Circular Letter
MSC/Circ.1121

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON STANDARDS OF TRAINING, CERTIFICATION AND WATCHKEEPING FOR  SEAFARERS (STCW), 1978, AS AMENDED

(20 May 2004)

 

Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as amended, confirmed by the Maritime Safety Committee to have communicated information which demonstrates that full and complete effect is given to the relevant provisions of the Convention

 

1.  The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), at its seventy-eighth session (12 to 21 May 2004), received reports by the Secretary-General pursuant to regulation I/7, paragraph 2 of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention), 1978, as amended.  The reports were in respect of those STCW Parties, whose information had not been fully evaluated previously and in time for them to be considered by MSC 77 (30 May to 8 June 2003).  A list of the STCW Parties which had communicated information that demonstrated that they were giving full and complete effect to the relevant provisions of the Convention at that session of the Committee, together with those which had previously been confirmed by MSC 77 (30 May to 8 June 2003), MSC 76 (2 to 13 December 2002), MSC 75 (15 to 24 May 2002), the Committee s first extraordinary session (27 and 28 November 2001), MSC 74 (30 May to 8 June 2001) and MSC 73 (27 November to 6 December 2000), was promulgated by means of MSC/Circ.1092 dated 5 June 2003.

 

2.  MSC 78 noted that, in preparing the reports required by STCW regulation I/7, paragraph 2, the Secretary-General had solicited and taken into account the views of competent persons selected from the list established pursuant to paragraph 5 of section A-I/7 of the STCW Code and circulated as MSC/Circ.797, as revised from time to time.

 

3.  In accordance with STCW regulation I/7, paragraph 3, MSC 78 confirmed further STCW Parties, additional to those listed in MSC/Circ.1092, which had communicated information demonstrating that they were giving full and complete effect to the relevant provisions of the STCW Convention, as amended.  The list at annex contains those STCW Parties confirmed by the Committee at its seventy-third, seventy-fourth, first extraordinary, seventy-fifth, seventy-sixth, seventy-seventh and seventy-eighth sessions.  The Committee noted that, as the process of communicating and evaluating information is continuing, further Parties may be added to the list at annex at subsequent meetings.

 

4.  The Committee draws the attention of maritime administrations, shipowners, ship operators and managers, ship masters and other parties concerned to the following:

 

.1  not all of the STCW Parties listed at annex provide seafarer training, and some of those Parties listed may only provide a limited range of training; and

 

.2  the fact that a Party is listed in the annex does not relieve those concerned of their obligations under the STCW Convention.

 

5.  As Parties are entitled to accept, in principle, certificates issued by or on behalf of Parties identified in the list at annex, and a position on that list is one of the necessary measures used by many Administrations for the issue of endorsements in compliance with STCW regulation I/10, the attention of port State control officers is drawn to the fact that this circular was issued on 20 May 2004 and, therefore, some seafarers may, for practical reasons, not hold certificates with such endorsements.

 

 

ANNEX .

Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as amended, confirmed by the Maritime Safety Committee to have communicated information which demonstrates that full and complete effect is given to the relevant provisions of the Convention