Paris, Tokyo, Indian Ocean and Black Sea MoU will jointly launch a new Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on STCW compliance from 1st September 2022 to 30th November 2022. The inspection campaign will be additional to the regular PSC inspections.
The CIC questionnaire that has been released recently, is a 10-question checklist with some items marked with * leading to detention. It should be noted that questions 6 & 7, related to rest hours and the work schedule, are not marked for possible detention.
A Best Practice Guidance on Inspection Campaign Questionnaire
1. Do the number of the seafarers serving on board conform with the Minimum Safe Manning requirement specified for the vessel?
The number and ranks of the crew on board to be in accordance with Minimum Safe Manning Certificate. In case a deviation is to take place, this should be supported by Flag Administration dispensation approval, and be for a short period.
2. Do the Master and Officers hold valid certificates of competency as required by the Minimum Safe Manning Document?
Master and Officer to have valid certificates of competency. Crew department and Manning agent are responsible for the validity of the certificates.
3. Do the Master, Officers and Radio Operators hold valid endorsements attesting the recognition of certificates or documentary proof of application?
Valid endorsements to accompany relevant certificates of Master/Officers/Radio Operators.
4. Do seafarers hold relevant certificates of proficiency (COP) or documentary evidences?
Relevant certification of seafarers to be accompanied by required COP, or other supportive documentary evidence. Crew department and manning agent are responsible to check all related COPs or other documents.
5. Do seafarers on board hold valid medical certificates?
A medical certificate issued in accordance with the requirements of STCW shall be accepted, for the purpose of MLC Regulation 1.2. A medical certificate meeting the substance of those requirements, in the case of seafarers not covered by STCW, shall similarly be accepted.
Unless a shorter period is required by reason of specific duties to be performed by seafarer concerned or is required under STCW:
- a medical certificate shall be valid for a maximum period of two years unless seafarer is under age of 18, in which case, maximum period of validity shall be one year;
- a certification of colour vision shall be valid for a maximum period of six years.
In urgent cases, a person may be employed without holding a currently valid official medical certificate until next port of call where he can obtain a medical certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, provided that:
- period of such permission does not exceed three months; and
- seafarer is in possession of a medical certificate which is expired for a period not greater than three (3) months.
6. Do the records for hours of rest indicate compliance with the requirements?
Company acknowledges that normal working hours’ standard for seafarers, shall be based on an eight-hour day with one day of rest per week and rest on public holidays, meaning that each hour exceeding this period shall be considered as overtime. This shall not prevent to implement any Flag procedures which authorize or register a collective agreement which determines seafarers’ normal working hours on a basis no less favorable than the MLC.
Limits on hours of work or rest shall be as follows:
-maximum hours of work shall not exceed:14 hours in any 24-hour period; and 72 hours in any seven-day period; or
– minimum hours of rest shall not be less than:10 hours in any 24-hour period; and 77 hours in any seven-day period.
Hours of rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which shall be at least six hours in length, and interval between consecutive periods of rest shall not exceed 14 hours. When a seafarer is on call, such as when a machinery space is unattended, the seafarer shall have an adequate compensatory rest period if the normal period of rest is disturbed by call-outs to work.
Records of seafarers’ daily hours of work or of their daily hours of rest shall be maintained to allow monitoring of compliance with the paragraphs above. The records shall be in a standardized format established by the Flag State taking into account any available guidelines of the International Labour Organization or shall be in any standard format prepared by the Organization.
Seafarers shall receive a copy of the records pertaining to them which shall be endorsed by the master, or a person authorized by the master, and by the seafarers.
7. Do the watch schedules comply with the provisions of STCW?
A table with the shipboard working arrangements should be posted in an easily accessible place. Table of arrangement shall contain for every position at least:
the schedule of service at sea and service in port; and
the maximum hours of work or the minimum hours of rest required by national laws or regulations or applicable collective agreements.
8. Are seafarers newly joined the vessel familiar with their specific duties that are relevant to their routine or emergency duties?
Every seafarer boarding vessel should be familiarized immediately with all items of “Essential Instructions to Seafarer” record provided by company and posted in mess rooms with all necessary information and Company policies.
All newly joining crew, passengers or other professionals expected to sail with the vessel shall be familiarized to safety and environment protection aspects prior to taking over their duties. All items of that familiarisation should be carried out prior vessel’s sailing but within 24 hours from boarding time. Officers shall be familiarized on Company’s SMS prior vessel’s sailing, within 24 hours from boarding time.
A post departure familiarisation shall be carried out prior assigning duties or within a 2-week (15 days) period from boarding, where each seafarer should be familiarized with safety procedures and department specific procedures, equipment and routines.
Seafarers newly employed in service aboard the vessel, are provided with reasonable opportunity to become familiar with their duties and with all ship arrangements, installations, shipboard equipment, operating procedures and ship characteristics, relevant to their routine or emergency duties before assignment to those duties. Familiarization process shall be carried out by a delegated officer who shall explain and familiarize joining crew to critical aspects.
9. Can the seafarers on board the vessel communicate effectively with each other in the working language of the vessel?
Company through its Safety Management Systems should establish a standardized working language on board. All documentation related to SMS should be available in working language. Seafarers should be able to communicate on board using the working language defined by Company. Company should check the competency of seafarers on working language through test conducted either during familiarization period or at manning agents premises during recruitment stage.
10. Do the voyage plans cover the whole route from berth to berth?
The voyage plan should be thoroughly checked by navigation officer and then demonstrated to Master. After final Master’s approval the plan should be discussed on a briefing with all OOWs. The plan should cover all voyage from starting berth to ending port’s berth (or anchorage). Some Ship operators use the practice to request the plans to be send to Head Office for verification by a Marine Superintendent or Port Captain (only electronic passage plans exported from ECDIS). The final plan signed by Master should be available for use on primary and secondary navigation systems as they have declared in Ship’s “Record of Equipment”.
Available options are:
- Nautical Paper Charts Only (primary method of planning paper charts, no back up plan is required)
- Two ECDIS (No Nautical Paper Charts). The ship is paperless for navigation. The plan should be uploaded on both ECDIS systems.
- ECDIS and Nautical Paper Charts. The ship has installed 1 ECDIS system and use full set of paper charts. The plan should be uploaded on ECDIS and additionally should be available on paper charts also. Both options should include exactly the same planning and parameters.
