Time to relook updated training for seafarers

IT APPEARS that the rules governing the way seafarers train and obtain their qualifications could soon be changing.

Speaking in Manila, at the recent Crew Connect Conference in Manila, the chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Esben Poulsson, called for a comprehensive revision of the relevant International Maritime Organization (IMO) convention.

The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), which governs global standards for the training and certification of around two million merchant seafarers, was first adopted by IMO in 1978. It was radically revised by IMO in 1995 at the request of ICS, with a further set of minor amendments adopted in 2010.