Government Shipping Office
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- Mr. Abdul Waheed Memon, Shipping Master
| قومی ادارہِ جہاز رانی ، پاکستان | |
 Seal of Government of Pakistan | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 21 May 1948 |
| Jurisdiction | Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Karachi, Pakistan |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | Official Website |
The Government Shipping Office (Urdu: قومی ادارہِ جہاز رانی ، پاکستان) is an agency of the Government of Pakistan that registers and manages sailors in the Pakistan Merchant Navy. 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.[1][2]
The objective of Government Shipping Office is to administer various provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1923 (now replaced by Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001) and Rules made there under, and to execute Government directives and ILO 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 a roster of seamen.[3]
Functions
The functions of Government Shipping Office relate to:[3][4]
- 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.[5]
Shipboard Employment policy
Pakistan's merchant marine policy for jobs on vessel set in 2001, speaks as follows:
Every Pakistani mariner (officers, engineers or ratings) of any trade/specialization, who holds the requisite internationally, recognized qualification, where applicable, for the job/task being sought shall be issued Seamen Service Book (SSB) within 2 weeks of the receipt of complete documents. They only prerequisite for issue of this document shall be, where applicable, holding of the appropriate qualification.[6]
