The General Conference of the International Labour
Organisation,
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office, and having met in its Fifty-fifth Session on 14
October 1970, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with
regard to the vocational training of seafarers, which is the sixth item on the
agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form
of a Recommendation,
adopts this twenty-eighth day of October of the year one
thousand nine hundred and seventy, the following Recommendation, which may be
cited as the Vocational Training (Seafarers) Recommendation, 1970:
This Recommendation applies to all training designed to
prepare persons for work on board a publicly or privately owned seagoing ship
engaged in the transport of cargo or passengers for the purpose of trade,
engaged in training or engaged in scientific exploration. National laws or
regulations, arbitration awards or collective agreements, as may be appropriate
under national conditions, should determine when ships are to be regarded as
seagoing ships.
This Recommendation applies to training for the
performance of the duties of persons in the deck, engine, radio or catering
departments or of general purpose crews. It does not apply to fishermen.
The basic objectives of policy concerning vocational
training of seafarers should be:
to maintain and improve the efficiency of the shipping
industry and the professional ability and potential of seafarers, with due
regard to the educational needs of the latter and the economic and social
interests of the country;
to maintain and improve accident prevention standards on
board merchant ships, both at sea and in port, in order to reduce the risk of
injury;
to encourage a sufficient number of suitable persons to
make the merchant marine their career;
to ensure that adequate induction training is given to
all new recruits, ashore as far as possible, or on board ship;
to provide training and retraining facilities
commensurate with the current and projected manpower needs of the shipping
industry for all the various categories and grades of seafarers;
to provide the training facilities necessary in order
that technical developments in the fields of operation, navigation and safety
can be put into effect;
to make training for upgrading and for promotion up to
the highest ranks on board available to all seafarers with appropriate ability,
and thereby to assist them to develop their efficiency, potential productivity
and job satisfaction;
to provide suitable practical training for the various
categories and grades of seafarers;
to ensure, as far as possible, the entry into employment
of all trainees after completion of their courses.
In planning a national education and training policy, the
competent authorities in countries possessing or intending to develop a shipping
industry should ensure that adequate provision is made in the general network of
training facilities for the training of seafarers in order to achieve the
objectives set out in Paragraph 2 of this Recommendation.
Where national circumstances do not permit the
development of facilities for the training of seafarers of all categories and
grades required, collaboration with other countries, as well as with
international organisations, in setting up joint maritime training schemes for
such seafarers as cannot be covered by national programmes should be considered.
The training programmes of all public and private
institutions engaged in the training of seafarers should be co-ordinated and
developed in each country on the basis of approved national standards.
Such programmes should be drawn up in co-operation with
government departments, educational institutions and other bodies which have an
intimate knowledge of the vocational training of seafarers, and should be so
designed as to meet the operational requirements of the shipping industry, as
established in consultation with shipowners' and seafarers' organisations.
Bodies which draw up such programmes should, in particular:
maintain close contacts between the training
institutions and all those concerned so as to keep training in line with the
needs of the industry;
make regular visits to the training schools with which
they are concerned and be fully conversant with the programmes being carried
out;
ensure that information about available training
opportunities is disseminated to all those concerned;
co-operate in setting up and operating practical
maritime training schemes;
participate in establishing the general training
standards provided for in Paragraph 11;
participate in establishing such national certification
standards as are appropriate for the various grades and categories of seafarers;
promote direct co-operation between training
institutions and those responsible for recruitment and employment.
The competent authorities and bodies, in co-operation
with shipowners' and seafarers' organisations, should ensure that full
information on public and private training schemes for seafarers and on
conditions of entry into the shipping industry is available to those providing
vocational guidance and employment counselling services, to public employment
services and to vocational and technical training institutions.
The competent authorities and bodies should endeavour to
ensure that:
the facilities of shipyards, engineering workshops,
manufacturers of equipment, naval installations, etc., are utilised where
available and appropriate in training both officers and ratings;
arrangements are made in order that, other things being
equal, preference may be given in employment placement to persons who have
received appropriate and recognised training.
