§ MR. J. A. WILLOX (Liverpool, Everton)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will explain on what grounds the King's Lynn Pilot Commissioners, having refused to grant a pilotage certificate to the foreign captain of a foreign ship occasionally visiting King's Lynn, the Board of Trade superseded the local Commissioners and appointed special examiners to grant a pilotage certificate to the said alien; and whether this power was exercised by the Board of Trade under Section 600 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894?
§ MR. RITCHIEThe King's Lynn Pilotage Commissioners refused to grant a certificate to Captain Ferange to pilot his own vessel on the ground that his vessel was a foreign vessel, commanded by a foreign master, notwithstanding the fact that the pilotage sections of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, apply both 1418 to British and foreign ships. An application having been made by the Belgian Vice Consul at King's Lynn to the Board of Trade to appoint a person to examine Captain Ferange under Section 600 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, this was done, and, the examiners having reported that he was competent, the certificate was granted.