Introduction
Marine Order 71 (Masters and deck officers) (MO71) is issued under the Navigation Act 2012 and provides for the following:
- specifies standards of competence to be attained and other conditions to be satisfied by a person to be a qualified master or deck officer under the Navigation Act 2012; and
- gives effect to the International Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW).
In May 2022 AMSA commenced the MO71 review, primarily to address the following:
- Update and clarify transitional arrangements in division 3.
- Remove provision of AMSA issuing Master <24 m FG certificate of competency.
- Align with Marine Order 505 (Certificates of competency – national law) naming of certificates.
Consultation approach
The commercial vessel industry has diverse interests, business models and widespread geographic distribution. These elements need to be considered when developing new and amended regulations and standards.
Therefore, consultation plays a critical role in the development of robust and fit for purpose regulation.
Consultation also plays an important role to ensure safety standards and regulations adequately and appropriately address risks associated with commercial vessel operations and the impact of changes on other sectors.
To facilitate industry input AMSA established a public consultation process, requesting the public to comment on the revised draft order through a period of 8 weeks.
Summary of submissions
| Activity | Received | Confidential | Public |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Consultation | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Public Consultation
- Overview
Public consultation on the MO71 took place between 29 March and 24 May 2023, where a copy of the draft Marine Order was placed on AMSA’s website. Around 150 stakeholders were also contacted by email and invited to comment. These included seafarer representative organisations, vessel operators, shipping industry peak bodies and relevant government agencies inviting them to comment.
The review was also advised on social media and via the April edition of ‘AMSA update’ which is a newsletter with a distribution of around 27,000 people.
AMSA received six submissions during the external consultation period, largely giving opinions, general comments, and general recommendations for improvement, not requiring any significant changes to the draft order. One late submission was received after the consultation was closed, which was also taken into consideration.
- Key issues arising from feedback
During the process of reviewing the feedback from industry, AMSA identified four key issues and worked through them to find proposed solutions to the issues raised by industry. These issues and solutions adopted are outlined below.
Key issue 1: Provide a reduction to the sea service required to obtain certificates
Industry wants the sea service requirement minimised.
AMSA retained the current sea service requirements and will look at sea service requirements holistically for all certificates in the future. AMSA is also closely monitoring the comprehensive review of the STCW Convention and Code, which may include changes to sea service.
Key issue 2: Removal of Master <24 m (Foreign Going) certificate of competency
Industry is concerned about, why issuing a Master <24 m (FG) certificate is removed.
AMSA decided to remove this certificate as only one certificate has been issued and that was in 2016. There is no necessity for this certificate as other available certificates are sufficient to adequately crew commercial vessels.
Key issue 3: Able Seafarer as a pathway to obtaining a Deck Watchkeeper certificate
Industry wanted Able Seafarer - Deck, in addition to Integrating Rating, included as a pathway to obtain a Watchkeeper Deck certificate.
AMSA decided to include Able Seafarer - Deck as a pathway to obtain a Watchkeeper Deck certificate.
Key issue 4: ECDIS training on vessels equipped with ECDIS
Industry was uncertain about ECDIS training requirements for seafarers operating on vessels equipped with ECDIS and how ‘ECDIS trained’ is reflected on seafarer certificates.
AMSA improved the wording on the revised marine order making it very clear that ECDIS training is required if a seafarer is operating on a vessel equipped with ECDIS. AMSA will further look at information on the website to identify areas for improvement on this.
- Other responses
Some of the respondents opted to provide general feedback providing general observations and making recommendations on how AMSA can further improve. AMSA will take this feedback on board for continuous improvement.
Summary of outcomes
The new Marine Order 71 (Masters and deck officers) 2023 will commence on 1 July 2024.
It includes the content that was previously contained in Marine Order 71 (Masters and deck officers) 2014 with the following main changes:
- Removing the ability to issue Master less than 24 metres foreign going certificate.
- Updating and clarifying transitional arrangements in Division 3, relating to the expired Marine Order 3—Seafarer Certification.
- Updating the naming in Marine Order 71, to reflect the naming of new certificates of competency in Marine Order 505 (Certificates of competency—national law).
- Making the order consistent with the modern drafting style and making minor editorial changes for the order to read better.
Further Information
AMSA will update the guidance material on the website to reflect the changes in the revised marine order by 1 July 2024 and further clarify as required.
For guidelines please visit Guidance—international certificates on our website.
If you require further information, please contact AMSA Connect.