From September 1, 2023, will there be changes to the regulations on Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training for seafarers in Vietnam?
From September 1, 2023, will there be changes to the regulations on Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training for seafarers in Vietnam?
Currently, Article 21 of Circular 03/2020/TT-BGTVT stipulates the Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training as follows:
Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training
1. CoP in special training shall be issued by training institutions to seafarers who have completed one of the following special training programs in accordance with the provisions of the STCW Convention:
a) Basic training for oil and chemical or liquefied gas tankers;
b) Advanced training for oil, chemical or liquefied gas tankers;
c) Crowd management on passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
d) Safety training for personnel providing direct service to passengers in passenger spaces of passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
dd) Passenger safety, cargo safety and hull integrity training for passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
e) Crisis management and human behavior training on passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
g) Basic training for ships operating in polar waters;
h) Advanced training for ships operating in polar waters;
i) High-speed craft.
2. A CoP in special training shall be valid for 05 years from the date of issue. Where the remaining working period of a seafarer until his retirement age is less than 05 years, the period of validity of the CoP in special training shall be equal to that seafarer’s remaining working period as prescribed in the Labor Code.
Article 21 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT stipulates the Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training starting from September 1, 2023, as follows:
Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training
1. CoP in special training shall be issued by training institutions to seafarers who have completed one of the following special training programs in accordance with the provisions of the STCW Convention:
a) Basic training: oil and chemical tankers; liquefied gas tankers; ships operating in polar waters; high-speed craft as per HSC Code provisions; ships using low-flashpoint fuels as per IGF Code provisions;
b) Advanced training: oil tankers; chemical tankers; liquefied gas tankers; ships operating in polar waters; high-speed craft as per HSC Code provisions; ships using low-flashpoint fuels as per IGF Code provisions;
c) Crowd management on passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
d) Safety training for personnel providing direct service to passengers in passenger spaces of passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
dd) Passenger safety, cargo safety and hull integrity training for passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships;
e) Crisis management and human behavior training on passenger ships and Ro-Ro passenger ships.
2. The CoP in special training is valid for 05 years from the date of issuance.
Thus, compared to the current regulations, from September 1, 2023, the Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training will include the following changes:
- For basic training programs, there will be an addition of: Ships using low-flashpoint fuels as per IGF Code provisions.
- For advanced training programs, there will be an addition of: Ships using low-flashpoint fuels as per IGF Code provisions.
- High-speed craft training and ships operating in polar regions training programs will be included in both basic and advanced training programs and no longer be separate training programs.
- The regulation that where the remaining working period of a seafarer until his retirement age is less than 05 years, the period of validity of the CoP in special training shall be equal to that seafarer’s remaining working period as prescribed in the Labor Code will be abolished.
From September 1, 2023, will there be changes to the regulations on Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training for seafarers in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)
From September 1, 2023, what are the professional certificates of seafarers in Vietnam?
According to the provisions of Article 18 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT on the classification of professional certificates as follows:
Classification of professional certificates
Professional certificates issued to seafarers working on Vietnamese-flagged ships include:
1. Certificate of Competency (CoC).
2. Certificates of Proficiency (CoP), including:
a) Certificate of Proficiency in Basic Training (CoP in basic training);
b) Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training (CoP in specialized training);
c) Certificate of Proficiency in Professional Training (CoP in professional training).
3. Templates of professional certificates are available in Appendix I enclosed herewith.
The professional certificates of Vietnamese seafarers from September 1, 2023, will include:
- Certificate of Competency (CoC).
- Certificates of Proficiency (CoP), including:
+ Certificate of Proficiency in Basic Training (CoP in basic training);
+ Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training (CoP in specialized training);
+ Certificate of Proficiency in Professional Training (CoP in professional training).
Compared to the current regulations in Article 18 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT regarding the professional certificates of Vietnamese seafarers, the new regulation does not have any changes.
What are the conditions for reissuing the Certificate of Proficiency in Special Training for seafarers in Vietnam?
Article 42 of Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT stipulates the conditions for reissuing the Certificate of Proficiency:
Conditions for reissuing the Certificate of Proficiency
1. The CoP in special training is reissued in the following cases: lost, damaged, information changed, expired or about to expire.
2. For CoP in special training that have expired or are about to expire, the condition is:
a) The seafarer has a minimum of 12 months of seafaring experience relevant to the issued certificate within 05 years from the date of renewal application;
b) In case the condition stated in point a of this clause is not met, the seafarer must pass a competency assessment appropriate to the issued certificate.
Thus, according to the above regulations, the CoP in special training is reissued in cases such as lost, damaged, information changed, expired, or about to expire.
Circular 20/2023/TT-BGTVT will take effect from September 1, 2023.
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