Liberian Ticket !
 

Rooting about in the attic yesterday (the Lockdown Blues ?) I found this from my Freelancing Days in the early 70's.
I joined a Denholm's managed ship in Curacao and somehow between leaving home and stepping onboard it went from British to Liberian Flag. I was required to have a Liberian Sparky's ticket for this, which cost as I remember $20 but Denholm's kindly offered to pay for it (cheeky bastards, they'd have been flying me back if they hadn't.)
It eventually arrived onboard much to the delight of the Old Man who had a collection of toilet paper in his safe. I've kept it all these years for reasons unknown.

Just another memento of past life Bob! We all have them I'm sure. I'm finding many of them at the moment as I'm packing up loads of boxes in preparation for a move to another home. Even finding Dad's documents from his time at sea too.

Cheeky of Liberia to insist on extracting fees for a license to serve on one of their registry when you already had an Internationally recognised qualification!

I too paid cash for my Master certificate and if I remember correctly it was required to be renewed every five years. It also stated I had a Radar Observer certificate and Restricted R/T certificate. All for one price !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got one too, and a Panamanian ticket!

Re the Panama ticket: Arrived Houston, FWE and putting the ER to bed. Called up to ship's office (Barber Priam). Sweaty, greasy and dishevelled having done the STBY. Told by ChStwd, "Stand there against the bulkhead - FLASH!! Polaroid photo. Then, "check the details and sign here, oh! and there are new articles, we are now PoR Panama!". The ticket was delivered in the afternoon.

This was a ploy by BF to avoid their RoRo's getting called up for Falklands duty. There had been scuttlebutt that the Mod were considering cutting the crane off and installing a ski ramp.

From memory, the liberian "ticket" is just a sheet of greenish paper (issued on Barber Memnon, again, going to flag of convenience). I could hear old Alfie Holt turning in his grave! It marked the end of BF, too!

Rgds.
Dave

Bob does it P... you off to be called 2nd class, how dare them.

Well in all fairness John I was only 4 years out of Leith Nautical College with a PMG 2nd Class ticket and a BOT Radar Maintenance ticket at the time, so I had no objection to that. I was free lancing in order to finance myself through college for more advanced tickets which happened later.

Free lancing was very well paid at the time.

$20 it was Bob.
I spent an afternoon going around Amsterdam in a taxi looking for a Notary Public so I could swear the required oath. Mavroleon paid for it all, but I guess the $20 licence must have cost them a decent amount.
Still, despite always pleading poverty, Greek shipowners tend to have a bit of spare cash around (excuse the cynicism).

Bob,

I have still got my Liberian ticket. Part of my nostalgia package! Have all my books - Seamans ID - Discharge Book - PMG.


Neville

Yep Neville I still have my two discharge books, (they renewed them in the early 70's,) Seamans ID, even old clipped off passports !! When I got the MRGC they asked me to send my PMG2 in which I foolishly did (I should have just said I'd lost it, or the dog had ate it,) because that ticket represented a lot of sweat at Leith Nautical. That's probably why I kept the Liberian ticket thinking on it.

I'll put it all together as you have and stash somewhere other than the attic. There's a lot of junk up there and I'd swear blind I saw Lord Lucan hiding in the corner. ;)

That old joke !!! ... "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." ;)

I've still got my WW2 ration book - you never know! Also have a 1956 Ceylon issued injection cert book - I kept it up to date until 1990, last entries were for tetanus when I was bitten by a rabbit - and then cut off a finger tip with a rear mounted mower on my Fergie tractor. The quack thought the book amusing.

Bitten by a dead rabbit?

A very much alive 12 pounds of Blue Beveren, an old and bold breed brought to UK at the end of WW1 from the town of Beveren in Flanders. There is a bar in Beveren called the Blau de Beveren, I paid a visit and on asking the barman about the name - thinking it was the rabbit breed - was told the name commemorates their local football team: The Beveren Blues. Not many folk know this . . .