STCW in plain words: regulations II/1 to VI/6, sea time, revalidation and hours of rest

Every certificate in a seafarer's folder carries a regulation number — II/1, III/2, VI/1 — and a crewing manager reads those numbers faster than the names. STCW is the convention behind them: it sets the minimum training, sea time and fitness for every rank on a seagoing ship, and the rest hours and alcohol limits for everyone on watch. This page is the reference behind the certificates: what each regulation number means, the sea time it needs, how revalidation and flag endorsements work, the rules on rest and alcohol, and the questions that come up at interviews. For a shorter overview of the certificates a beginner needs, see STCW and seafarer certificates explained.

What STCW is

The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers was adopted at IMO in 1978 and came into force on 28 April 1984 — the first convention to set minimum qualifications for seafarers internationally. Until then every state trained and certified in its own way.

A major rewrite in 1995 (in force 1 February 1997) added the STCW Code — Part A mandatory, Part B guidance — and the IMO list of states that give full and complete effect to the convention, known as the "White List". The 2010 Manila amendments (in force 1 January 2012, with a transition period until 1 January 2017) aligned the rest-hour rules with the Maritime Labour Convention, set alcohol limits, created certificates for electro-technical officers and ratings, and added security training, five-yearly refresher training, leadership and teamwork, and ECDIS training. IMO is now carrying out a comprehensive review of the convention.

STCW sets minimums. A flag state may ask for more: longer sea time, its own examinations, its own language requirements.

Chapters and levels

• I — General provisions: certificates and endorsements, medical fitness (I/9), recognition of foreign certificates (I/10), revalidation (I/11), quality standards.
• II — Master and deck department.
• III — Engine department.
• IV — Radiocommunication and radio operators.
• V — Special training for certain types of ship: tankers, gas carriers, passenger ships, ships using low-flashpoint fuels, ships in polar waters.
• VI — Emergency, occupational safety, security, medical care and survival.
• VII — Alternative certification.
• VIII — Watchkeeping: fitness for duty, hours of rest, watch arrangements.

Competence is set at three levels: management (master, chief mate, chief and second engineers), operational (watchkeeping officers) and support (ratings). Masters, officers and radio operators hold a certificate of competency (CoC); ratings and special training — basic safety, tanker courses — are covered by certificates of proficiency (CoP).

Key numbers

The certificates by regulation number

Deck

• II/1 — officer in charge of a navigational watch (OOW), ships of 500 GT or more. At least 18 years old; 12 months of sea service as part of an approved training programme with an onboard training record book, or 36 months otherwise, including at least six months of bridge watchkeeping under supervision.
• II/2 — master and chief mate, ships of 3,000 GT or more (with separate limits for 500 to 3,000 GT). Chief mate: at least 12 months as OOW. Master: 36 months as OOW, or 24 months if at least 12 of them were as chief mate.
• II/3 — OOW and master on ships under 500 GT on near-coastal voyages.
• II/4 — rating forming part of a navigational watch.
• II/5 — able seafarer deck (AB).

Engine

• III/1 — officer in charge of an engineering watch, main propulsion of 750 kW or more.
• III/2 — chief and second engineer, 3,000 kW or more. Second engineer: at least 12 months as engineering watch officer. Chief engineer: 36 months, or 24 months if at least 12 of them were as second engineer.
• III/3 — chief and second engineer, 750 to 3,000 kW.
• III/4 — rating forming part of an engineering watch; III/5 — able seafarer engine.
• III/6 — electro-technical officer (ETO); III/7 — electro-technical rating.

Radio

• IV/2 — GMDSS radio operator.

Special ship types

• V/1-1 — oil and chemical tankers: basic training, and advanced training for oil or for chemical tankers.
• V/1-2 — liquefied gas tankers: basic and advanced.
• V/2 — passenger ships: crowd management, crisis management and human behaviour.
• V/3 — ships using gases or other low-flashpoint fuels (the IGF Code).
• V/4 — ships operating in polar waters.

