Ship Safety Bulletins (SSB)
RDIMS No.: 358740
Date (Y-M-D): 2003-09-10
Subject: New Style Certificates of Competency for STCW endorsed certificates
Purpose
This bulletin advises Canadian seafarers and the marine community in general, of the new style of certificates of competency issued under the Marine Certification Regulations that require an STCW endorsement in order to be considered "valid for use at sea."
General
Transport Canada, Marine Safety has developed a new "booklet style" certificate of competency, for all certificates that require STCW endorsements under the regulations.
These new certificates will gradually replace all previously issued certificates of competency as their STCW endorsements expire.
Minister's Certificates that are not required to have an STCW endorsement will continue to be issued in the current format, along with continued proficiency certificates if required.
Tanker certificates, proficiency certificates and similar qualifications will be recognized by affixing endorsement labels/stickers in the new certificates.
Implementation Date
The implementation date for the introduction of the new certificates will be October 1, 2003.
Policy
After October 1, 2003, all candidates applying for the renewal of their STCW endorsement will automatically be issued with the new style of certificate of competency and the corresponding endorsement stickers. The issue of these new certificates is conditional upon the holder fulfilling all continued proficiency requirements as per section 58 of the Marine Certification Regulations.
Current Minister's Certificates will continue to remain "valid for use at sea" until the expiry of the applicable endorsements.
After October 1, 2003, applicants for STCW endorsed certificates will only be issued with the new style of certificates of competency.
The Competency Certificate Issuing System ( CCIS ) captures a digital picture and the signature of the seafarer at the Marine Safety office at the time of issue of the Examiner's certificate. Therefore, the current practice of supplying 2 passport photographs will no longer be required.
For security reasons, all certificates of competency printed at the Ottawa Headquarters must be picked up by the candidate in person at the Marine Safety Office of their choice as the certificates will no longer be mailed directly to the home address of the candidate.
Fees for certificates
The fees for the issue of these new certificates will comply with Schedule 4 of the Marine Certification Regulations. In general the fee for any renewal of a present STCW endorsed certificate will be $27.50.
The following document is available for downloading or viewing:
New Style Certificates of Competency for STCW (17 KB)
To access the Portable Document Format ( PDF ) version you must have a PDF reader installed. If you do not already have such a reader, there are numerous PDF readers available for free download or for purchase on the Internet:
2. STCW 95 Endorsement
3. CCIS
Marine Safety
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