When you get back

Korero (AEWS), Volume 3, Issue 2, 26 February 1945, Page 14

When you get back

POSSIBLE JOBS FOR SERVICEMEN

SEAFARING CAREERS The opportunities for an ex-service-man to go to sea are very few, and any course of study with this object in view must be embarked upon with extreme caution and only after exhaustive inquiries about the possibility of a position in the particular kind of work contemplated. It is hoped to reinstate as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities those who, prior to the war, were employed in the mercantile marine, and to this end the British Officers’ Merchant Navy Federation has submitted a memorandum to the Minister of War Transport. A copy of this memorandum may be seen at the office of the New Zealand Merchant Service Guild, 109 Customhouse Quay, Wellington. In New Zealand steps have been taken to set up a committee consisting of representatives of the Marine Department and of the unions concerned in order to bring down recommendations for rehabilitation, such as to give injured seamen the opportunity of being taught another trade, or to cope with possible unemployment. The Marine Department has set up at Auckland a School of Navigation which will supply correspondence courses for seamen. For the most part, the normal method of entering the merchant service in New Zealand is in the capacity of “ boy ” — i.e., “ deck boy ’’ (deck department), Peggy ” (engine-room department), and “ cadet steward ” (provedore department) —but before being considered for engagement the youth is required to become a financial member of the appropriate union. The chief avenue of advancement lies in the deck department, which may eventually lead to positions as deck officers and finally to ships’ captains, but naturally youths are usually employed in the few vacancies that mav occur.

It takes at least four years to be eligible to qualify for the Second Mate’s Foreign Going Certificate, which involves the study of these subjects : principles of elementary navigation, practical navigation, cargo work, elementary ship construction, and English. (See “ Rules relating to the Examination of Masters and Mates in the Mercantile Marine, 1940,” obtainable from the Marine Department, Wellington.) Certain shipping companies apprentice “ cadets ” to train them for becoming deck officers, but these appointments are made from the London offices of the companies concerned. Marine Engineers The prospective marine engineer must serve five years’ apprenticeship in an approved workshop (for a list of such shops, contact Mr. G. Unsworth, Chief Examiner, Marine Engineers, T. and G. Buildings, Wellington) At the same time he must study for the Third-class Engineers’ Examination, the scope of which is set out below. Candidates must be not less than twenty years of age. A successful candidate may then seek employment with a shipping company and further his studies for the Secondclass Certificate and, later, the First-class Engineer’s Certificate. In addition to passing these examinations, he must fulfil certain conditions of experience at sea as set out in “ Rules relating to the Examination of Engineers in the Mercantile Marine, 1939,” which may be purchased from the Marine Department at the cost of is. A certificate recognized only in New Zealand is the Coastal Motor Engineer’s Certificate, which is issued in two classes. To obtain the Second-class Certificate the candidate must be not less than twentyone years of age and must have served as an apprentice engineer in a workshop for five years. The class of shop for this work is not so restricted as for the Third-

class Engineer’s Certificate. The scope of the examination is given below. A candidate for the Second-class Coastal Motor Engineer’s Certificate who has passed the New Zealand Education Department’s Technological Examination is exempted from sitting the certificate examinations in practical mathematics and drawing. Further, study for this examination is good training for the Third-class Engineer’s Certificate, and in

both cases the apprentice can obtain his theoretical knowledge at the night classes of a suitable technical school while he is serving his time in the workshop. As a wartime concession, men who had started their apprenticeship and then been employed in the Services as mechanics may apply for their trade experience in the Armed Forces to be considered towards the five years’ apprenticeship.