PILOT’S QUALIFICATIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 17756, 17 September 1927, Page 2

PILOT’S QUALIFICATIONS.

SUPREME COURT DECISION.

The Registrar of the Supremo Court at Timaru (Mr A. E. Reynolds), yesterday road Ihe reserved judgment of His Honour Mr Justice Ostler in the originating summons heard at tho last sitting of tho Supremo Court at Timaru, to determine certain qualifications required of a pilot, Captain J. McLaehlan, petitioning against tho Hon. Minister of Marine. Judgment was as follows:

“Clause 7 of tho Regulations, 1918, is in the following words: (1) A candidate for appointment as pilot must be a. British subject and not less than twenty-two years of age, must produce certificates of good conduct and sobriety, also raediegj corn!...;' that he is in good health and not a. 'icted with any bodily infirmity. Hr uist also produce a recent form and. on. ’w test certificate as required by the latest Boai'd of Trade regulations. (2) lie must have served three years in pilotage work and three years at sea, or five years a,t sea (including the recognised Board of Trade equivalent train-ing-ship service, if any) and have served for at least a year, as watchkeeping officer, while holding a certificate not lower than second mate ordinary. In my opinion the true, construction is as follows: —He must have served jtliroe years in pilotage wolrk and three years at sea and have served for at least a year as watch-keeping officer, etc., or he must have served five years at sea (including the recognised Board of Trade equivalent) and have served fop at least a year as a watch-keeping officer, etc. The words ‘and have served’ in my opinion, can he read grammatically only, as additional qualification to each of the two alternative qualifications in the prior part of the paragraph The third question is as to the meaning of the phrase ‘pilotage work’ in tho paragraph. Is the master of a home trade ship trading up and down our cor ’ engaged in pilotage work, because ; t some of the ports of call he has received a pilotage exemption certificate and takes - his ship in and out himse.L In my opinion, while so .acting, a master of a homo trade ship is not serving in pilotage work within tho meaning of tho words nsed in the paragraph. The qualifications demanded are Hiree years at pilotage work and three years at sea. Therefore pilotage 'work is something different from work at sea ‘Pilot’ is defined in section sof the Harbours Act, 1923. as ‘any person not belonging to a ship employed in pilotage service under this Act.’. A somewhat similar definition is contained in tho Harbours Act, 1908. and also in the Shipping and Seamens Act. 1908. Pilotage means the work of a pilot and a pilot is a person who does not belong to a ship. The fact that plaintiff has been granted pilotage exemption certificates at certain ports and that at those ports he takes his vessel in and out without engaging a pilot, does not constitute him a pilot, because lie belongs to tho ship ns its master. Therefore while engaged .as master he cannot at the same time fulfil the additional qualifications required. Pilotage work means work exclusively as a pilot.- The fourth question is as to whether the certificate of a master of a home trade ship is lower in grade than that of a second mato. Plaintiff claims that Ms certificate as master of a home trade ship is not lower than that of a second mat© ordinary. His counsel has referred to the Regulations relating to tho examination of Masters and Mates in proof of this claim. Those Regulations show that a candidate toi mate ordinary can satisfy the necessary qualification of service by serving for'"]- 1 .- years ns mate in a home trace ship or'by serving for one year as a pilot with a first-class pilot’s certificate. But the certificate of second mate ordinary is ono that is recognised throughout the British Empire. L can onlv be obtained after five years service at sea, whereas a candidate foi 'master, homo trade, can qualify after five years’ service merely if extended over'limits without ever having, been In a sea-going ship at all. and the certificate has rH recognition outside New Zealand. For these reasons w mv opinion, tho certificate of a master, home trade, is a lower certificate than that of mate, ordinary. 1 lint being so. plaintiff is not entitled to require the constitution of a Board under clause 5 nllc l 6 of the Regulations 1o examine him as a candidate for a pilot s certificate Judgment would be foi de fendant with costs.”