§10311 Certificates of Discharge

Summary

When a seaman is discharged and paid, the master or person in charge must give the seaman a discharge certificate. The certificate’s form is set by regulation and must list nine things: the seaman’s name, citizenship, merchant mariner’s document number, the vessel’s name and number, voyage type (foreign, intercoastal, or coastwise), the vessel’s propulsion class, where and when the seaman signed on, where and when discharged, and the seaman’s role on the voyage. The certificate may not mention the seaman’s character or ability and must be signed by both the master and the seaman. If the seaman has a continuous discharge book, no separate certificate is issued; the same entries must be made in that book. The owner, charterer, managing operator, master, or person in charge must keep a record of each discharge as regulations require; those records are not open to the public. A seaman can get a duplicate record on request. The rule does not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or to yachts.