[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 218 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56970-56972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27869]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
46 CFR Parts 10, 12, and 15

[CGD 95-062]


International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification 
and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as Revised by the 1995 Amendments 
to It

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of inquiry.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard seeks information that may be useful in 
calculating the costs and benefits of implementing the 1995 Amendments 
to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification 
and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978. This information will be useful 
in evaluating alternative regulatory approaches, especially where the 
1995 Amendments allow some flexibility in how particular new 
requirements can be implemented to improve the training and assessment 
of candidates for merchant mariners' licenses and endorsements.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 12, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to the Executive Secretary, Marine 
Safety Council (G-LRA, 3406) [CGD 95-062], U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, or may 
be delivered to room 3406 at the same address between 8 a.m. and 3 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is (202) 267-1477. Comments on collection-of-information 
requirements must be mailed also to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20503, ATTN: Desk Officer, U.S. Coast Guard.
    The Executive Secretary maintains the public docket for this 
rulemaking. Comments will become part of this docket and will be 
available for inspection or copying at room 3406, U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.
    A copy of the 1995 Amendments to STCW may be obtained by writing 
Commandant (G-MOS), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20593-0001, or by calling (202) 267-0214, between 8 a.m. 
and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Requests may 
also be submitted by facsimile at (202) 267-4570.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Randall N. Crenwelge, Standards Evaluation and Development Division 
(G-MES), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 
20593-0001, telephone (202) 267-6220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Information

    The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to participate in 
this inquiry by submitting written data, views, or arguments. Persons 
submitting comments should include their names and addresses, identify 
this inquiry [CGD 95-062] and the specific section or question of this 
document to which each comment or question applies, and give the reason 
for each comment. Please submit two copies of all comments and 
attachments in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, 
suitable for copying and electronic filing. Persons wanting 
acknowledgment of receipt of comments should enclose stamped, self-
addressed postcards or envelopes. The Coast Guard will consider all 
comments received during the comment period.
    The Coast Guard held a public meeting on August 31, 1995, in 
Washington, DC. Persons may request additional public meetings by 
writing to the Marine Safety Council at the address under ADDRESSES. 
The request should include the reasons why a hearing would be 
beneficial. If it determines that another opportunity for oral 
presentations will aid this rulemaking, the Coast Guard will hold 
another public meeting at a time and place announced by a later notice 
in the Federal Register.

    Drafting Information. The principal persons involved in drafting 
this document are Mr. Randall N. Crenwelge, Project Manager, 
Standards Evaluation and Development Division (G-MES), and Mr. 
Patrick J. Murray, Project Counsel, Regulations and Administrative 
Law Division (G-LRA).

Background and Purpose

    On July 7, 1995, a Conference of Parties to STCW, meeting at the 
headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 
London, adopted a package of amendments to STCW. The amendments will 
enter into force on February 1, 1997, unless a third of the 

[[Page 56971]]
parties to the Convention, or parties representing over 50 percent of 
the world's shipping tons, subject to them by August 1, 1996. Because 
they were adopted unanimously by the Conference, no objections are 
expected.
    The Coast Guard held a public meeting on August 31, 1995 [60 FR 
39306 (August 2, 1995)], to discuss the outcome of the 1994 Conference 
of Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, 
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW).

