakes, or to passenger ferries and car ferries operated on the Great Lakes. (c) Any registry or certificate of registry issued under the authority of this Act to any staff officer shall be suspended or revoked upon satisfactory proof of bad conduct, inattention to his duties, or the willful violation of any provisions of this Act applicable to him, in the same manner and with like procedure as is provided in the case of suspension or revocation of licenses of officers under the provisions of section 4450 of the Revised Statutes, as amended. SEC. 6. The sixth paragraph of section 4596 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "Sixth. For assaulting any master, mate, pilot, engineer, or staff officer, by imprisonment for not more than two years." SEC. 7. The Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 8. As used in this Act the term "vessel of the United States" shall mean any vessel registered, enrolled, or licensed under the laws of the United States, but shall not include a fishing or whaling vessel or a yacht. SEC. 9. The provisions of section 5 (a) of this Act shall take effect one year from the date of the enactment of this Act. Approved, August 1, 1939. 62555 O-60--23 |