218. (1) If, on receipt of a notice under section 217, the Shipping Master certifies to the Court in the prescribed manner that the seaman is a serving seaman, the Court shall postpone the proceeding in respect of the seaman for the prescribed period or, if no period has been prescribed, for such period as it thinks fit: Provided that if, by reason of the continued absence of the seaman, the question of any further postponement of the proceedings in respect of the seaman arises, the Court shall, in deciding the question, have regard to the purposes of this Chapter. (2) If the Shipping Master either certifies that the seaman is not for the time being a serving seaman or fails within two months from the date of the receipt of the notice under section 217 to certify that the seaman is a serving seaman, the Court may, if it thinks fit, continue the proceeding.