Three layers of STCW security qualification and who each one applies to (Regulations VI/5 and VI/6)

Say three people join a bulk carrier that has to comply with the ISPS Code. An able seafarer, a cook, and the chief mate, who is the designated ship security officer (SSO). The security qualification each of them needs before joining is not the same.

STCW Regulations VI/5 and VI/6 answer in layers. There are three: security awareness for seafarers without designated security duties, seafarers with designated security duties, and the SSO. In front of all three sits familiarization training, which catches everyone regardless of layer. Rank does not sort the layers. Whether the ship falls under the ISPS Code, whether the person has been given a security duty, and whether the person is the SSO are the forks, in that order.

Familiarization training reaches everyone on board except passengers

1 Before being assigned to shipboard duties, all persons employed or engaged on a seagoing ship which is required to comply with the provisions of the ISPS Code, other than passengers, shall receive approved security-related familiarization training, taking account of the guidance given in part B, to be able to: .1 report a security incident, including a piracy or armed robbery threat or attack; .2 know the procedures to follow when they recognize a security threat; and .3 take part in security-related emergency and contingency procedures.

The subject is all persons employed or engaged. The provision does not say seafarers, and the only people left out are passengers. Someone outside the ship’s complement is still inside it if they work on the ship. The timing is in the provision as well: Before being assigned to shipboard duties, that is, before shipboard duties are handed out.

For a seafarer with designated security duties, paragraph 2 attaches familiarization a second time, covering the assigned duties and responsibilities. And the provision keeps delivery on board.

3 The security-related familiarization training shall be conducted by the ship security officer or an equally qualified person.

The SSO does it, or someone equally qualified. That is why no certificate clause is attached to this training. Regulation VI/6 mentions a certificate in two places only: security awareness and designated security duties.

A seafarer with no designated security duties stops at security awareness

4 Seafarers employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship which is required to comply with the provisions of the ISPS Code on the business of that ship as part of the ship’s complement without designated security duties shall, before being assigned to any shipboard duties: .1 receive appropriate approved training or instruction in security awareness as set out in table A-VI/6-1;

Three conditions stack. The ship has to fall under the ISPS Code, the person has to be part of the ship’s complement on the business of that ship, and the person has to have no designated security duties. The third condition is the ceiling of this layer. Designate a single duty and the seafarer leaves it. Regulation VI/6 paragraph 2 settles the certificate.

2 Where security awareness is not included in the qualification for the certificate to be issued, a certificate of proficiency shall be issued indicating that the holder has attended a course in security awareness training.

If security awareness already sits inside the qualification for the certificate to be issued, nothing separate comes out. If it does not, a separate certificate of proficiency does. Two seafarers in the same layer can therefore hold different paperwork. The paperwork differs, the standard does not.

Designating a duty drops the word basic from the same items

4 Seafarers with designated security duties shall meet the standard of competence specified in section A-VI/6, paragraphs 6 to 8 of the STCW Code.

The standard moves by exactly one table. The items on the table it moves to do not change much. What changes is the word in front of them. Every knowledge item in the security awareness table starts with Basic: security terms and definitions, security levels, reporting procedures, contingency plans, recognition of weapons and dangerous substances. The designated duties table carries the same items without that word.

Layer	Table	What the table asks for
Security awareness	table A-VI/6-1	Contribute to the enhancement of maritime security through heightened awareness
Designated security duties	table A-VI/6-2	Maintain the conditions set out in a ship security plan
SSO	table A-VI/5	Maintain and supervise the implementation of a ship security plan

Three verbs. Awareness contributes, the seafarer with a designated duty holds the ship at the conditions the plan sets, and the SSO supervises that holding. The equipment item shows the gap directly. The designated duties table asks for the need for testing, calibrating, and maintaining. The SSO table asks for the methods for testing, calibrating, and maintaining.

The certificate structure matches security awareness. Regulation VI/6 paragraph 5 writes the same sentence once more, for designated security duties.

Only the SSO carries a service requirement and a practical demonstration

1 Every candidate for a certificate of proficiency as ship security officer shall: .1 have approved seagoing service of not less than 12 months or appropriate seagoing service and knowledge of ship operations;

Of the three layers, this is the only one that asks for seagoing service. And the service requirement splits in two. One branch is approved seagoing service of not less than 12 months. The other is appropriate seagoing service plus knowledge of ship operations, with no period written into it. Paragraph 2 leaves the finding of qualification and the issue of the certificate to the Administration, so this is not a call the company makes against its own criteria.

There is one more place where the assessment method differs for the SSO alone: the security risk, threat and vulnerability item in table A-VI/5.

Assessment of evidence obtained from approved training, or approved experience and examination, including practical demonstration of competence to: .1 conduct physical searches .2 conduct non-intrusive inspections

Physical searches and non-intrusive inspections have to be demonstrated. The same slot on the designated duties table reads Knowledge of the methods for physical searches and non-intrusive inspections. It is assessed from evidence obtained through approved instruction or attendance at an approved course.

The route that ran through service alone closed in 2014

5 Until 1 January 2014, seafarers who commenced an approved seagoing service prior to the date of entry into force of this section shall be able to establish that they meet the requirements of paragraph 4 by: .1 approved seagoing service as shipboard personnel, for a period of at least six months in total during the preceding three years; or .2 having performed security functions considered to be equivalent to the seagoing service required in paragraph 5.1; or .3 passing an approved test; or .4 successfully completing approved training.

Four branches were open to a seafarer who had begun approved seagoing service before this section entered into force. Paragraph 9 put the same four branches, on the same deadline, on designated security duties. The deadline was 1 January 2014. All four are shut now, and what is left is approved training and approved courses.

One thing did not shut.

3 Every Party shall compare the security-related training or instruction it requires of seafarers who hold or can document qualifications before the entry into force of this regulation with those specified in section A-VI/6, paragraph 4 of the STCW Code, and shall determine the need for requiring these seafarers to update their qualifications.

How a seafarer who held qualifications before entry into force is treated is settled by the Party, which compares its own requirements against A-VI/6. Because the Party decides, two seafarers with identical service can face different update requirements under different flags.

Worth confirming

The passages above come from Regulations VI/5 and VI/6 in STCW/CONF.2/33 and from Code sections A-VI/5 and A-VI/6 in STCW/CONF.2/34. What the provisions settle is the layers and the minimum standard inside each one.

Who gets given a security duty is not settled here. The provisions only change the layer once the duty has been given. The crew list alone will not tell you the layer.

Whether security awareness and designated security duties come out as separate certificates, or sit inside the qualification for a certificate already held, depends on the flag State certificate structure. How the branch with no period written into it is recognised for the SSO, and what counts as approved training, are for the Administration.