Training programmes should be regularly reviewed and
kept up to date in the light of the developing needs of the industry.
In the review of training programmes, account should be
taken of the Document for Guidance, 1968, which was prepared jointly by the
International Labour Organisation and the Inter-Governmental Maritime
Consultative Organization and agreed by both organisations and which deals, in
technical detail, with the subjects directly affecting the safety of life at
sea-as well as of any subsequent amendments or additions thereto.
Seafarers' training schemes should be systematically
organised and their financing should be on a regular and adequate basis, having
regard to the present and planned requirements and development of the shipping
industry.
Where appropriate, the government should make financial
contributions to training schemes carried on by local government or private
bodies. These contributions may take the form of general subsidies, grants of
land, buildings or demonstration material such as boats, engines, navigational
equipment and other apparatus, the provision of instructors free of charge,
payment of trainees' allowances or payment of fees for trainees in day or
boarding schools or on training ships.
Seafarers should not, through lack of financial
resources or training opportunities, be denied the possibility of reaching the
highest ranks on board. Therefore, it should be possible for seafarers to earn
or receive sufficient financial resources to enable them to obtain appropriate
training.
Training in publicly run training centres for seafarers
should, where possible, be given without charge to trainees.
Retraining necessitated by the introduction of technical
innovations should be provided free of charge to the seafarers concerned. During
the period of such retraining, seafarers should receive adequate allowances;
seafarers sent to courses of such retraining by a shipowner should receive their
full basic wage.
Training standards should be laid down in conformity
with national requirements for obtaining the various seafarers' certificates of
competency. In particular, there should be laid down:
the nature of medical examinations, including chest
X-rays and diabetic, hearing and sight tests, required for persons entering
training schemes; the standards of such examinations, particularly of the
hearing and sight tests, could differ according to the departments which the
persons concerned are planning to enter, but should in no case be lower than the
medical standards required for entry into employment in the shipping industry;
the level of general education required for admission to
vocational training courses leading to certificates of competency;
the subjects, such as navigation, seamanship, radio,
electronics, engineering, catering and human relations, that should be included
in the training curricula;
the nature of any examination to be taken upon
completion of training courses which are subject to examination;
a procedure whereby the authorities ensure that the
teaching staff of training institutions have the requisite experience and
qualifications, including adequate practical and theoretical knowledge of
technical and operational developments.
The various training programmes should be realistically
based on the work to be performed on board ship. They should be periodically
reviewed and kept up to date in order to keep abreast of technical developments.
They should include the following, as appropriate:
training in navigation, seamanship, ship handling,
signalling, cargo handling and storage, ship maintenance, and other matters
relating to the operation of merchant ships;
training in the use of electronic and mechanical aids,
such as radio and radar installations, radio direction-finders and compasses;
theoretical and practical instruction in the use of
life-saving and fire-fighting equipment, survival at sea procedures, and other
aspects of the safety of life at sea;
theoretical and practical instruction in the operation,
maintenance and repair of main propulsion installations and auxiliary machinery,
with emphasis on the types of equipment, including electronic equipment,
installed in ships of the country concerned;
training for the catering department as appropriate for
those to be employed as stewards, cooks, waiters and galley staff, account being
taken of training requirements, for different categories of ships;
training in accident prevention on board ship,
particularly as regards safe working practices in all departments, and including
personal safety as part of training in professional subjects, training in first
aid, medical care and other related matters and health and physical training,
especially swimming; training in medical care and particularly special training
for personnel placed in charge of medical care on board should in all cases be
related to the content of medical guides compiled by competent authorities and
to full utilisation of medical radio services;
particularly in the case of trainees under 18 years of
age, instruction in subjects of general educational value;
instruction in elements of social and labour legislation
related to merchant ship operations and to industrial relations, regulations
concerning seafarers, transportation economics, maritime insurance, maritime
law, etc.;
instruction in management techniques, including such
subjects as personnel relations and work study.