Discussion of Prospective Rules

    The Coast Guard must consider how to revise the current rules on 
licensing and documentation, as well as those on workhours and 
watchkeeping [46 CFR parts 10, 12, and 15], to reflect the requirements 
of the 1995 Amendments to STCW. The most important changes for 
implementation are these:
    1. All candidates for STCW certificates (for instance, licenses and 
documents for service on seagoing ships) will have to undergo approved 
training and assessment of competence.
    2. Mariners engaged in training, whether aboard ship or at shore-
side facilities, will have to meet standards of IMO. All training will 
have to meet standards, which will be subject to a system of approval 
and independent monitoring. Many mariners will have to use training-
record books.
    3. Assessment of competence [section A-I/6 of the STCW Code] will 
involve both examination, to verify knowledge and understanding of 
essential subjects, and demonstration, to verify practical skills. 
Either kind of assessment will require documented proof. Persons 
engaged in either kind, whether aboard ship or at shore-side 
facilities, will themselves undergo assessment against standards.
    4. Simulators used in training or assessment will have to meet 
certain standards of performance.
    5. Mariners employed or engaged on seagoing ships (all persons 
aboard except passengers) will have to undergo familiarization training 
to ensure that they can safely handle themselves in an emergency or a 
life-threatening situation. Persons responsible for safety or for 
preventing pollution--whether or not part of the required complement--
will have to acquire further basic training in safety, including fire-
fighting. Persons responsible for medical care must also meet certain 
standards.
    6. All persons employed or engaged aboard seagoing ships must meet 
standards of medical fitness.
    7. Ratings for members of navigational watches on ships of 500 
gross tons or more, or for members of engine-room watches or for those 
designated to perform duties in periodically unmanned engine-rooms on 
seagoing ships powered by propulsion machinery of 750 kW [1,000 hp] or 
more, must come into line with the 1995 Amendments to STCW. This 
revises current rules and their standards respecting even unlicensed 
mariners.
    8. Watch-standing personnel must receive a minimum of rest. Masters 
must arrange watch-rotations adequate for safety.
    9. Suspension-and-revocation procedures must enable the taking of 
appropriate action against a license or document whose holder has 
either (a) allowed the performance of a shipboard function by a non-
holder of a required STCW certificate or (b) certified that a non-
holder has properly demonstrated a skill when either (i) the non-holder 
has not properly demonstrated a skill or (ii) the holder has not 
observed the non-holder properly demonstrate a skill.
    10. Companies must ensure that new crewmembers are familiar with 
ship-specific equipment, procedures, and other arrangements necessary 
for performing their jobs.
    11. Tankers and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) passenger ships needs 
renewed scrutiny, through the prism of STCW.
    12. New policy will be necessary to implement expanded port-state 
control.
    Beyond the above, specific revisions will be necessary to ensure 
that requirements for being issued a license or document under domestic 
regulations fully meet those of the 1995 Amendments to STCW. For 
example, officers of the navigational watch will need training in the 
use of Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) for service on ships fitted 
with ARPA. Also, such officers will have to hold radio operators' 
certificates valid under the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System 
(GMDSS) for service in ships operating in the GMDSS.
    Likewise, in revising domestic requirements, the Coast Guard should 
consider harmonizing the license categories with structure outlined in 
the 1995 Amendments to STCW, which is as follows:

Deck Department

    1. Officers of the navigational watch on ships of 500 gross tons or 
more.
    2. Officers of the navigational watch on ships of less than 500 
gross tons not engaged on near-coastal voyages.
    3. Officers of the navigational watch on ships of less than 500 
gross tons engaged on near-coastal voyages.
    4. Masters and Chief Mates on ships of 3,000 gross tons or more.
    5. Master and Chief Mates on ships of between 500 and 3,000 gross 
tons.
    6. Masters on ships of less than 500 gross tons not engaged on 
near-coastal voyages.
    7. Masters on ships of less than 500 gross tons engaged on near-
coastal voyages.

Engine Department

    1. Officers in charge of the engineering watch in manned engine-
rooms of more than 750 kW [1,000 hp].
    2. Designated duty engineers in periodically unmanned engine-rooms 
of more than 750 kW [1,000 hp].
    3. Chief engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion 
machinery of 3,000 kW [4,000 hp] or more.
    4. Second engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion 
machinery of 3,000 kW [4,000 hp] or more.
    5. Chief engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion 
machinery of between 750 kW [1,000 hp] and 3,000 kW [4,000 hp].
    6. Second engineer officers of ships powered by main propulsion 
machinery of between 750 kW [1,000 hp] and 3,000 kW [4,000 hp].

