Where will my nautical qualification be recognised?

 

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We must first try to define, nautical qualification. Nautical qualifications are certificates and licences. You must have certain certificates to get different licences. And you need a licence to get a job on a boat. And to work on a particular boat, you need a licence or an endorsement from the country where the boat is registered.

Maritime Authorities, in each country where boats and ships are registered, set the standards of seafarer training for people working on boats and ships in their country. The STCW standard provided by the IMO is a global minimum standard. That means that basic training would be at the standard, but better training has to exceed the standard. Many nations exceed the standards.

What is the IMO White list?

The white list is simply a list of countries who have told the IMO that they are following what STCW says. More important are the reciprocal maritime licence agreements between countries. Here is an example of a reciprocal agreement between the owners and operators of Canada registered ships and seafarers from Australia, France and Norway, who want to work on Canada registered ships. So, seafarers from Australia, France and Norway can apply for a Canadian endorsement of their Australian STCW licence. And seafarers from Canada can apply for an Australian endorsement of their Canadian STCW licence. Ask the Maritime Authority in your country which countries you have reciprocal agreements with.

You must have a licence from where the boat is registered

This blog is for people who want to work on boats that are registered and working in the Caribbean region.  The registration of boats is normally something boat owners would do. We will try to do a very brief explanation here, but the details are available from the Maritime Authority in the country. 

Boats are for transportation and can be classified similar to cars. Boats can be private, for passengers, for goods and for commercial fishing. A Maritime Authority registers boats with classifications like: domestic passenger boats on domestic voyages, cargo and commercial craft up to 500 gross tonnage and recreational boats up to 200 gross tonnage. 

What is a manning certificate?

When a boat is registered to be hired for money and operated by licenced, paid personnel, the Maritime Authority issues a manning certificate. The manning certificate states the number of people that must be on board for the boat to be at sea legally. The manning certificate will also say what qualifications people holding the different positions should have. For example, it might say that the captain must have a Boatmaster 1 licence and the mate must have a Boatmaster 2 licence.

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