Training programmes should be designed, inter alia, to
prepare trainees for certificates of competency and should be directly related,
where appropriate, to national certification standards. They should include
adequate practical training and take account of any minimum age and minimum
working experience laid down by the competent authorities in respect of the
various grades of certificates. Account should also be taken of other nationally
recognised certificates.
The duration of the various training programmes should
be sufficient to enable trainees to assimilate the teaching given and should be
determined with reference to such matters as:
the level of training required for the shipboard
occupation for which the course is designed;
the general educational level and age required of
trainees entering the course;
Induction training designed to introduce trainees to the
shipboard environment and safe working practices on board ship or, where
appropriate and practicable, pre-sea training courses which provide adequate
training for the duties regularly assigned to ratings of the deck, engine and
catering departments, develop character and inculcate a sense of self-discipline
and responsibility should be available for young persons with no sea experience.
Suitable courses of instruction should also be provided
to enable young persons of appropriate ability to prepare themselves for
statutory certificates or diplomas currently in effect in the merchant navy of
their country in respect of both officer and rating categories.
Training for upgrading and promotion should, among other
means, be provided by short-term courses at nautical schools and technical
institutions and correspondence courses specially adapted to the needs of
specific categories of officers and ratings and to the grades to which they
aspire.
Retraining, refresher, familiarisation and upgrading
courses should be available as required for suitable officers and ratings to
enable them to increase and widen their technical skills and knowledge, to keep
abreast of technological changes, in particular in the development of automated
ships, and to meet the requirements of new methods of operations on board ship.
Such courses may be used, for instance, to complement
general courses and provide advanced specialised training opening the way to
promotion, as well as to provide advanced electronics courses for appropriate
personnel.
Special attention should be given to the ability of
masters, other officers and ratings to navigate and handle new types of ships
safely.
Where training would be facilitated thereby, shipowners
should release suitable seafarers employed on board their ships for training
periods ashore, at appropriate schools, to enable them to improve their skills,
learn to use new techniques and equipment and qualify for promotion. Persons in
a supervisory position on board ship should take an active part in encouraging
such training.
The training methods adopted should be the most
effective possible, having regard to the nature of the instruction, the
trainees' experience, general education and age, and the demonstration equipment
and financial resources available.
Practical training, requiring active participation of
the trainees themselves, should be an important part of all training programmes.
It may be provided by assigning seafarers to merchant ships for periods of
training at sea, to engineering workshops or shipyards or to shipping company
offices.
Training vessels used by training institutions should
provide practical instruction in navigation, seamanship, machinery operation and
maintenance and other nautical subjects as well as comprehensive shipboard
safety education.
Appropriate demonstration equipment such as simulators,
engines, boat models, ship equipment, life-saving equipment, navigational aids
and cargo gear should be used in training schemes. Such equipment should be
selected with reference to the shipboard machinery and equipment which the
trainee may be called upon to use.
Films and other audio-visual aids should be used, where appropriate:
as a supplement to, but not a substitute for,
demonstration equipment in the use of which trainees take an active part;
as a primary training aid in special fields such as the
teaching of languages.
Theoretical training and general education given as part
of a training course should be related to the theoretical and practical
knowledge required by seafarers.
Countries should co-operate in promoting the vocational
training of seafarers. In some cases it may be of particular value to do so on a
regional basis.
In so doing they might collaborate with the
International Labour Organisation and other international institutions, in
particular the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization, or other
countries:
in recruiting and training teaching staff;
in setting up and improving training facilities for
officers and ratings; (c) in setting up joint training facilities with other
countries where necessary;
in making training facilities available to selected
trainees or instructor-trainees from other countries and in sending trainees or
instructor-trainees to other countries;
in organising international exchanges of personnel,
information and teaching materials, as well as international seminars and
working groups;
in providing qualified and experienced instructors for
maritime training schools in other countries.
