INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON STANDARDS OF TRAINING,
CERTIFICATION AND WATCHKEEPING FOR SEAFARERS (STCW), 1978, AS AMENDED
Equivalent arrangement accepted under article IX
Statement by the Govemment of the
Netherlands
The
Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization has the honour to
transmit herewith the text of a statement by the Government of the Netherlands
under article IX of the above Convention.
The
Secretary-General would be grateful if steps could be undertaken to bring this
information to the attention of the appropriate authorities.
Progress toward proficiency at the maritime
academies and colleges is continuously assessed by highly skilled faculty staff.
Each cadet must be found competent in basic skills before advancing to more
sophisticated levels of training. All cadets proceed from general concepts to
practical experience, and from specific concepts to practical application.
Eventually, each cadet must be able to integrate all that has gone before.
Simulators are employed, for example, to allow for a
logical progression of events, experiences, training and achievement of
objectives in a way that is simply not possible on board a ship. The rapid
development of a multiple ship situation is also achievable only by use of a
simulator. The simulator furthermore provides the cadet a decision-making
environment that is not available on a ship, specially in high traffic density .
Research was carried out to establish whether it was
feasible that part of the seagoing service requirements of regulations II/1 and
III/1 could be substituted by simulator training on a full mission bridge and a
full size engine room simulator, meeting all requirements and recommendations
laid down in regulation I/12 and sections A-I/12 and B-I/12 of the STCW Code.
This research not only showed that part of the required seagoing service could,
to a certain extend, be replaced by simulator training but also that the level
of competence achieved by students following simulator training was higher than
the level of competence achieved by students not having followed simulator
training.
As a consequence simulator-based training at the
maritime academies and colleges receives limited credit as an equivalency for
sea-going service based on a number of considerations, including:
(a) level of simulation;
(b) acutual time spent by the cadet in the
simulator (and the number of cadets sharing the simulator at the same time);
student-teacher ratio (and special training of those who will be conducting
simulator training);
(d) pre-brief and de-brief
procedures;
(e) scenarios actually presented in
the simulated exercises (i.e. variety of port approaches and navigational
circumstances);
(f) degree of emphasis on
non-routine situations, emergencies and restricted operating conditions;
(g) integration with other elements in the
approved training program.
When all criteria have been met
and training objectives achieved the following will be granted:
- 5 days of simulator training, half of which has taken
place in a full mission bridge simulator and the other half in a full
size engine room simulator, may be counted as the equivalent for 15 days
of seagoing service;
- 10 days of simulator training,
half of which has taken place in a full mission bridge simulator and the
other half in a full size engine room simulator, may be counted as the
equivalent for 30 days seagoing; and
- 15 days of
simulator training, half of which has taken place in a ful1 mission
bridge simulator and the other half in a full size engine room simulator
may be counted as the equivalent for 60 days of seagoing service.
The Netherlands is fully satisfied that the
level of sea-going service, knowledge, experience and efficiency provided under
the above arrangement ensures a degree of safety at sea and has a preventive
effect as regards pollution prevention at least equivalent to the requirements
of the STCW Convention.