Sailors’ professional qualifications
With the exception of unskilled seaman jobs, all jobs on board can only be filled by seafarers who have successfully completed appropriate vocational training.
The duties of officer on board commercial vessels may only be performed by seafarers who hold the certificate required under the International Convention of 1978, amended in 1995, on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).
The certificates referred to in the previous article are the following for jobs on board merchant ships:
1)- For deck department positions
– Capitaine au long cours, for the positions of Captain and Chief Officer on board vessels with a gross tonnage of over three thousand;
– Captain of Maritime Navigation, for the duties of Captain and Chief Mate on board vessels with a gross tonnage of less than three thousand, engaged in deep-sea navigation;
– Coastal Captain, for the duties of Captain and Chief Mate on board vessels with a gross tonnage of less than five hundred, making voyages close to the coast;
– Watch Leader, for bridge watch management duties on board vessels with a gross tonnage of over five hundred;
– Certificate of Competence, for bridge watchkeeping duties aboard vessels with a gross tonnage of over five hundred, and for skipper duties aboard low-tonnage vessels, boats or craft not leaving sheltered waters;
– Deck” qualified seaman certificate, for seafarers required to take part in a deck watch.
2)- For Machine Department positions
– 1st class engineer officer, for the duties of chief engineer and second engineer on ships with a propulsive power of over 3000 KW.
– 2nd class engineer officer, for the duties of chief engineer and second engineer on ships with between 750- and 3000-KW propulsive power.
– 3rd class engineer officer, for duties as engine shift supervisor aboard any vessel with a propulsive power equal to or greater than 750 KW.
– Diéséliste, for marine engines of less than 750 KW.
– Qualified “engine” seaman certificate, for mechanics on engine watch.
3)- For radio operator functions
– Radio electrician officer’s certificate, for any officer in charge of directing tasks relating to radio service on board a ship.
– Radiotelephone operator’s certificate, for any seafarer authorized to operate a radio telephone station on board a ship.
Seafarers working on board in jobs that are not directly linked to the ship’s control or technical operation of the ship, in particular general service staff, must have the vocational training certificate normally corresponding to their speciality.
The examination syllabuses and conditions for issuing the certificates referred to in the law are set by decision of the maritime authority of each member state, in accordance with the rules of the Annexes to the above-mentioned STCW Convention.
The competent maritime authority may, on the other hand, recognize as equivalent maritime vocational training qualifications issued in other Member States, or in third countries, provided that the latter have ratified the above-mentioned STCW Convention.
The professional qualifications required for positions on board fishing vessels are defined in each Member State by the Maritime Authority, in consultation with the Maritime Fisheries Authority, taking into account the provisions of the 1995 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping on Board Fishing Vessels (STCW F).
The same applies to the conditions for issuing these certificates, as well as the examination syllabus.
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