Council Directive 98/35/EC of 25 May 1998 amending Directive 94/58/EC on the minimum level of training of seafarers

Published date17 June 1998
Subject MatterFree movement of workers,Transport,Freedom of establishment,Internal market - Principles
Official Gazette PublicationOfficial Journal of the European Communities, L 172, 17 June 1998
EUR-Lex - 31998L0035 - EN

Council Directive 98/35/EC of 25 May 1998 amending Directive 94/58/EC on the minimum level of training of seafarers

Official Journal L 172 , 17/06/1998 P. 0001 - 0026


COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 98/35/EC of 25 May 1998 amending Directive 94/58/EC on the minimum level of training of seafarers

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 84(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas Article 12(2) of Council Directive 94/58/EC of 22 November 1994 on the minimum level of training of seafarers (4) provides that following the adoption of new instruments or protocols to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention) the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall decide on the detailed arrangements for ratifying those new instruments or protocols, while ensuring that they are applied uniformly and simultaneously in the Member States;

(2) Whereas Article 9(3)(a) of that Directive provides that a set of criteria for the recognition of types of certificates issued by institutes or administrations of third countries will be defined by the Council, acting in accordance with the conditions of the Treaty;

(3) Whereas actions to be taken at Community level in the field of maritime safety and pollution prevention at sea should be in line with internationally agreed rules and standards;

(4) Whereas in its resolution of 24 March 1997 on a new strategy to increase the competitiveness of Community shipping (5) the Council sought to promote the employment of Community seafarers and shore-based personnel; whereas to that end the Council agreed that action should be undertaken to help Community shipping to continue striving for high quality and improve its competitiveness by ensuring the continued high-quality training of Community seafarers of all ranks and of shore-based personnel;

(5) Whereas the 1995 Conference of Parties to the STCW Convention adopted the revised Annex to the STCW Convention and the Seafarers' Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code (STCW Code);

(6) Whereas Member States may establish standards higher than the minimum standards laid down in the STCW Convention and the Directive;

(7) Whereas the Regulations of the STCW Convention set out in Annex I to this Directive should be supplemented by the mandatory provisions contained in Part A of the STCW Code; whereas Part B of the STCW Code contains recommended guidance intended to assist Parties to the STCW Convention and those involved in implementing, applying or enforcing its measures to give the Convention full and complete effect in a uniform manner;

(8) Whereas the establishment of common criteria for the Member States' recognition of certificates issued by third countries should be based on the training and certification requirements as agreed in the framework of the STCW Convention;

(9) Whereas, in the interests of safety at sea, Member States should recognise qualifications proving the required level of training only where these are issued by or on behalf of Parties to the STCW Convention which have been identified by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as having been shown to have given, and still to be giving, full effect to the standards set out in that Convention; whereas, to bridge the time gap until that IMO Committee has been able to carry out such identification, a procedure for the preliminary recognition of certificates is needed;

(10) Whereas, where appropriate, maritime institutes, training programmes and courses should be inspected; whereas criteria for such inspection should therefore be established;

(11) Whereas the Council should review Annex II in the light of the experience gained in applying the Directive, acting on a proposal to be submitted by the Commission within five years of the adoption of this Directive;

(12) Whereas until 1 February 2002 Member States should be allowed to accept on their ships seafarers holding certificates issued in accordance with the provisions which applied before 1 February 1997, the date of entry into force of the revised STCW Convention, provided that those seafarers began their service or training before 1 August 1998;

(13) Whereas for the enhancement of maritime safety and pollution prevention at sea provisions on minimum rest periods for watchkeeping personnel should be established in this Directive in accordance with the STCW Convention; whereas those provisions should be reviewed within the framework of the establishment of a possible separate instrument on working time;

(14) Whereas it is appropriate to include in this Directive provisions on port State control, pending the amendment of Council Directive 95/21/EC of 19 June 1995 concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control) (6) in order to transfer to that Directive the provisions on port State control which are included in Articles 8(6), 10, 10a and 11 of this Directive,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 94/58/EC is hereby amended as follows:

(1) Article 2 shall be replaced by the following:

'Article 2

1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that seafarers serving on ships as defined in Article 1 are trained as a minimum in accordance with the requirements of the STCW Convention, as laid down in Annex I to this Directive, and hold certificates as defined in Article 3 or appropriate certificates as defined in Article 4(aa).

2. Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that those crew members that must be certified in accordance with Regulation III/10.4 of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention) are trained and certificated in accordance with this Directive.`;

(2) the following Article shall be inserted:

'Article 3a

Certificates and endorsements

1. Certificates shall be issued in accordance with Article 5d.

2. Certificates for masters, officers and radio operators shall be endorsed by the Member State as prescribed in this Article.

3. Certificates shall be in the official language or languages of the issuing Member State.

4. In respect of radio operators, Member States may:

(1) include the additional knowledge required by the relevant regulations in the examination for the issue of a certificate complying with the Radio Regulations; or

(2) issue a separate certificate indicating that the holder has the additional knowledge required by the relevant regulations.

5. At the discretion of a Member State endorsements may be incorporated in the format of the certificates being issued as provided for in section A-I/2 of the STCW Code. If so incorporated the form used shall be that set out in section A-I/2, paragraph 1. If issued otherwise, the form of endorsements used shall be that set out in paragraph 2 of that section.

6. A Member State which recognises a certificate under the procedure laid down in Article 9(3)(a) shall endorse that certificate to attest its recognition. The form of the endorsement used shall be that set out in paragraph 3 of section A-I/2 of the STCW Code.

7. The endorsements referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6:

(1) may be issued as separate documents;

(2) shall each be assigned a unique number, except that endorsements attesting the issue of a certificate may be assigned the same number as the certificate concerned, provided that that number is unique; and

(3) shall each expire as soon as the certificate endorsed expires or is withdrawn, suspended or cancelled by the Member State or third country which issued it and, in any case, within five years of its date of issue.

8. The capacity in which the holder of a certificate is authorised to serve shall be identified in the form of endorsement in terms identical to those used in the applicable safe-manning requirements of the Member State concerned.

9. A Member State may use a format different from the format laid down in section A-I/2 of the STCW Code, provided that, as a minimum, the required information is provided in roman characters and Arabic figures, taking account of the variations permitted under section A-I/2.

10. Subject to Article 9(4) any certificate required by the Directive must be kept available in its original form on board the ship on which the holder is serving.`;

(3) Article 4 shall be replaced by the following:

'Article 4

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a) "master" shall mean the person having command of a ship;

(b) "officer" shall mean a member of the crew, other than the master, designated as such by national law or regulations or, in the absence of such designation, by collective agreement or custom;

(c) "deck officer" shall mean an officer qualified in accordance with the provisions of Chapter II of Annex I;

(d) "chief mate" shall mean the officer next in rank to the master upon whom the command of the ship will fall in the event of the incapacity of the master;

(e) "engineer officer" shall mean an officer qualified in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of Annex I;

(f) "chief engineer officer" shall mean the senior engineer officer responsible for the mechanical propulsion and the operation and maintenance of the mechanical and electrical installations of the ship;

(g) "second engineer officer" shall mean the engineer officer next in rank to the chief engineer officer upon whom the responsibility for the mechanical propulsion and the operation and...

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