Built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, ARGENTINA STAR (1947/10,716 grt) operated on the UK-South America route until 1972. She was sold to Union International and arrived at Taiwanese breakers on the 19th October of that year.
YES, they still have a discharge book & they sign it. The only thing they don't do is 'sign on' like the rest of us.R58484956 said:Today I spoke to a retired (redundant) Blue Star captain, I asked him as captain did he sign his own discharge book, he said "no I do not have one" so I said to him the last time you had a discharge book was when you were a chief mate" He said "yes"
I cannot believe that a seaman does not have a discharge book. Can anybody confirm that captains do not have a discharge book. Lookinf forward to the answer
A captain is not required to have a discharge book as he does not "sign on". However, he is required to prove seatime for revalidation of his/her certificate of competency, GMDSS etc. and for tax purposes. The easiest way to do this is to record his joining and leaving dates in his discharge book. The problem is, if he signs his own discharge book, it's not valid anyway and he then still has to get a statement of sea service from his employer. Most captains get the relieving captain to sign their discharge book during their handover.R58484956 said:Today I spoke to a retired (redundant) Blue Star captain, I asked him as captain did he sign his own discharge book, he said "no I do not have one" so I said to him the last time you had a discharge book was when you were a chief mate" He said "yes"
I cannot believe that a seaman does not have a discharge book. Can anybody confirm that captains do not have a discharge book. Lookinf forward to the answer