Schedule of Examinations for Certificate of Competency for Deck Officers, Marine Engineer Officers, Skippers and Second Hands in the year commencing 1^st September 2016

    

Marine Notice No. 18 of 2016

This Marine Notice supersedes Marine Notice No.39 of 2015 at the end of July 2016

 

Notice to all Shipowners, Fishing Vessel Owners, Agents, Shipmasters, Skippers, Fishermen, Seafarers and Training Centres

 

1.       A list of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport examinations for Certificates of Competency as Deck Officers, Marine Engineer Officers, Skippers and Second Hands for the year commencing 1^st September 2016 is attached at the Annex below.

2.       Please note that Marine Notice No. 39 of 2015 details examinations up to the end of July 2016, and on completion of those examinations, is superseded by this Notice.

ANNEX to Marine Notice No. 18 of 2016

 

EXAMINATIONS FOR DECK OFFICERS, FISHERMEN AND MARINE ENGINEER OFFICERS IN THE YEAR COMMENCING 1st September 2016.
MONTH	COMMENCING MONDAY	DECK OFFICER			ENGINEER OFFICER
		Chief Mate / Master	OOW	FISHING	Chief	Second	O.O.W	FISHING CLASS 1	FISHING CLASS 2
SEPT 2016	5th
	12th.
	19th	Oral Exams	Oral Exams	X
	26st			Oral Exams
OCT 2016	3rd
	17th	Oral Exam
	24th
	31st
NOV 2016	7th
	14th
	21st.
	28th 30th
DEC 2016	5th
	12th			X				X	X
	19st			Oral Exam
	26th
JAN 2017	2nd
	9th
	16th	Oral Exams	Oral Exams	X
	23rd		Oral Exams	Oral Exams

 

 

MONTH	COMMENCING MONDAY	DECK OFFICER			ENGINEER OFFICER
		Chief Mate / Master	OOW	FISHING	Chief	Second	O.O.W	FISHING CLASS 1	FISHING CLASS 2
FEB 2017	6th
	13th	Oral Exams	Oral Exams	Oral Exams
	20th	Oral Exams	Oral Exams
	27th
MARCH 2017	6th
	13th
	20th	Oral Exams	Oral Exam
	27th
APRIL 2017	3rd			X				X	X
	10th
	17th
	24th			X / Oral Exams
MAY 2017	1st
	8th
	15th
	22nd 29th	Oral Exams	Oral Exams	Oral Exams
JUNE 2017	5th
	12th			X				X	X
	19th
	26th	Oral Exams	Oral Exams	Oral Exams
JULY     2017	3rd	Oral Exams	Oral Exams	X
	10th			Oral Exams
	24th
	31st

 

NOTES:

 

1.         GENERAL

 

                        All examinations will commence on the Monday (or where there is a Bank Holiday, on the Tuesday) of the scheduled week.  Examination timetables should be checked with the relevant college prior to attending.

 

                       Additional examinations may be held and candidates should check with the college for an up-to-date schedule.

 

Note: The Engineer Officer Examination dates are under review; applicants should contact the National Maritime College for dates of examinations

 

 

 

2.         APPLICATION FOR EXAMINATION

 

(i)         Applications to be examined for a Certificate of Competency or Endorsement should be made to the Examiner of Masters, Mates and Fishermen or the Examiner of Engineers, as appropriate, at the Marine Survey Office, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2, DO2 TR60, Ireland at least six (6) weeks before the date of written examinations.  An applicant who meets the entry requirements will be issued with a Notice of Eligibility, which should be produced at the appropriate Examination Centre when applying for a place in the written examinations.  This application must be made directly to the Examination Centre concerned, at least four (4) weeks prior to the date of the examination.

 

(ii)        Notice of eligibility will be valid for 2 years from the date of issue. Once this period has elapsed the candidate must make a new application.

