Expert: Henning Haarhaus - 7/7/2008

Question
The Maritime Training Council in the Philippines has lately imposed expensive and mandatory management level courses to seafarers in order for them to renew their licenses or be promoted. Top officials of the council, as well as the government's licensing agency, have proposed these measures saying it is a requirement in the International Maritime Law, or STCW (International Convention of Training Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers). However congressmen have debunked this saying it's not in the international conventions and that even veteran seafarers are now only being weighed down by these new courses.

Answer
It says in wikipedia:

"The 1978 STCW Convention was the first to establish basic requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level. Previously the standards of training, certification and watchkeeping of officers and ratings were established by individual governments, usually without reference to practices in other countries. As a result standards and procedures varied widely, even though shipping is the most international of all industries.

The Convention prescribes minimum standards relating to training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers which countries are obliged to meet or exceed."

I draw the conclusion from the foresaid that the Convention deals only with the substantive knowledge which seafarers are supposed to have and with establishing a supervisory scheme which shall grant that the national institutions which are supposed to educate the seafarers respectively comply with the standards set in the Concention. On the other hand, to my estimation the way of organizing the necessary education proceeding including the resolving the question who would have to pay for it should be a matter of the national law of each country.

However, I advise you to review the Convention which is published in the online resource of the IMO:
http://www.imo.org/conventions/contents.asp?doc_id=651&topic_id=257