Basic and advanced tanker cargo training and who is called to each (STCW Regulations V/1-1 and V/1-2)

Say a second officer with 3 years on chemical tankers moves to an LPG carrier as chief mate. The person knows cargo work, but on the new ship the seat carries immediate responsibility for cargo. The question is whether the certificates already held reach that seat.

STCW Regulations V/1-1 and V/1-2 answer it. The two provisions build five certificates, and two axes separate them. Basic against advanced is one axis, and the oil side against the gas side is the other.

How to cross an axis is in the provisions too. Approved seagoing service replaces the course in one place and sits on top of the course in another. That difference settles the question above.

What calls for the basic certificate is the assigned cargo duty, not the rank

1 Officers and ratings assigned specific duties and responsibilities related to cargo or cargo equipment on oil or chemical tankers shall hold a certificate in basic training for oil and chemical tanker cargo operations.

Officers and ratings sit side by side. The provision does not sort by rank. What opens the door is the assignment: whether the person has been given specific duties and responsibilities related to cargo or cargo equipment.

So the same rank splits from ship to ship. The provision asks for no certificate from a person with no cargo duty, and a rating who is given a duty on cargo equipment needs the basic certificate.

The name of the certificate is worth reading as well. basic training for oil and chemical tanker cargo operations carries oil tankers and chemical tankers inside one name. At the basic level the two do not separate.

At the basic level, seagoing service stands in for the course

2 Every candidate for a certificate in basic training for oil and chemical tanker cargo operations shall have completed basic training in accordance with provisions of section A-VI/1 of the STCW Code and shall have completed: .1 at least three months of approved seagoing service on oil or chemical tankers and meet the standard of competence specified in section A-V/1-1, paragraph 1 of the STCW Code; or .2 an approved basic training for oil and chemical tanker cargo operations and meet the standard of competence specified in section A-V/1-1, paragraph 1 of the STCW Code.

One condition sits in front: basic training under A-VI/1 has to be completed. Without it the two branches behind it do not open.

The two branches stand in for each other. One is approved seagoing service of 3 months or more, the other is an approved basic course. Either way the requirement to meet the standard of competence in A-V/1-1 paragraph 1 stays attached. What the service replaces is the course, not the standard.

On the service branch the ship type reads oil or chemical tankers. 3 months served on a chemical tanker counts towards the same basic certificate that covers oil tankers. It is the same reason the two ship types share one certificate at this level.

Advanced training names four ranks and anyone with immediate cargo responsibility

3 Masters, chief engineer officers, chief mates, second engineer officers and any person with immediate responsibility for loading, discharging, care in transit, handling of cargo, tank cleaning or other cargo-related operations on oil tankers shall hold a certificate in advanced training for oil tanker cargo operations.

The front half is four posts: master, chief engineer officer, chief mate and second engineer officer. These four are caught by name, whether or not a cargo duty has been assigned to them.

The back half is not a post but a responsibility. any person with immediate responsibility attaches to loading, discharging, care in transit, handling of cargo, tank cleaning and other cargo-related operations. Because of that sentence the list of people needing advanced training cannot be drawn from a rank table. Who on that ship carries immediate responsibility for cargo work has to be settled first.

Paragraph 5 writes the same sentence for chemical tankers, and Regulation V/1-2 paragraph 3 writes it for liquefied gas tankers. The four posts and the responsibility sentence repeat exactly, and only the ship type and the certificate name change.

At the advanced level, service does not replace the course but sits on top of it

4 Every candidate for a certificate in advanced training for oil tanker cargo operations shall: .1 meet the requirements for certification in basic training for oil and chemical tanker cargo operations; and .2 while qualified for certification in basic training for oil and chemical tanker cargo operations, have: .2.1 at least three months of approved seagoing service on oil tankers, or .2.2 at least one month of approved onboard training on oil tankers, in a supernumerary capacity, which includes at least three loading and three unloading operations and is documented in an approved training record book taking into account guidance in section B-V/1; and .3 have completed approved advanced training for oil tanker cargo operations and meet the standard of competence specified in section A-V/1-1, paragraph 2 of the STCW Code.

