Manila Amendments of the STCW Code: 2017 Updates

January 1st 2017 will be the final implementation date of the Manila Amendments of the STCW Code (STCW 2010).
From this date onwards the following courses must have been completed within the last five years:

• Personal Survival Techniques
• Basic Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting
• Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats (PSC&RB) or Advanced Sea Survival for Yachtsmen
• Advanced Fire Fighting

If your current courses are more than 5 years old you will be required to complete refresher (update) courses which will be half a day for Personal Survival Techniques and 1 day for all other refresher training courses.

There are 1.4 million seafarers worldwide needing to ensure their qualifications are in date, so places will be limited on the courses in the run up to December 2016.

You are required to have both the original STCW certificates as well as the updated certificates on board.
If your crew does not have in date STCW certificates the vessel may not meet Port State Control requirements and you will not be allowed to sail.
You will not be able to revalidate your CoC without a valid STCW certification.
If you hold Advanced STCW you still have to revalidate both Basic and Advanced; both are required to be updated.
If your modules are more than 5 years old, you do not have to take the full courses – the updated courses will be sufficient.

Other requirements:

ECDIS is now a mandatory requirement for OOW (yachts less than 3000GT)

Chief Mate (yachts less than 3000 GT)

Master (yachts less than 500 GT and 3000 GT).

If you are applying for a Master Code Vessel, less than 200 GT, Certificate of Competency and do not complete an MCA-approved ECDIS course you will receive the following limitation: “From the 1 January 2017 this certificate is not valid for service on ships fitted with ECDIS”.

As of 1st January 2017, EDH must have been completed at least 18 months before the MCA OOW Yacht 3000gt COC can be issued.

Medical Courses: Only the Proficiency in Medical Care (STCW A-VI/4-2) needs to be refreshed every five years. This is an EU requirement and not an STCW requirement. First Aid courses do not need to be updated under STCW.

If you have any questions about these changes, please don't hesitate to contact us: