OFFICERS AND MERCHANT SEAMEN 173 



SUBCHAPTER 6F.— MERCHANT SEAMEN 

 Continuous discharge book and certificate of identification 



46 U.S.C. 643 '(R.S. 4551) 



(a) Every seaman upon a merchant vessel of the United States 

 of the burden of one hundred gross tons or upward, except vessels 

 employed exclusively in trade on the navigable rivers of the United 

 States, shall be furnished, at the option of the seaman, with a book 

 to be known as a continuous discharge book or with a certificate of 

 identification, which book or certificate shall be retained by the sea- 

 man and shall contain the signature of the seaman to whom it is so 

 furnished and a statement of his nationality, age, personal descrip- 

 tion, photograph, thumbprint, and home address. Such books or 

 certificates shall be issued by the Coast Guard officials to whom the 

 duties of shipping commissioners have been delegated, or, at ports 

 where no such Coast Guard officials have been appointed, by col- 

 lectors or deputy collectors of customs, in such manner and form 

 as the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall determine. Any indi- 

 vidual, firm, partnership, corporation, or association which shall 

 issue any such book or certificate, or make any statement or endorse- 

 ment therein, except as authorized by the provisions of this section, 

 or issue any imitation of any such book or certificate, shall be deemed 

 guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be imprisoned not less than one 

 month nor more than three months, in the discretion of the court. 



(b) Any person applying for such book or certificate and claim- 

 ing to be a citizen of the United States shall furnish satisfactory 

 evidence of such citizenship. 



(c) No seaman shall be employed on any vessel to which this sec- 

 tion applies until he has exhibited a certificate of identification or 

 a continuous discharge book to the Coast Guard officials to whom 

 the duties of shipping commissioner have been delegated, or in cases 

 where seamen are not signed on l)efore such Coast Guard official, to 

 the master of the vessel : Provided^ That the provisions of this sub- 

 section shall not apply to the employment of seamen at a foreign 

 port or place, in which case seamen so employed shall be furnished 

 a continuous discharge book or a certificate of identification, in ac- 

 cordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, at the 

 first port of entry in the United States or its territories at which the 

 vessel arrives after such seamen are so employed. 



(d) I^pon the discharge of any seaman and the payment of his 

 wages, the Coast Guard official to whom the duties of shipping com- 

 missioner have been delegated shall enter in the continuous dis- 

 charge book of such seaman, if the seaman carries such a book, the 

 name and official number of the vessel, the nature of the voyage 

 (foreign, intercoastal, or coastwise), the class to which the vessel be- 

 longs (steam, motor, sail, or barge), the date and place of the ship- 

 ment and of the discharge of such seaman, the rating (capacity in 

 wliicli employed) then held by such seaman, and the signature of 

 the person making such entries and nothing more. 



(e) For the purpose of furnishing evidence of sea service in the 

 case of seamen preferring the certificate of identification instead of 



