Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)RegulationsMerchant Shipping (Training, Certification and Safe Manning) Regulations, 2021Part 2 : Assessment15. Bribery, forgery, fraudulent acts, and misrepresentation of information |
| (1) | The Authority shall investigate all allegations of bribery, forgery, fraud and misrepresentation of documents, sea service and other documents required towards certifications of seafarers. |
| (2) | A seafarer who is found to have paid a bribe to obtain documents required towards certification shall be prohibited from any assessment towards certification for a period of one year. |
| (3) | A seafarer who is found to have committed a forgery or fraud, or knowingly used documents that are obtained through forgery or fraudulent act, shall be prohibited from any assessment under the Act for a period of one year. |
| (4) | A seafarer who provides false information regarding sea service, is liable to perform further sea service equivalent to the sea service required for the certificate for which he or she had applied for. |
| (5) | The penalties above may be imposed by the relevant Examiner on the basis of evidence available to him. |
| (6) |
| (a) | The seafarer may lodge an appeal against a decision made in terms of subregulation (5) to the relevant Senior Examiner. |
| (b) | The Senior Examiner shall consider an appeal referred in terms of paragraph (a), taking into account any mitigating factors and may— |
| (i) | uphold the decision of the Examiner; |
| (ii) | reduce the penalty imposed by the Examiner; |
| (iii) | set aside the decision of the examiner. |
| (7) | The Authority shall co-operate with any Party to the STCW or STCW-F Conventions which advises of its intention to initiate proceedings under its jurisdiction for contravention of the Conventions against a company or a person located within the jurisdiction of the Authority. |