Are merchant seafarer training standards fit for purpose?

Are merchant seafarer training standards fit for purpose?

The IMO STCW Convention and Code governs training standards for around two million merchant seafarers. Julian Turner asks the IMO and the International Chamber of Shipping whether it is time for a review, to ensure the regime keeps pace with industry trends

Image: Denys Yelmanov / Shutterstock.com

Adopted in 1978, and enforced six years later in April 1984, the IMO STCW Convention was the first to establish basic minimum requirements related to training, certification and watchkeeping for officers and ratings on an international level, which all countries are obliged to meet or exceed.

Previously, such standards were established by individual governments, usually without reference to practices in other countries and jurisdictions, and as a result standards and procedures varied widely.

The regime established by the STCW Convention also affords seafarers mobility in the pursuit of their livelihoods, as their certificates can be recognised and used to obtain employment around the world, enabling the shipping industry to attract and retain a truly global workforce.

The Convention is, by its nature, a work in progress that is open to periodic revision, ensuring it remains fit for purpose in terms of skills, training, working practices and technological trends.

Major amendments were made to the Convention in 1995 in order to bring it up to date and in part to respond to critics who identified vague phrases that were open to different interpretations.

The amendments entered into force in February 1997, dividing the technical annex into regulations by chapter and establishing a STCW Code comprising mandatory and recommended directives, to which many technical regulations were transferred, making the future task of revising them simpler.

“The structure of the STCW Convention and Code by functions makes it relatively straightforward to update and amend individual sections, and to add whole new sections,” explains Natasha Brown, communications officer at the IMO.

“There was also a full review of the requirements between 2006 and 2010, culminating in the 2010 Manila Amendments, which revised the regime further, as well as several updates since 2010 in order to respond to new challenges such as LNG ships and polar shipping.”

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