98-31213. Implementation Focus and Coordination Team for the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as Amended

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 225 (Monday, November 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64752-64754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31213]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard
[USCG-1998-4770]


Implementation Focus and Coordination Team for the International 
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for 
Seafarers, 1978, as Amended

AGENCY:  Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION:  Notice of meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  The Coast Guard is holding a public meeting to hear 
information concerning implementation requirements of the International 
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for 
Seafarers, 1978, as amended in 1995 (STCW). The Coast Guard recently 
established an STCW Implementation Focus and Coordination Team to 
monitor and coordinate nationwide implementation of STCW. The Coast 
Guard encourages you to provide ideas, comments, and questions on 
implementing the provisions of the

[[Page 64753]]

STCW Convention. Your input will help the team develop an STCW 
implementation focus and coordination plan to ensure that affected 
parties meet the STCW implementation deadlines.

DATES:  The meeting will be held on December 16, 1998, from 9 a.m. to 3 
p.m. We will begin the meeting at the scheduled time; however, it may 
end early if all issues have been addressed. Comments must reach the 
Docket Management Facility on or before January 15, 1999.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in room 6200, Nassif Building, 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001. You may mail comments to 
the Docket Management Facility, [USCG-1998-4770], U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001, or deliver them to room PL-401, located on the Plaza 
level of the Nassif Building at the same address between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and documents as indicated in this preamble will 
become part of this docket and will be available for inspection or 
copying at room PL-401, located on the Plaza Level of the Nassif 
Building at the address in this section between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also access 
this docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
 For questions on this notice or to make an oral presentation at the 
meeting, please contact Lieutenant Commander George H. Burns III, 
Maritime Personnel Qualifications Division (G-MSO-1), telephone 202-
267-0550, fax [phone], or e-mail [e-mail]. Questions 
concerning the STCW Implementation Focus and Coordination Team should 
be directed to the Team Leader, Captain Robert L. Skewes (G-MSO), 
telephone [phone], fax [phone], or e-mail 
[e-mail]. Questions concerning STCW requirements and 
enforcement should continue to be directed to the Coast Guard National 
Maritime Center at [phone]. Captain William C. Bennett, e-mail 
[e-mail], retains responsibility for administering 
the Mariner Licensing and Documentation Program, including STCW. For 
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact 
Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 
202-366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments

    The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to respond to this 
request by submitting written data, views, or arguments. Persons 
submitting comments should include their names and addresses, identify 
this notice [USCG-1998-4770] and the specific section of this document 
to which each comment or question applies, and give the reason for each 
comment. Please submit all comments and attachments in an unbound 
format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and 
electronic filing to the Docket Management. Facility at the address 
under ADDRESSES. Persons wanting acknowledgment of receipt of comments 
should enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. The 
Coast Guard will consider all comments received during the comment 
period.

Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meetings, contact 
LCDR Burns at the phone numbers listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT as soon as possible.

Background Information

    In 1991, the United States became a party to the International 
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for 
Seafarers, 1978. The primary intent of STCW is to set minimum 
international qualifications for masters, officers, and watchkeeping 
personnel on seagoing merchant ships. The Convention does not apply to 
mariners on inland merchant vessels, but does apply to mariners on 
domestic voyages if the vessel operates beyond the boundary line.
    In 1993, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) began a 
comprehensive revision of STCW to establish more detailed standards of 
competence for mariners, and to address the increased awareness of 
human error as a major cause of maritime casualties. Before the IMO 
conference, the Coast Guard held seven public meetings. The information 
from these meetings helped us to determine the position of the U.S. 
delegation and to exchange views about the STCW amendments that were 
under discussion. We received input from advisory committee meetings to 
discuss developments relating to the STCW amendments and the domestic 
implementation of these amendments. The advisory committees included 
the Merchant Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC), the Towing Safety 
Advisory Committee (TSAC), and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council 
(NAVSAC).
    On July 7, 1995, a Conference of Parties adopted a package of 
amendments to STCW. These amendments went into force on February 1, 
1997. Currently, there are 132 parties to STCW representing almost 96 
percent of the world's merchant-ship tonnage.
    On March 26, 1996, we published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) in the Federal Register (61 FR 13284) on the implementation of 
the 1995 STCW amendments. We received over 500 comment letters in 
response to the NPRM and held four more public meetings.
    We published an interim rule with request for comments in the 
Federal Register on June 26, 1997 (62 FR 34506). The interim rule 
incorporated the 1995 STCW amendments into U.S. regulation.
    The STCW amendments adopted in July 1995--
     Concern port-state control, communication of information 
to IMO to allow for mutual oversight, company responsibilities, 
watchkeeping arrangements, and responsibilities of all parties to 
ensure that seafarers meet objective standards of competence;
     Require candidates for certificates (licenses and merchant 
mariner document endorsements) to establish competence through both 
subject-area examinations and practical demonstrations of skills; and
     Require all training assessment and certification 
activities to be monitored by a Quality Standards System (QSS).
    The Coast Guard finds that many practical demonstrations of 
competency already occur in existing formal training programs and in 
on-the-job training aboard ships. However, we will need a focus and 
coordination plan to monitor the adequacy of these training programs to 
meet STCW minimum requirements.

Comment Issues

    We are seeking comments on issues related to implementing the STCW 
provisions to help in the development of an STCW implementation focus 
and coordination plan. Please include your recommendations on how to 
address or resolve the issues. Specifically, we would like your input 
on the following questions:
    1. Should the U.S. maritime industry have a standard record of 
training and assessment for ratings (unlicensed personnel) forming part 
of the watch?

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    2. How do we establish all the training program outlines that must 
meet STCW requirements?
    3. How do we establish and document performance standards and 
measures to assess a mariner's practical proficiency in areas required 
under STCW?
    4. How should we keep a record of the mariner's current training 
and assessment in the four elements of basic safety--basic 
firefighting, elementary first aid, personal survival, and personal 
safety and social responsibility?
    5. How can we revise the merchant mariner license exams to make 
them a useful method of assessing competence?
    6. How should we establish national medical fitness standards for 
U.S. merchant mariners?
    7. Besides Coast Guard course approval, what other alternatives 
should be available meeting the STCW quality standards systems (QSS) 
that apply to maritime training and assessment of competence?
    8. How can we monitor the entire U.S. training, assessment, and 
certification system under a quality standards system (QSS)? Also, how 
can we ensure that the U.S. training, assessment, and certification 
system is evaluated under the QSS every five years?
    9. How do we establish simulator performance standards for maritime 
training and assessment of proficiency?
    10. How do we ensure that all active U.S. merchant mariners who are 
required to hold a 1995 STCW endorsement for service do so on or after 
February 1, 2002?
    11. How do we provide STCW-related information to all mariners?
    12. How can we encourage designated personnel to actively 
participate in training junior personnel on the ship and sign off on 
training record book entries?
    13. Which skills should not be verified by shipboard personnel? 
Also, which entries in the training record books should be made only at 
a shore side training facility?
    14. How can we account for all the requirements for the various 
segments of the marine industry in the focus and coordination plan?

Public Meeting

    Members of the public can make oral presentations with advance 
notice, and as time permits. If you wish to make an oral presentation, 
you should contact LCDR Burns at the numbers listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT no later than December 1, 1998. Please provide your 
name, you affiliation, and the issue(s) you would like to discuss. We 
may limit the length of your presentation to ensure that there is 
enough time to hear everyone who wishes to present comments.

    Dated: November 16, 1998.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 98-31213 Filed 11-20-98; 8:45 am]
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