| STCW List of Confirmed Parties expanded The List of countries assessed to be properly implementing the revised STCW Convention (STCW 95) has been updated by IMO. The First Extraordinary Session of the Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), meeting on 27 and 28 November, received reports from IMO Secretary-General William O’Neil confirming that a further eight Member States had communicated information demonstrating that they were giving “full and complete effect” to the relevant provisions of the Convention. The List of Confirmed Parties now comprises 102 States and one IMO Associate Member. A position on the List entitles other Parties to the STCW Convention to accept, in principle, that certificates issued by or on behalf of the Parties on the List are in compliance with the revised STCW (the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) as amended in 1995. The 1995 amendments entered into force on 1 February 1997. The amended Convention sets out clearly defined minimum competency requirements for all seafarers and takes into account developments in technology since the original 1978 Convention was adopted. The new List of Confirmed Parties is contained in an MSC Circular which notes that, as the process of communicating and evaluating information is continuing, further Parties may be added to the list at annex at its subsequent meetings. For most countries, preparation of the submissions to the Secretary-General represents a demanding and challenging task requiring not only reporting on national laws, training requirements, standards and systems in place, but also ensuring that all of those elements met the revised Convention requirements and could pass the scrutiny of persons with detailed knowledge of those requirements. A flag State Party that is on the List may, as a matter of policy, elect not to accept seafarers with certificates issued by non-List countries for service on its ships. If it does accept such seafarers, they will be required by 1 February 2002 also to have an endorsement, issued by the flag State, to show that their certificate is recognized by the flag State. By 1 February 2002, masters and officers should hold STCW 95 certificates or endorsements issued by the flag State. Certificates issued and endorsed under the provisions of the 1978 STCW Convention will be valid until their expiry date. The MSC at its last session (MSC 74 from 30 May – 8 June 2001) agreed to hold an extraordinary session during the IMO’s 22nd regular session of its Assembly, specifically to consider reports by the Secretary-General on evaluations of information communicated which may have been completed in the period between MSC 74 and the Assembly. This was considered particularly important in view of the final implementation date of 1 February 2002 for the 1995 amendments to the STCW Convention. The full List of Parties assessed to be properly implementing the revised STCW Convention is attached.
IMO - the International Maritime Organization - is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships. Web site: www.imo.org For
further information please contact: Parties included on the List of Confirmed Parties at 28 November 2001
*Includes:
Faeroe Islands |