Standards of Training and Certification - Essay Example

Standards of Training, Certification & Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention INTRODUCTION When Standards of Training, Certification & Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention was first drafted in 1978, it had little impact on US mariners as it were more or less the same standards that were already being followed. Initially, the convention was only an attempt to formalize a system, identical to US system, around the world. 1995 was the year which brought about major changes to STCW Convention. This was initiated when US Coast Guard approached International Maritime Organization and requested changes to convention. The convention went through a major overhaul but the changes brought about were not required to be ratified as these were only amendments to the existing convention. One of the many changes to 1978 convention, in 1995, was the requirement of obtaining a new STCW certificate. This was confusing and to some extent it still is as there were two certificates in circulation. The 1978 certificate and the 1995 certificate. The STCW 1978 certificate was there to certify that a sailor was working aboard a vessel prior to 01 Aug 98' and is yet required to fulfill some requirements. Therefore, a new mariner, after 01 Aug 98' cannot be issued a 1978 STCW certificate. New sailors, joining after the aforementioned date, are required to comply with convention requirements before they are eligible for 1995 certificate. 1978 certificate holders are required to go through a training process to close the gap before they can be issued with a 1995 certificate. The fact which gives rise to confusion is that both these certificates were created on the same date. In the US, after 31 Jan 03', no one can get a 1995 certificate by simply completing the training required for the big leap from 1978 to 1995. Each and every sailor is now required to fully comply with 1995 amendment requirements. As all the 1978 certificate holders could not complete all the formalities, the 31 Jan '03 was actually a relaxation of one year to the original date. Despite this relaxation US sailors were still required to get 1995 certification prior to entering waters of a foreign country. Why do we need standards STCW 1978 sets standards of qualification for seafarers on merchant ships. It was initially drafted in 1978 by conference at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. It took six years and finally in 1984 STCW was enforced. In 1995 significant changes were brought about. On an international scale 'STCW 1978' was the first to actually establish and enforce basic requirements for training, certification and watchkeeping for mariners. Prior to this such standards were set by individual governments without any reference to practices in the rest of the world. As expected, the outcome of this chaotic situation was widely varied standards, practices and procedures. STCW lays out minimum standards for training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers and countries adhering to comply are independent in their choice to accept or exceed these standards. STCW also applies to ships of countries which have not yet accepted to comply with STCW standards (non-party States), in case they visit ports of party States. An article of the convention requires all party States to apply the control without any biasing or favor to party or non-party States. This can expose the vessels of non-party States to difficult and unexpected situations. As a result, majority of the states are now party States. Revisions to SWTC 1978 In December 1992 IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) agreed to a US proposal to review in detail the 1978 Convention in light of the involvement of human element in maritime accidents. Moreover, there also had been nurturing a feeling amongst some delegations that the Convention should be more people, and standards relating to people, orientated. Rather than emphasizing on construction of ships and equipment standards, areas relating to people, training and operational practices require more concentration. This resulted in MSC directing one of its sub-committees, the Standards of Training and Watchkeeping (STW), to take into consideration the human factor and complete the necessary revisions by 1996. In 1993, IMO started the work to revise the 1978 Convention and enforce the highest possible standards of quality in light of the fact that human errors had been the major cause of maritime accidents. Consultants specializing in behavioral sciences were hired to categorize behavioral condition which could be improved upon with further training or improved operational procedures. A draft was prepared by these consultants, suggesting changes to STCW and other proposals directly hitting the human factor issue. Moreover, it was also proposed to develop a new STCW Code which would contain technical details of Convention provisions. The suggested amendments were discussed and modified as deemed necessary by STW subcommittee. After two years of hard labor, discussions, professional help, the following major amendments were put up for approval by 1995. a) Enhancement of port state control b) Communication of information to IMO to allow for mutual oversight and consistency in application of standards c) Quality standards systems (QSS), oversight of training, assessment, and certification procedures d) Placement of responsibility on parties, including those issuing licenses, and flag states employing foreign nationals, to