Team Herald
MARGAO: Good news coming in for the Seafarers of Goa, as the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) certificate was extended for 12 months on a case to case basis for seafarers by the Director General of Shipping (DGS).
As informed by Frank Viegas, President of Goan Seafarers Association of India (GSAI), they had brought this issue to the notice of Shripad Naik, Minister of Shipping, Government of India, and Director General of Shipping Amitabh Kumar in October, 2021.
"We had brought to the notice of the concerned authorities the hardship and difficulties faced by the seafarers due to COVID-19 with regard to slow resumption of cruise shipping under the guidelines of SOP", he stated.
It was also pointed out that seafarers unnecessarily have to bear the cost just to renew their STCW certificate with a validity of 18 months without joining ship.
However, now the concerned authorities have extended all those STCW certificates which have been issued with a validity of 19 months.
In the order is has been mentioned that recalling Para 8 of DGS Order 20, wherein this Directorate has proactively taken pragmatic approach to re-validate STCW related certificates by way of 3-Tier approach during the Covid pandemic restrictions, whereas in the said 3-Tier approach, certificates were restricted to 18 months' validity.
"Whereas in subsequent orders, Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has permitted Maritime Training Institutes (MTIs) to resume practical training in phased manner as and when the restriction was eased up. On completion of such practical training STCW certificates have been extended for a period of 5 years from the date of issuance of 18 months' certificate", the order further stated.
DGS in its order also said that they had received representations from various stakeholders requesting to address the difficulties of all those seafarers whose 18 months' valid certificates are expiring.
In the coming months as the current wave of COVID-l9 pandemic some seafarers have not been able to complete the requisite practical training to obtain 5 years' valid certificate.
Having considered the requests made by the stakeholders, the Directorate has now decided to extend the STCW certificates issued with a validity of 18 months, after completing the 3-Tier programme, but without undergoing practical training at MTI under their terms and conditions