Section 19(5) in The Merchant Shipping (Crew Accommodation) Rules, 1960
(5)In every ship of 1,000 tons or over, each of the following classes of ratings shall be provided with mess rooms separate from those provided for the other classes :-(a)petty officers of the deck department;(b)petty officers of the engine room department;(c)other ratings of the deck department:;(d)other ratings of the engine room department.Subject to the provision of sub-rule (1) the Central Government may permit the provision in any ship of complained mess rooms as follows :-(i)for petty officers of the deck and engine room departments;(ii)for petty officers and other ratings of the same departments;(iii)for all ratings (other than petty officers) of the deck and engine room department.Subject as aforesaid, the Central Government may further permit the provision in any ship of a single mess room for all petty officers and other ratings of all departments, if it is satisfied that such an arrangement is preferred either by the owner of the ship or by an organization which appears to the Central Government to be most representative of owners of Indian ships, and by an organization which appears to it to be most representative of the seamen.