ensure seafarers meet objective standards of competence e) Rest period requirements for watchkeeping personnel Adoption of Amendments Party States adopted the amendments in 1995 and these amendments were enforced on 01Feb 97', with Coast Guard taking the initiative to implement the revised STCW requirements. Completion of implementation was set at 01 Feb 02'. Mariners who had been working earlier to 01 Aug 98' were given a choice to renew their licenses according to rules of 1978 Convention, by 01 Feb 02'. New entrants coming in after 01 Aug 98' are required to fulfill the requirements of 1995 Amended Convention. Training Requirements To make the seafarers aware of the hazards they might encounter onboard and to respond to emergencies in the best possible manner their training process includes the following courses. a) Familiarization b) Basic Safety a. Firefighting b. First aid c. Survival techniques d. Social responsibility Record Keeping As per the amended STCW, to ensure achievements of its goals, continuous monitoring of all training assessment activities is required through quality systems. It also requires that those involved as trainers should themselves be qualified and rated for their specific jobs. Almost the same sets of rules also apply to those who are responsible to assess others. DIFFICULTIES & PROBLEMS Differing Interpretations One common problem outside the non-English speaking world is in interpreting the rules differently as desired. Though it might seem that the rules are being followed to the letter but they are, at various occasions, observed not being followed to the spirit. There has also been some confusion regarding various levels of medical care certification under STCW. The terminology used to describe the four levels has been attributed to be the main cause of this confusion. Reliance on Automation Many crew members who have grown accustomed to modern technology and rely too much on it take technology as a source to increase their leisure. This has kept them away to keep themselves abreast with latest knowledge and techniques in their field. As Editor of ALERT Bulletin Commodore David Squire (Fay, 2005) once said: 'that awareness, effective communication, common sense and basic seamanship and engineering skills are taking a back seat to increased automation and electronic decision support systems, etc. It is important, therefore for all stakeholders to be aware of the human element issues associated with the human machine interface, and to encourage and promote the highest standards of education and training, and a common standard of professionalism in the industry.' Going for the Lowest Bid Compliance to STCW is definitely cost effective but only in the long term. This fact is many times overlooked by the operators/owners and often they compromise on quality to achieve their short term objectives. How to avoid problems from becoming major issues while at the same time remain cost effective is itself a problem faced by ship owners and operators. As STCW has laid out the minimum standards, with a choice to exceed, the owners tend not to avail of the opportunity to exceed the standards but to go for the least expensive resources. One is reminded of a reporter once asking Neil Armstrong about his feelings just before making his landing on moon. The US astronaut said, "All I could think of was that I was up there in a spaceship built by the lowest bidder." The Space Administration must have changed the policy to accept the best value bid rather than the lowest bidder after the Apollo 13 experience. Forged crew documents are gaining their way into the shipping industry for the same reason and are on the rise where governments are failing to exercise proper control to comply with STCW. Some operators are on the lookout for manning agents who offer their services cheap. Duplicates It has also been observed that sometimes the mariners are required to submit their originals to avail some benefits. This they do after claiming to have their originals lost or stolen. They then use their duplicates for gainful employment in shipping industry whereas legally their documents are not valid. This mostly happens in states where there are no central databases to recheck their documents. Word of advice Operators should be advised to be more stringent in their process of scrutinizing mariners' credentials. Operators and owners should avoid going into business with manning agents who are not fully aware of their responsibilities and most of all who are not fully aware or STCW regulations. To assure that the crew meets the latest requirements, it would be best to only go into business with quality vessel registry firms and using reputable manning agents. It would perhaps be appropriate to end with a remark from inventor and manufacturer Henry Ford: 'Quality means doing it right, even when no one is watching!' Bibliography American Waterways Operations, 2002. 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STCW '95: implementation issues What is the pass mark Marine Policy, 23 (1), p.11-24 Mitroussi, K., 2004. Quality in shipping: IMO's role and problems of implementation. Disaster Prevention and Management, 13 (1), p.50-58 Moore, C., 2002. STCW-ISM Subcommittee Meeting Minutes, [Internet]. (Updated 15 Jan 2002) Available at: http://www.iadc.org/committees/training/ISM-STCW/20020115%20Approved%20Minutes.PDF [accessed 28 February 2008] Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 2005. Big Picture, [Online]. Available at: http://www.stcw.org/big.html [accessed 28 February 2008] Read More