All three pieces are needed. The first is meeting the requirements for the basic certificate. The second is seagoing service or onboard training. The third is completing approved advanced training and meeting the standard of competence in A-V/1-1 paragraph 2.

The structure where service stood in for the course disappears here. Completing the advanced course sits in the third piece, and service is asked for separately in the second. Filling the service does not let anyone skip the course.

The second piece also carries a condition in front of it. while qualified for certification in basic training, that is, the service has to be served while already qualified for the basic certificate. Time served on the same ship before the basic certificate came through does not count here. The order is part of the requirement.

The two forms of the second piece	Period	What the provision asks for alongside
Approved seagoing service on that type	3 months or more	Nothing
Approved onboard training on that type	1 month or more	in a supernumerary capacity, at least 3 loading and 3 unloading operations, entered in an approved training record book

The lower route is shorter but the conditions are tighter. It is not a structure where the period can be filled first and the record made afterwards.

The ship type of the service narrows as well. At the basic level it was oil tankers and chemical tankers alike, but advanced oil training reads on oil tankers. Service on a chemical tanker does not fill the advanced oil requirement.

The oil side and the gas side do not accept each other’s certificates

1 Officers and ratings assigned specific duties and responsibilities related to cargo or cargo equipment on liquefied gas tankers shall hold a certificate in basic training for liquefied gas tanker cargo operations.

Regulation V/1-2 paragraph 1 uses the same structure as Regulation V/1-1 paragraph 1. The certificate name differs. Liquefied gas tankers have their own basic certificate, and the basic certificate that bundles oil tankers with chemical tankers does not reach this far. The standard of competence points at a different section as well.

Certificate	Standard of competence	Service and training requirement
Basic (oil and chemical tankers)	A-V/1-1 paragraph 1	3 months on that type, or an approved basic course
Advanced (oil tankers)	A-V/1-1 paragraph 2	Basic qualification, 3 months on oil tankers or 1 month onboard training, advanced course
Advanced (chemical tankers)	A-V/1-1 paragraph 3	Basic qualification, 3 months on chemical tankers or 1 month onboard training, advanced course
Basic (liquefied gas tankers)	A-V/1-2 paragraph 1	3 months on liquefied gas tankers, or an approved basic course
Advanced (liquefied gas tankers)	A-V/1-2 paragraph 2	Basic qualification, 3 months on liquefied gas tankers or 1 month onboard training, advanced course

The second officer from the opening runs straight into this table. 3 years on chemical tankers does not count towards the service requirement for the basic liquefied gas certificate. And the chief mate seat is one that Regulation V/1-2 paragraph 3 calls by name, so the advanced certificate is needed too.

The certificate comes out in one of two shapes.

7 Administrations shall ensure that a certificate of proficiency is issued to seafarers, who are qualified in accordance with paragraphs 2, 4 or 6 as appropriate, or that an existing certificate of competency or certificate of proficiency is duly endorsed.

Either a separate certificate of proficiency is issued, or an existing certificate of competency or certificate of proficiency is endorsed. Regulation V/1-2 paragraph 5 writes the same sentence for liquefied gas tankers. Whichever shape it takes, the requirement behind it is the same.

Worth confirming

The passages above come from Regulations V/1-1 and V/1-2 in STCW/CONF.2/33. What the provisions settle is the types of certificate, the seats that call for them, and the minimum periods.

What counts as approved seagoing service, who approves a course, and what an approved training record book looks like are for the Administration. So is the choice between a separate certificate and an endorsement on one already held. B-V/1 is guidance, not a mandatory provision.

The standards of competence themselves are not in the passages above. Which items each paragraph of A-V/1-1 and A-V/1-2 asks for, and at what level, has to be read from the tables in those sections.