Safety and security

• VI/1 — basic training: personal survival techniques, fire prevention and fire fighting, elementary first aid, personal safety and social responsibilities.
• VI/2 — survival craft and rescue boats, and fast rescue boats.
• VI/3 — advanced fire fighting.
• VI/4 — medical first aid and medical care.
• VI/5 — ship security officer.
• VI/6 — security awareness for everyone, and designated security duties for those who have them.

Revalidation and endorsements

Revalidation (regulation I/11). Every master, officer and radio operator who serves at sea, or intends to return to sea, must at intervals of no more than five years prove medical fitness and continued professional competence. The usual proof is approved sea service in a relevant function of at least 12 months in total during the preceding five years, or at least 3 months during the preceding six months. Without it, the alternatives are an approved test or course, or three months at sea as a supernumerary officer or in a lower rank. Tanker certificates need their own proof: at least 3 months of tanker service in the last five years, or an approved course.

Endorsement by the flag (regulation I/10). A certificate issued by one state has to be recognised by the flag state, with an endorsement, before its holder can serve on that flag's ships as master, officer or radio operator. While the endorsement is being issued, the flag may allow service for up to three months on the strength of documentary proof that the application has been submitted.

Refresher training. Personal survival techniques and fire prevention and fire fighting from basic training are refreshed every five years, and so are survival craft and rescue boats and advanced fire fighting. Elementary first aid and personal safety and social responsibilities need no refresher.

Crewing agencies verify certificates online with the issuing administration. A bought or forged certificate is a criminal matter and the end of a career.

Hours of rest and alcohol (chapter VIII)

• At least 10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period and 77 hours in any 7-day period.
• The rest may be split into no more than two periods, one of them at least six hours long; no more than 14 hours may pass between consecutive periods of rest.
• Drills are held so as to disturb rest as little as possible; a seafarer called out during rest gets compensatory rest.
• A table of shipboard working arrangements is posted on board; records of rest are kept, and every seafarer gets a copy signed by the master.
• A flag may allow exceptions within strict limits — for example 70 hours a week for no more than two consecutive weeks. An emergency overrides everything.
• Alcohol: for masters, officers and seafarers with safety, security and environmental duties, no more than 0.05% blood alcohol or 0.25 mg/l in breath. Many companies go further and allow none at all.
• Watchkeeping: the officer of the watch may be the sole look-out in daylight only, and only when it is safe; at night there is always a separate look-out.

What they ask at the interview

• Everyone: the rest-hour limits; what basic training includes and when yours expires; the alcohol limit.
• Officers: which regulation your certificate is issued under and its limits (tonnage, kilowatts, near-coastal); when and how you revalidate; whether you hold an endorsement for this flag and the three-month rule; tanker endorsements under V/1-1 or V/1-2 and how many months you have on tankers.
• Masters, chief mates and chief engineers: watch arrangements, rest-hour records and what to do when they show a non-conformity, familiarisation of new crew before they take up duties.
• CES and similar tests: watchkeeping and rest-hour questions are a regular part of them.

Common mistakes

1. Letting the basic training refreshers lapse in the middle of a contract. A company cannot keep you on board with an expired certificate.
2. Joining a ship of another flag with neither an endorsement nor proof that you have applied for one.
3. Losing track of sea time. Revalidation counts service in a relevant function, proven by discharge book entries and sea service testimonials — keep them all.
4. Filling in rest-hour records to match the timesheet rather than reality. After an accident, a false record is evidence against the person who signed it.
5. Buying a certificate. It will be checked, and it will be found.
6. Taking a course for a job offer. A training centre sells training; no course guarantees a contract.

Test yourself

Who on board needs this

Everyone — from the ordinary seaman and the able seaman under II/4 and II/5, and the motorman under III/4, to the third officer and the chief officer under II/1 and II/2, the second engineer and the chief engineer under III/1 and III/2, and the ETO under III/6. On tankers add V/1-1, on gas carriers V/1-2.

Put every certificate with its regulation number and expiry date into your maritime CV: that is the first thing a crewing manager checks.

Source: the STCW Convention 1978 as amended, including the 2010 Manila amendments, and the STCW Code. Flag states may require more; the rules of the administration that issued your certificate prevail. This page is a study aid, not a legal text.