With respect to masters, the STCW Convention clarifies which requirements concerning previous certificate & seagoing service, education & training and age should be met for masters serving on ships of 3,000 gt or 500 — 3,000 gt or less than 500 gt and the table in the end summarizes all mentioned requirements.
According to STCW Convention, ratings must meet minimum standards of medical fitness, minimum age (if designated with watchkeeping duties), competence (if designated with watchkeeping duties), and seagoing service time (if designated with watch- keeping duties).
According to the STCW Convention, officers must hold a valid certificate of competence to ensure they meet the minimum requirements of competence, seagoing service time, medical fitness and age. Also, ancillary certificates are required such as radar or ARPA, GMDSS, and those referring to safety duties onboard specific types of ships.
In order seafarers to gain the required STCW certificates, they can choose between two different certification paths: either the traditional method or the alternative method. In both methods the standards are identical; however the difference lies in the number of functions they will be able to perform on-board; this is reflected in the certificate awarded.
SAFETY4SEA provides a detailed explanation of the terms included in the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, for the better understanding of the Convention.
In 1978, IMO adopted a landmark Convention for all seafarers across the world to establish high standards of competence and professionalism in their duties on-board. The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, the STCW Convention in brief, establishes the minimum basic requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level.
Panama has welcomed the use of guidelines for the use of electronic certificates adopted by the IMO Facilitation Committee, and issued a List of Certificates, as well as a list of Recognized Organizations authorized on the issuance of Electronic Certificates.
The USCG alerts that the National Vessel Documentation Centre is facing delays in the time to issue a Certificate of Documentation (COD) because of performance issues associated with its Information Technology (IT) System.
Shortly after it revealed plans for a new digital Danish Register of Shipping, the Danish Maritime Authority informed it reached an important milestone for digital certificates in Ningbo, China. The Danish-flagged container ship ‘Mumbai Maersk’ passed PSC without remarks, only using digital certificates.
Due to a continued backlog of credential applications caused by the lapse in appropriations and shutdown of National Maritime Center operations, the US Coast Guard announced a further extension of validity in merchant mariner credentials and medical certificates.