 

(iii)       Deck Officer STCW Regulation II/1 OOW 500+Certificate of Competency:

 

Candidates for the above examination should provide satisfactory evidence of the following:

·                     Three years approved sea service (see paragraph 6 below) on ordinary trading vessels in an acceptable position;

 

·                     Provide evidence of watchkeeping duties under the supervision of Master or qualified officer for a period of not less than 6 months;

 

·                     Formal validation from the relevant administrations of the sea service;

 

·                     Formal validation from the relevant company of the sea service (Company contact details to be included);                     

 

·                     IELTS (International English Language Testing System) to level 6.5 (average) for Linguistically demanding training courses (see paragraph 4(c) below);

 

·                     Evidence of Basic Training under STCW Chapter VI;

 

and,

 

·                     Seafarer Medical Certificate (Eng 11) issued under the provisions of STCW Regulation 1/9 and section A-1/9, and under the ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006.

 

(iv)       Candidates will be expected to satisfactorily attend and complete the full training programme at the National Maritime Training College in Ireland, which will include all STCW short courses including GMDSS GOC, AB or Able Seafarer Deck, Irish National Medical Examination and complete an application for and receive a Notice of Eligibility prior to being eligible to take written, oral or signal examinations. 

 

3.        CENTRES FOR WRITTEN AND SIGNAL EXAMINATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF COMPETENCY

 

(i)            For the Merchant Marine, examinations are held at the National Maritime College of Ireland, Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork, P43 XV65.

 

(ii)           For the Fishing Industry, examinations are held at the B.I.M. National Fishery College, Greencastle, Co. Donegal and at the B.I.M. Regional Fisheries Training Centre, Castletownbere, Co. Cork, P75 EW24.

 

4.         ORAL EXAMINATIONS

 

Practical oral examinations will be held by prior appointment and subject to the relevant compliance with paragraph 2 above at the Marine Survey Office, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2, D02 TR60, Tel: + 353 (0)1 678 3400, Email: stcw@dttas.ie.

 

(a)        All ancillary courses should be successfully completed as appropriate. The written examination must be completed and passed in full before sitting the oral examination.

 

(b)        Each candidate will be required to produce proof of name, nationality and place of birth.

 

(c)        Non-native English speaking candidates and non-EU candidates will be required to provide a verifiable Test Report Form (valid for two years) from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

 

This test report should show that the applicant has achieved at least an individual test result of 5.5 in the four modules: listening, reading, writing and speaking, with an overall band score of at least 6.5 in the linguistically less demanding academic courses.

 

(d)          If a candidate fails an oral examination, re-sits may be taken at the following intervals:

 

·         2^nd attempt – at least 2 weeks after the initial examination;

 

·         Subsequent attempts – at least 3 months after the previous attempt.

 

 

5.         CERTIFICATE OF PROFICIENCY IN SURVIVAL CRAFT, RESCUE BOATS, AND FAST RESCUE BOATS (STCW Chapter VI/Regulation VI/2)

 

Examinations are held at the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork, P43 XV65.  Tel: +353 (0)21 433 5600, Fax: +353 (0)21 433 5601, Email: reception@nmci.ie.

 

 

6.         SEAGOING SERVICE

 

According to the STCW Convention and Code 1978, as amended:

 

·         Regulation 1/1: Seagoing service means service on board a ship relevant to the issue or revalidation of a certificate or other qualification.

 

·         Section A-1/2: In approving seagoing service required by the Convention, parties should ensure that the service concerned is relevant to the qualification being applied for, bearing in mind that, apart from the initial familiarization with service in seagoing ships, the purpose of such service is to allow the seafarer to be instructed in and to practice, under appropriate supervision, those safe and proper seagoing practices, procedures and routines which are relevant to the qualification applied for.

 

7.         WATCHKEEPING CERTIFICATES INCLUDING TESTIMONIALS

 

Candidates for Certificates of Competency for which service as a watchkeeping officer is required must produce certificates of watchkeeping service, including testimonials on conduct, experience / ability and behaviour / sobriety, signed by the Masters of the vessels in which they served.