224 SOCIETY NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS. 



First Class. — Vessels having a continuous service. 



There shall be placed in the First Class vessels which are intended to carry 25 or more 

 .passengers — 



(1) If they have an average speed in service of 15 knots or more. 



(2) If they have average speed in service of more than 13 knots, but only subject 

 to the twofold condition that they have on board 200 persons or more (passengers and 

 crew), and that, in the course of their voyage, they go a distance of more than 500 sea 

 miles between any two consecutive ports. Nevertheless these vessels may be placed in 

 the Second Class on condition that they have a continuous watch. 



Second Class. — Vessels having a service of limited duration. 



There shall be placed in the Second Class all vessels which are intended to carry 25 or 

 more passengers, if they are not, for other reasons, placed in the First Class. 



Vessels placed in the Second Class must, during navigation, maintain a continuous watch 

 for at least 7 hours a day, and a watch of 10 minutes at the beginning of every other hour. 



Third Class. — Vessels which have no fixed periods of service. 



All vessels which are placed neither in the First nor in the Second Class shall be placed 

 in the Third Class. 



The owner of a vessel placed in the Second or in the Third Class has the right to re- 

 quire that, if the vessel complies with all the requirements for a superior class, a statement to 

 the effect that it belongs to that superior class shall be inserted in the Safety Certificate. 



Article 34. 



Vessels which are required by Article 31 above to be fitted with a radiotelegraph installa- 

 tion shall be required, by the Governments of the countries to which they belong, to main- 

 tain a continuous watch during navigation as soon as the said Governments consider that 

 it will be of service for the purpose of safety of life at sea. 



Meanwhile, the High Contracting Parties undertake to require, from the date of the 

 ratification of the present Convention subject to the delays specified below, a continuous 

 watch on the following vessels : 



(1) Vessels whose average speed in service exceeds 13 knots, which have on board 200 

 persons or more, and which, in the course of their voyage, go a distance of more than 

 500 sea miles between two consecutive ports, when these vessels are placed in the Second 

 Class. 



(2) Vessels in the Second Class, for the whole of the time during which they are 

 more than 500 sea miles from the nearest coast. 



(3) Other vessels specified in Article 31, when they are engaged in the Trans- Atlantic 

 trade, or when they are engaged in other trades if their route takes them more than 1,000 

 sea miles from the nearest coast. 



Vessels connected with all kinds of fishing business including whaling, which are re- 

 quired to be fitted with a radiotelegraph installation, shall not be required to maintain a con- 

 tinuous watch. 



The continuous watch may be kept by one or more operators, holding certificates in ac- 

 cordance with Article X of the Regulations annexed to the International Radiotelegraph 

 Convention, 1912, together, if necessary, with one or more certificated watchers. Nevertheless, 

 if an efficient automatic calling apparatus is invented, the continuous watch may be main- 