Questions

    To adequately address the cost and benefits of these issues, the 
Coast Guard needs more information. Public response to the questions 
contained in this notice will assist the Coast Guard in developing a 
more complete and carefully considered rulemaking. Responses to the 
following questions would be particularly useful in determining the 
economic impact in terms of costs and benefits of a future rulemaking.
    What new  costs would be imposed on you as employee, employer, 
training institution, union, or other affected member of the maritime 
industry, if you had to comply with the following conditions?
    1. If all candidates for a license and upgrade as master or mate on 
a seagoing (e.g., ocean or near-coastal) ship were required to--
    a. Hold a GMDSS radio-operator certificate, unless they were 
serving on ships not required to participate in the GMDSS (i.e., less 
than 300 gross tons);
    b. Complete simulator training in the use of ARPA, if they were 
serving on ships fitted with ARPA;
    c. Complete training in techniques of personal survival;
    d. Complete training in personal safety and social responsibility;
    e. Demonstrate competence in bridge-teamwork procedures; and 

[[Page 56972]]

    f. Demonstrate familiarity with the contents of the IMO Merchant 
Ship Search and Rescue Manual (MERSAR).
    2. If all seafarers ( i.e., all persons employed on board other 
than passengers) were required to receive familiarization training or 
instruction on what to do in an emergency?
    3. If all seafarers with responsibility for safety or for 
preventing pollution (including all subject to manning requirements or 
members of fire parties) had to receive basic safety-training in fire-
fighting, first aid, personal survival, and personal safety?
    4. If all candidates for engineering licenses and upgrades for 
service on seagoing ships were required to demonstrate competence in 
electronic an control engineering (some training institutions or 
schools call this ``automated-process-control engineering'')?
    5. If all candidates for deck and engineer licenses and upgrades 
were required to demonstrate competence in first aid aboard ship?
    6. If all instructors were required to receive guidance in 
instructional techniques?
    7. If all candidates' competence and proficiency in a skill or area 
of knowledge had to be evaluated by an ``assessor'' (one that evaluates 
a candidate's competence and proficiency in a skill or area of 
knowledge)?
    8. If all assessors were required to receive guidance in assessment 
methods and practice?
    9. If all training and assessment were subject to a qualify-
standards system that included independent monitoring and evaluation to 
ensure that stated objectives were being achieved? (Please address 
costs of development, implementation, and operating, as well as other 
costs you consider important.)
    10. If companies that own or operate seagoing ships were required 
to (a) maintain records on their seafarers' experience, training, 
medical fitness, and competency; (b) ensure that those persons newly 
assigned to their ships were familiarized with their specific duties 
there, the ships' arrangements, and their equipment; and (c) ensure 
that the ships' complements can coordinate their activities in an 
emergency?
    11. If watchkeeping personnel on seagoing ships had to get not less 
than 10 hours of rest a day, including not less than 6 continuous 
hours, with only strictly limited exceptions?
    12. If simulator training were required or necessary for compliance 
with the 1995 Amendments to STCW? (Please address costs of acquisition 
and operating, and costs to modify existing programs.)
    13. If new training courses needed development to meet some 
requirements? (Please estimate the complete cost of development and 
state a range of costs.)
    The above list may not be complete. It should suggest the scope and 
nature of requirements that must be addressed in the implementation of 
the 1995 Amendments to STCW. The Coast Guard also seeks comments on the 
impacts associated with requiring practical demonstration in addition 
to an exam.
    The Coast Guard would also appreciate having a breakdown of costs, 
beyond these costs, associated with courses that currently offer 
training in the areas mentioned in questions 1 through 11.
    The Coast Guard also requests views on the distribution of new 
costs that may result from implementation of the 1995 Amendments to 
STCW. For example, to what degree might training costs be borne by 
employers, schools, employees, unions, or individuals as prospective 
future employees?
    In responding to the above questions, please identify your status 
or affiliation in the marine industry (e.g., owner-operator, union, 
maritime school, seafarer), and please explain the basis on which your 
costs were calculated.

    Dated: November 1, 1995.
J.C. Card,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief, Office of Marine Safety, 
Security and Environmental Protection.
[FR Doc. 95-27869 Filed 11-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-14-M