Basic and advanced training for ships subject to the IGF Code and when gas tanker qualifications count instead (STCW Regulation V/3)

A ship using LNG or another low-flashpoint fuel falls under the IGF Code of SOLAS. The training of the seafarers on that ship is set by STCW Regulation V/3. Like tanker training it has a basic and an advanced level, but what calls each level is different. It is not the ship type but the safety duties and responsibility for the fuel.

The regulation has a second axis. The conditions under which qualifications earned on liquefied gas tankers count as IGF qualifications. Read those conditions widely and a person with no bunkering experience takes on fuel responsibility without the advanced certificate. Read them narrowly and a person who already meets them is sent back to the course.

Regulation V/3 was added by MSC.396(95), adopted in June 2015, and Code section A-V/3 was added by MSC.397(95) on the same day. Both resolutions entered into force on 1 January 2017.

The scope is everyone serving on a ship subject to the IGF Code, and familiarization comes first

1 This regulation applies to masters, officers and ratings and other personnel serving on board ships subject to the IGF Code.

2 Prior to being assigned shipboard duties on board ships subject to the IGF Code, seafarers shall have completed the training required by paragraphs 4 to 9 below in accordance with their capacity, duties and responsibilities.

The scope is not a ship type but ships subject to the IGF Code. Whether the ship is subject to the IGF Code comes first, and what the person does on that ship comes second. Paragraph 2 sets the timing. The training of paragraphs 4 to 9 has to be complete before shipboard duties are assigned.

3 All seafarers serving on board ships subject to the IGF Code shall, prior to being assigned shipboard duties, receive appropriate ship and equipment specific familiarization as specified in regulation I/14, paragraph 1.5.

Paragraph 3 applies to every seafarer regardless of certificates. It is familiarization specific to that ship and that equipment. The basis is Regulation I/14 paragraph 1.5, the company responsibilities. A person who already holds the certificate receives this familiarization again on changing ship.

The basic certificate is called by designated safety duties relating to the fuel

4 Seafarers responsible for designated safety duties associated with the care, use or in emergency response to the fuel on board ships subject to the IGF Code shall hold a certificate in basic training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code.

5 Every candidate for a certificate in basic training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code shall have completed basic training in accordance with provisions of section A-V/3, paragraph 1 of the STCW Code.

The basic certificate is for seafarers with designated safety duties. Safety duties associated with the care, use or emergency response to the fuel. It is a designation, not a rank. So the same rank splits from ship to ship. Paragraph 4 asks for no certificate from a person who has not been designated a fuel-related safety duty.

There is one route to the certificate. Basic training under A-V/3 paragraph 1. Unlike the basic tanker certificate there is no branch where seagoing service replaces the course. Instead there is the substitution of paragraph 6, covered separately below.

The advanced certificate names masters, engineer officers and fuel responsibility, and asks for three bunkering operations

7 Masters, engineer officers and all personnel with immediate responsibility for the care and use of fuels and fuel systems on ships subject to the IGF Code shall hold a certificate in advanced training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code.

The advanced certificate calls three groups. Masters, engineer officers, and all personnel with immediate responsibility for the care and use of fuels and fuel systems. engineer officers is not only the chief and second engineer but every engineer officer. Where the advanced tanker certificate named four posts, here the whole engine department officer list is caught by name.

8 Every candidate for a certificate in advanced training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code shall, while holding the Certificate of Proficiency described in paragraph 4, have: .1 completed approved advanced training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code and meet the standard of competence as specified in section A-V/3, paragraph 2 of the STCW Code; and .2 completed at least one month of approved seagoing service that includes a minimum of three bunkering operations on board ships subject to the IGF Code. Two of the three bunkering operations may be replaced by approved simulator training on bunkering operations as part of the training in paragraph 8.1 above.

The advanced requirement has three pieces. The first is holding the basic Certificate of Proficiency of paragraph 4. It says while holding, so the basic certificate has to exist before the service behind it counts. The second is approved advanced training and the standard of competence of A-V/3 paragraph 2. The third is at least one month of approved seagoing service, and that month has to include three bunkering operations.

Two of the three bunkering operations may be replaced by approved simulator training. A condition attaches. The simulator training has to be part of the advanced training in paragraph 8.1. A simulator course taken on its own does not fall within that sentence. One real bunkering operation remains in every case.

Liquefied gas tanker qualifications count as IGF qualifications only when the conditions are met

6 Seafarers responsible for designated safety duties associated with the care, use or in emergency response to the fuel on board ships subject to the IGF Code who have been qualified and certified according to regulation V/1-2, paragraphs 2 and 5, or regulation V/1-2, paragraphs 4 and 5 on liquefied gas tankers, are to be considered as having met the requirements specified in section A-V/3, paragraph 1 for basic training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code.

The basic substitution is simple. A person qualified and certified under Regulation V/1-2 at the basic or advanced level for liquefied gas tankers is considered to have met the basic training requirement of A-V/3 paragraph 1. Both the qualification and the certificate have to be there. It says qualified and certified.

