Education & Training

Shipping is one of the safest means of transport, yet thousands of accidents still occur each year and the great majority of these involve human error. The main issues which can have an effect on the potential for human error are education, training and working conditions. Therefore, the better the education and training received by seafarers is, the safer shipping will become.

Although many seafarers operating in EU waters were educated, trained and certified in Europe, it is important to note that EU registered ships are often crewed by seafarers who are not nationals of EU Member States. This fact needs to be taken into account when determining the best ways of ensuring that crew members on board EU registered ships are appropriately educated and trained.

The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers (STCW), requires that seafarers be provided with "familiarization training" and "basic safety training" which includes basic fire-fighting, elementary first aid, personal survival techniques, and personal safety and social responsibility. This training is intended to ensure that seafarers are aware of the hazards of working on a vessel and can respond appropriately in an emergency.

According to STCW, The STCW 95 Code requires that you take this 5-day course of instruction. This course has to be renewed every 5 years, or under certain conditions, you have to show that you have at least 1 year of service on board vessels of 200 GRT or more within the last 5 years. The components generally includes a Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting (Basic Fire-fighting) course of 2 days, a Personal Survival Techniques (PST) course of 1.5 days, a Personal Safety and Social Responsibility (PSSR) course of half a day, and, First Aid / CPR (Basic First Aid) course of 1 day.

Basic Safety Training or BST is the starting point for persons seeking employment in the maritime industry.

Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training or BOSIET is designed for marine personnel intending to work on an offshore installation in the UK maritime sector and forms part of a Common Offshore Safety Induction process.