### Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) Ordinance 《商船(海員)條例》

72. Scale of certificated officers and other seafarers, etc.
(1) The Secretary for Transport and Logistics may make regulations for all or any of the following matters— (Amended L.N. 106 of 2002; L.N. 130 of 2007; L.N. 144 of 2022)
(a) the number of officers and other seafarers required to man Hong Kong ships;
(b) the qualifications, experience and any other qualities required of officers and other seafarers manning Hong Kong ships;
(c) the number of officers and other seafarers with different qualifications, experience or any other qualities required to man Hong Kong ships;
(d) the qualifications, experience and other qualities required of officers and other seafarers acting in particular stations in Hong Kong ships;
(e) the circumstances in which, and the conditions under which, Hong Kong ships may proceed on a voyage without a particular number of officers or other seafarers or a particular class of officers or other seafarers;
(f) the circumstances in which, and the conditions under which, an officer or other seafarer may act in a station in a Hong Kong ship in respect of which he is not qualified;
(g) the power of the Authority to make determinations relating to the manning of Hong Kong ships;
(h) generally, provisions in respect of the manning of Hong Kong ships by officers and other seafarers; and
(i) the making of false pretences, the supplying of false information or the improper use of certificates or licences.
(2) Any determinations made by the Authority pursuant to any regulations made under subsection (1)(g) shall be in writing and may be published in such manner as the Authority thinks fit and the Authority shall, upon payment of the prescribed fee, provide a copy of the determinations to any person who applies to him in that behalf.
(3) The master of a Hong Kong ship, on signing the crew agreement together with the crew before the Superintendent, shall produce to the Superintendent the certificates of competency or of service, or the licences, and any other certificates or endorsements, which the master, officers and other seafarers on the ship are required to hold under this Ordinance.
(4) The master of a Hong Kong ship who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with subsection (3) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine at level 2.

### Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) Ordinance 《商船(海員)條例》

74. Certificates of competency for seafarers other than officers
(1) The Authority shall cause examinations to be conducted in respect of persons in the mercantile marine who wish to obtain certificates of competency as seafarers, other than officers, of the prescribed classes, and shall appoint examiners for that purpose and notify the appointments in the Gazette.
(2) The Authority may make rules prescribing or providing for—
(a) classes of seafarers, other than officers, for the purposes of subsection (1);
(b) the standards of competency to be attained and other conditions to be satisfied (subject to any exceptions allowed by or under the rules) by candidates for any examination conducted under subsection (1);
(c) the procedure for and the method of conducting any such examinations;
(d) the subjects to be taken at any such examination or the manner in which those subjects are to be specified;
(e) forms in relation to any such examination;
(f) the method of granting certificates of competency and copies of such certificates;
(g) the recognition of other qualifications as equivalent to certificates of competency issued by the Authority;
(h) the power of the Authority to grant exemptions from the application of the rules in respect of any case or class of case;
(i) the suspension and cancellation of certificates;
(j) issuing copies of any lost, defaced or destroyed certificates; and
(k) the power of the Authority to refuse to accept an application for any examination conducted under subsection (1) unless evidence is first produced which satisfies him as to the experience and ability of the person concerned.
(3) Rules made under subsection (2) in respect of the grant of certificates of competency as A.B. shall direct that no such certificate shall be granted to any person unless—
(a) he has reached such minimum age;
(b) he has performed such qualifying service at sea; and
(c) he has passed such examination,
as are prescribed in those rules.

### Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) Ordinance 《商船(海員)條例》

75. Rating as A.B.
(1) No person shall rate as an A.B. a seafarer employed to be entered in any Hong Kong ship unless the seafarer is the holder of a certificate of competency.
(2) The Superintendent or other officer authorized by him before whom a seafarer is employed to be entered in any Hong Kong ship shall refuse to enter the seafarer as an A.B. on the crew agreement unless the seafarer produces a certificate of competency or such other proof that he is the holder of such a certificate as appears to the Superintendent or other officer authorized by him to be satisfactory.
(3) In this section certificate of competency (合格證書) means—
(a) a certificate of competency as an A.B. granted in accordance with rules made under section 74; or
(b) a qualification recognized under rules made under that section as equivalent to a certificate referred to in paragraph (a).

(4) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine at level 2 and to imprisonment for 3 months.

76. Employment and discharge of seafarers to be conducted before the Superintendent
(1) Subject to subsection (2), all the business within Hong Kong connected with the employment and discharge of seafarers in ships shall, unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent, be conducted before the Superintendent at—
(a) the Office; or
(b) such other place or places as are approved from time to time by the Superintendent.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply where the ship concerned is not a Hong Kong ship and such ship is represented by a consular officer resident in Hong Kong.
(3) Any person who conducts any business within Hong Kong connected with the employment or discharge of seafarers in ships in contravention of subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction—
(a) in the case of an individual, to a fine at level 4 and to imprisonment for 2 years;
(b) in the case of a body corporate, to a fine at level 5.

77. Fees upon employment or discharge
(1) Where any seafarer is employed or discharged in accordance with section 76(1), the employer concerned, or the agent of the employer, shall pay to the Superintendent—
(a) the prescribed fee for that employment; or
(b) the prescribed fee for that discharge,
as the case may be.
(2) The Superintendent shall cause the fees referred to in subsection (1), together with a copy of this section, to be conspicuously exhibited in the Office, and may require the payment of the fee concerned before proceeding with any employment or discharge of a seafarer.