[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39306-39308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19006]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
46 CFR Parts 5, 10, 12, and 15
[CGD 95-062]
International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification
and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as revised by the 1995 Amendments
to It
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting, availability of documents, and
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is holding a public meeting to discuss the
outcome of the 1994 Conference of Parties to the International
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for
Seafarers, 1978 (STCW), which adopted comprehensive amendments to the
Annex to STCW. The amendments are scheduled to come into force on
February 1, 1997, and they may affect virtually all phases of the
system used in the United States to train, test, evaluate, document,
and license merchant mariners. The meeting will provide an opportunity
for the public to comment on the steps that the Coast Guard considers
necessary to implement the requirements of STCW as amended under the
laws of the United States, including regulations of the Coast Guard.
DATES: The meeting will be held August 31, 1995, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. Written comments must be received not later than September 29,
1995.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in room 2415, Coast Guard
Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001.
Written comments may be mailed to the Executive Secretary, Marine
Safety Council (G-LRA), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street SW.,
Washington DC 20593-0001, or may be delivered to room 3406 at the same
address between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. Comments will become part of this docket [CGD 95-062]
and will be available for inspection or copying at
[[Page 39307]]
room 3406, Coast Guard Headquarters, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays. A copy of the 1995 Amendments
to STCW may be obtained by writing Commandant (G-MOS), U.S. Coast
Guard, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, or by calling
(202) 267-0214, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. Requests may also be submitted by facsimile at (202)
267-4570.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Christopher Young, Operating and Environmental Standards Division
(G-MOS), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC
20593-0001, telephone (202) 267-0214.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Discussion
On July 7, 1995, a Conference of Parties to the International
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for
Seafarers, 1978 (STCW), meeting at the International Maritime
Organization in London, adopted a package of Amendments to STCW. The
amendments will enter into force on February 1, 1997, unless a third of
the parties to the Convention, or parties representing over 50 percent
of the world's shipping tons, object to them by August 1, 1996. Because
they were adopted unanimously by the Conference, no objections are
expected. Consequently, the Coast Guard is taking necessary steps to
implement them, to ensure that U.S. documents and licenses are issued
in compliance with them.
The Coast Guard will hold a public meeting on August 31, 1995, to
discuss the outcome of the Conference and seek public comment on how
the 1995 Amendments to STCW, adopted by the Conference, should be
implemented. Comments are invited not only on the substance of any new
requirements but also on the economic impact of meeting the
requirements, whether on individuals, maritime training, owners and
operators of vessels, small businesses, or others.
The Coast Guard must consider revising the current regulations on
licensing and documentation (46 CFR Parts 5, 10, 12, and 15) as well as
those on workhours and watchkeeping (46 CFR Part 15) to reflect the
requirements of the 1995 Amendments to STCW. The following is a list of
the most significant changes necessary to the regulations:
1. All candidates for STCW certificates (i.e., licenses and
documents for service on seagoing ships) will have to undergo approved
training and assessment of competence.
2. Virtually all training will be subject to a system of approval
and independent monitoring under standards of quality. Persons engaged
in training, whether on board ship or at shore-side training
facilities, will have to meet qualification standards. Many will have
to use a training-record book.
3. Assessment of competence will involve both examination, to
verify a sufficient level of knowledge and understanding of essential
subjects, and demonstration of practical skills. Persons engaged in
assessment of competence, whether on board ship or at shore-side
assessment facilities, will themselves have to meet qualification
standards. They will have to document proof of candidates' successful
demonstration of skills.
4. Simulators used in training or assessment must meet certain
performance standards.
5. All persons employed or engaged on seagoing vessels (i.e., all
persons on board except passengers) will have to undergo
familiarization training to ensure they can look after themselves in
the event of an emergency or a life-threatening situation. Persons
responsible for safety or pollution prevention (i.e., the required crew
complement, as well as those with assigned safety duties) will have to
get additional basic training in safety, including firefighting.
Persons responsible for medical care must also meet certain standards.
6. All persons employed or engaged on seagoing vessels must meet
certain standards of medical fitness.
7. Current standards for unlicensed seamen must be reviewed to
ensure they reflect the 1995 Amendments to STCW relating to ratings for
those who are members of navigational watches on ships of 500 gross
tons or more, or those who are members of engine-room watches or are
designated to perform duties in periodically unmanned engine-rooms on
seagoing ships powered by propulsion machinery of 750 kW [1000 hp] or
more.
8. Watchkeeping personnel must receive a minimum of rest. Masters
must arrange watchkeeping adequate for safe watches.
9. Suspension-and-revocation procedures must enable the taking of
appropriate action against a licensed or documented person who has (a)
allowed a shipboard function to be performed by a person not holding a
required STCW certificate or (b) certified that a skill has been
properly demonstrated when it has not, or when it has not been directly
observed.
10. Companies must ensure that new crewmembers are familiarized
with ship-specific equipment, procedures, and other arrangements
necessary for performing their jobs.
11. New regulations may be necessary to address the special
provisions governing personnel on tankers and on ro-ro passenger ships.
12. New policy will be necessary to implement expanded port-state
control.
Beyond the above, specific revisions will be necessary to ensure
that requirements for being issued a license or document under domestic
regulations fully meet those of the 1995 Amendments to STCW. For
example, officers of the navigational watch will need training in the
use of Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) for service on ships fitted
with ARPA. Also, such officers will have to hold radio operators'
certificates valid under the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
(GMDSS) for service in ships operating in the GMDSS.
In revising domestic regulations, the Coast Guard should consider
harmonizing the license categories with the structure outlined in the
1995 Amendments to STCW, which is as follows:
Deck Department
1. Officers of the navigational watch on ships of 500 gross tons or
more.
2. Officers of the navigational watch on ships of less than 500
gross tons not engaged on near-coastal voyages.
3. Officers of the navigational watch on ships of less than 500
gross tons engaged on near-coastal voyages.
4. Masters and Chief Mates on ships of 3000 gross tons or more.
5. Master and Chief Mates on ships of between 500 and 3000 gross
tons.
6. Masters on ships of less than 500 gross tons not engaged on
near-coastal voyages.
7. Masters on ships of less than 500 gross tons engaged on near-
coastal voyages.
Engine Department
1. Officers in charge of the engineering watch in manned engine-
rooms.
2. Designated duty engineers in periodically unmanned engine-rooms.
3. Chief engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion
machinery of 3,000 kW [4000 hp] or more.
4. Second engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion
machinery of 3,000 kW [4000 hp] or more.
5. Chief engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion
machinery of between 750 kW [1000 hp] and 3,000 kW [4000 hp].
6. Second engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion
machinery
[[Page 39308]]
of between 750 kW [1000 hp] and 3,000 kW [4000 hp].
Likewise, in revising domestic regulations, the Coast Guard should
consider applying the standards of competence set out in tables in the
1995 Amendments to STCW, by incorporating those tables by reference
into the appropriate sections of the revised regulations.
The above subjects will be open for discussion and comment at the
meeting on August 31. Any comments received at the meeting or in
response to this notice will be taken into account in the development
of implementing-regulations.
Attendance at the meeting is open to the public. Members of the
public may make oral presentations during the meeting. Persons wishing
to make oral presentations should notify the person listed above under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no later than the day before the
meeting. Written material may be submitted before, during, or after the
meeting.
Dated: July 27, 1995.
J.C. Card,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard Chief, Office of Marine Safety, Security
and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 95-19006 Filed 8-1-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-14-M
