The Government Shipping Office () is an agency in the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

that registers and manages sailors in the

Pakistan Merchant Navy The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) is a Pakistani national flag carrier headquartered in Karachi. The corporation is principally engaged in the business of shipping, including charter of vessels, transportation of cargo and prov ...

. The Government Shipping Office was first established in 1923 under the Merchant Shipping Act. It was a subordinate office of the then-Ministry of Communications, now reorganised as the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, under the administrative control of Ports and Shipping Wing, Karachi.

Purpose

The objective of Government Shipping Office is to administer various provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1923 (now replaced with Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001) and Rules made there under, and to execute Government directives and

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

conventions within the orbit of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001. The principal function of the Office is to supply crew to all Pakistani and foreign ships, issue Seaman Service Book (SSB), previously Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) and to maintain roster of seamen.

Functions

The functions of Government Shipping Office relate to: #Registration and facilitation of Pakistani Seamen #Issue of Seaman Service Book (SSB) and issue of Seafarers’ Identity Document (SID) #Engagement of Seamen on Ships and Discharge of seamen from ships #Maintains record of service of seamen Ports & Shipping Wing Karachi has since long been facing acute shortage of staff, its sub-ordinate and attached department are functioning below strength of manpower. Besides, Mercantile Marine Department, the Government Shipping Office is working with its 14 vacant slots of officials of different ranks.

Shipboard Employment policy

Pakistan's merchant marine policy for jobs on vessel set in 2001, speaks as follows:

Issuance of SSB

SSB is issued from National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) after following prescribed procedure and deposit of fee. One of the sources of getting SSB in the category of ship's ratings/crew is conduct of courses from private sector institutions. Prior to 1990 the Pakistan government was practicing a policy for issuance of CDC (now SSB) only to a certain number per year in order to ensure the availability of jobs to each and every seamen holding CDC under roster system. The promulgation of Merchant Shipping Ordinance (2001) contains provisions which imparts authority to institutions in private sector to offer training to semen for issuance of SSB according to their qualification. After coming into force of Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001, private institutes started their business of training-cum-education to prospective seamen. There are five maritime

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary education, tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding academic degree, degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further educatio ...

in Karachi, Professional Maritime Studies (PROMTEE), Nautical Institute, Reycon, Maritime Training Centre, and in Public sector the Pakistan Maritime Academy, while one operates in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, all these colleges get their operations’ license from Ministry of Ports and Shipping, Ports & Shipping Wing, Karachi. Pakistan Seamen Union discloses that there were nearly 50,000 seafarers and holder of SSB/Old System CDC, most of them had no jobs. Institutes have been charging between Rs.70,000 and Rs.80,000 for six-month training without ensuring shipboard jobs of their students, which causing a surplus in the already over-saturated job market.

References

{{Ministry of Ports and Shipping, state=autocollapse Pakistan federal departments and agencies Shipping in Pakistan Pakistan Merchant Navy 1948 establishments in Pakistan Government agencies established in 1948 Ministry of Maritime Affairs (Pakistan)

Purpose

Functions

Shipboard Employment policy

Issuance of SSB

See also

References