9 Masters, engineer officers and any person with immediate responsibility for the care and use of fuels on ships subject to the IGF Code who have been qualified and certified according to the standards of competence specified in section A–V/1-2, paragraph 2 for service on liquefied gas tankers are to be considered as having met the requirements specified in section A-V/3, paragraph 2 for advanced training for ships subject to the IGF Code, provided they have also: .1 met the requirements of paragraph 6; and .2 met the bunkering requirements of paragraph 8.2 or have participated in conducting three cargo operations on board the liquefied gas tanker; and .3 have completed sea going service of three months in the previous five years on board: .1 ships subject to the IGF Code; .2 tankers carrying as cargo, fuels covered by the IGF Code; or .3 ships using gases or low flashpoint fuel as fuel.

The advanced substitution carries three more conditions. The advanced liquefied gas tanker qualification alone is not enough.

Condition	Provision	Content
Basic substitution	paragraph 9.1	Meet the requirements of paragraph 6
Bunkering or cargo operations	paragraph 9.2	Meet the bunkering requirement of paragraph 8.2, or have taken part in three cargo operations on the liquefied gas tanker
Recent service	paragraph 9.3	Three months of service in the previous five years on one of: a ship subject to the IGF Code, a tanker carrying IGF fuels as cargo, a ship using gas or low-flashpoint fuel

The second condition is a choice. Three cargo operations on a liquefied gas tanker can stand in for the three bunkering operations. The third condition is not a choice. Three months on one of the three ship types within the previous five years are needed. If the gas tanker service is older than that, the advanced substitution is closed.

A-V/3 paragraphs 1 and 2 receive this substitution on the Code side. The .2 of each paragraph places the liquefied gas tanker training and certification under Regulation V/3 paragraphs 6 and 9 as the alternative to completing the course.

The certificate is a Certificate of Proficiency and refresher runs outside Regulation I/11

11 Administrations shall ensure that a Certificate of Proficiency is issued to seafarers, who are qualified in accordance with paragraphs 4 or 7, as appropriate.

12 Seafarers holding Certificates of Proficiency in accordance with paragraph 4 or 7 above shall, at intervals not exceeding five years, undertake appropriate refresher training or be required to provide evidence of having achieved the required standard of competence within the previous five years.

The form is a Certificate of Proficiency. The option of endorsing an existing certificate, as with tanker certificates, is not in this provision. Refresher is at intervals not exceeding five years, by refresher training or by evidence of having achieved the standard of competence.

The same resolution amended Regulation I/11 paragraph 1 as well.

1 Every master, officer and radio operator holding a certificate issued or recognized under any chapter of the Convention other than regulation V/3 or chapter VI, who is serving at sea or intends to return to sea after a period ashore, shall, in order to continue to qualify for seagoing service, be required, at intervals not exceeding five years, to:

other than regulation V/3 or chapter VI is the new wording. A Regulation V/3 certificate sits outside the revalidation frame of I/11. It is not revalidated by medical fitness and seagoing service but maintained by the refresher training or evidence of paragraph 12. The revalidation date of the certificate of competency and the refresher date of the IGF Certificate of Proficiency are counted separately.

Separate provisions cover people serving before entry into force and ships under 500 gross tonnage

10 Every Party shall compare the standards of competence which it required of persons serving on gas-fuelled ships before 1 January 2017 with the standards of competence in Section A-V/3 of the STCW Code, and shall determine the need, if any, for requiring these personnel to update their qualifications.

A person who served on gas-fuelled ships before the entry into force on 1 January 2017 is not recognized automatically. The Party compares the standard of competence it required at the time with A-V/3 and decides whether updating is needed. The outcome differs from Party to Party.

3 The Administration may, in respect of ships of less than 500 gross tonnage, except for passenger ships, if it considers that a ship’s size and the length or character of its voyage are such as to render the application of the full requirements of this section unreasonable or impracticable, exempt the seafarers on such a ship or class of ships from some of the requirements, bearing in mind the safety of people on board, the ship and property and the protection of the marine environment.

The exemption of A-V/3 paragraph 3 is narrow. The ship has to be under 500 gross tonnage, and passenger ships are excluded. The Administration exempts only when it considers that the size of the ship and the length or character of the voyage make full application unreasonable or impracticable. The reach of the exemption is some of the requirements, not all.

Worth confirming

The passages above come from Regulation V/3 as added by MSC.396(95), Regulation I/11 paragraph 1 as amended by the same resolution, and A-V/3 as added by MSC.397(95). This article goes no further than the text of the two resolutions. Which ships are subject to the IGF Code is a SOLAS question and is not covered here.

The competence items of tables A-V/3-1 and A-V/3-2 are not reproduced. The criteria for approving a course, the approval of simulator training, and whether existing personnel need updating under paragraph 10 are for the Administration and the Party.

You can consult the cited source documents

These links lead to the official publishers of the documents discussed here. Match the edition and provisions cited in the article, and check subsequent amendments and flag-state implementation before applying them.

• IMO · MSC.396(95)
• IMO · MSC.397(95)

Continue with the related operational guidance

• Basic and advanced tanker cargo training and who is called to each (STCW Regulations V/1-1 and V/1-2)
• Five-year revalidation of certificates and the two seagoing service routes (STCW Regulation I/11)