Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping

STCW exists so that a seafarer trained and certified in one country can work safely aboard a ship flagged in another. Before it, standards of competence varied widely from nation to nation. The convention, first agreed in 1978 and given a major overhaul by the 2010 Manila Amendments, establishes a common international benchmark that flag states must meet, and it is what allows crews to move between companies and vessels across the world.

The convention covers three things, reflected in its name. Training sets the mandatory courses every seafarer must complete, from the basic safety training that everyone holds — personal survival techniques, fire prevention and firefighting, elementary first aid, and personal safety and social responsibility, up to the advanced and rank-specific qualifications for officers. Certification defines the Certificates of Competency issued to officers and the Certificates of Proficiency issued to ratings, each tied to a defined level of responsibility and, for many, to a particular type of ship. Watchkeeping sets the rules for how navigational and engine-room watches are kept and, importantly, the minimum rest-hour requirements that guard against fatigue.

In practice STCW governs the whole shape of a seafaring career. A cadet builds approved sea time and completes a training record book; an officer sits written and oral examinations to earn a Certificate of Competency and gains higher certificates with more sea time; and everyone must keep their basic and advanced certificates in date, since most require revalidation every five years on the basis of recent sea service or refresher training. Because an STCW certificate endorsed by a flag state is recognised internationally, it functions as a seafarer's passport to employment. Together with SOLAS and MARPOL it is one of the three central conventions of world shipping.