The Panama Maritime Authority has issued Merchant Marine Circular on the principles of Minimum Safe Manning Certificate of a ship due to STCW amendments. Specifically, this Merchant Marine Circular supersedes MMC. No. 21, 43, 65 and 73.
Taking into account the great volume of Minimum Safe Manning Certificates that are going to be re-issued, Panama Maritime Authority strongly recommends, in order to avoid unnecessary delays while guaranteeing a proper distribution of the work load, that the users of the Registry use, for this purpose, the SEGUMAR office closer to their geographical area. It is important to mention that the total main propulsion machinery power shall be stated in Kilowatts (KW) which is the measure unit used for certification of chief engineer officers and second engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion machinery of between 750 KW and 3,000 KW propulsion power.
All new application forms to request the minimum safe manning certificates are available in MMC. 191. The Administration is fully committed to grant the best service in the most prompt and efficient possible way. Furthermore, this Administration understood that some ships due to their size are carrying personnel in addition to the minimum certified manning, and considering that many times the manning does not include this personnel, the Administration has decided to include the following notation on the Minimum Safe Manning Certificates as follows:
“The certificate of competency (CoC/CoP) provided shall also authorize the holder thereof to perform any lower ranking position, as long as it is of the same nature as the one for which the respective CoC or CoP was issued”
New STCW regulations
In order to clarify some frequent inquiries about the STCW Manila Amendments 2010 in terms of the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate:
a. The Able Seafarer Deck (ASD) and the Able Seafarer Engine (ASE), whose standards of competence were included through STCW Convention’s Manila Amendments 2011 under the regulations II/5 and III/5 respectively will be inserted on the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate as an alternative Grade / Capacity to the existing Rating forming part of the Navigational Watch (II/4) and Rating forming part of a Watch in an Engine Room (III/5).
b. The Electro-technical Officer (ETO) and the Electro-technical Rating (ETR) (whose standards of competence are III/6 and III/7 respectively), also included through said Amendments, are not mandatory to be inserted on the MSMC issued by this Administration.
c. In virtue of the STCW Regulation I/14, companies will have responsibility to ensure if a dedicated ETO is or not required onboard it vessels. Please bear in mind the contain of IMO Res. A. 1047 (27), on submission from the Companies for determination of the minimum safe manning of a ship, which should be based on operational functions, Operational factors, task capabilities and workload assessments.
Considering the above described, the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate of a ship could be amended by this Administration if, after an evaluation and request submitted by the company, is determined that an additional Grade/ Capacity on it is required to ensure that its ship/unit is sufficiently, effectively and efficiently manned.
Further details may be found by reading the circular below
Source:Panama Maritime Authority
