Marine Engineering, Navigation and Maritime Law Developments
Close on the heels of the MCA, UK revoking the accredition of an institute in India for providing sub-standard training for the modular STCW courses, comes the news that the DG Shipping has taken action against another institute on similar grounds.
Continue reading “488 Indian Seafarers may have certificates suspended by DG Shipping within a week”
In the backdrop of the JWC Marine Academy from Bhubaneshwar, Odisha in India facing a scrutiny into what is being said as deficiencies in training for the MCA approved STCW short courses, a list of seafaring officers who completed their courses from this institute during the time period in question had been contacted via email and a written letter and asked to complete an online assessment test within the next 12 months.
The concerned officers have been asked to undertake their assessment during their leave and not to do this assessment during active watchkeeping duties or during controlled rest periods.
For the list of CoCs of the affected seafarers click here.
The seafarers will not have to pay for this assessment and those who clear this test will be issued with a new certificate clearing the validity of their CoC.
For those that do not clear the assessment, some have been asked to redo the course. The question being raised by many of the affected seafarers now is whether JWC Marine Academy will refund the course fees for them. While this is a setback, it also calls into question the standard of training being provided by the myriad institutes that have sprung up and how the quality is being monitored over time. Some of the institutes do provide quality training and it is a sad fact that instances like this will put all institutes under scrutiny.
The Indian Continuous Discharge Certificate or C.D.C. as it is popularly referred to has been a scourge for many aspiring seafarers with unscrupulous agents duping the unwary into parting with large sums of money for a document that can be easily applied for. The rules for applying for the CDC used to be quite detailed with requirements for a pre-sea course, STCW courses, various age requirements for different ranks as well varying minimum qualifications right from 8th standard pass to a degree from a professional university.
As of 13th January 2018, applications for C.D.C. under the M.S. (CDC) Rules 2001 have stopped being accepted, though all CDC’s issued under that notice would continue to remain valid until their date of expiry.
Maritime Outlook 