26 Jun
2020

News

Coronavirus - Your questions answered: How can I renew my certificate?

26 Jun, 2020

My certificate expires soon and I cannot work without renewing it. How can I revalidate it with all the lockdown restrictions?

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has put out a number of briefings on extensions to medical certificates, annual leave entitlement and SMaRT training payments, for example.

The MCA will give a six-month extension, starting from March 2020, to anybody who needs to revalidate but is unable to complete their safety training. Full details below:

Issue or Revalidation of a UK Certificate of Competency (CoC) where a seafarer is unable to complete the updating/refresher training requirements but needs to join a vessel.

Any seafarer that is unable to complete some or all of the updating refresher requirements for the issue or revalidation of a CoC, should send a scanned application to the MCA*.

The seafarer will be issued with a Temporary CoC valid for a period of 6 months providing that they can meet all the other requirements. They will also receive a letter from the MCA extending the validity of the training that they were unable to update/refresh.

They should accompany their application with:

  • Scanned copies of their original STCW Safety Training Certificate that will no longer be valid; and
  • The applicable self-declaration for the STCW training that requires updating/refreshing from MSN 1865 (annex B,C,D and E).

Where STCW requires a standard to be met prior to the issue of a new CoC, the MCA will be unable to issue the CoC until this standard has been achieved.

Where a Seafarer is unable to complete updating training requirements but needs to join a vessel:

Any seafarer required onboard a vessel who is unable to complete some or all the updating/refresher requirements but originally completed the MCA-approved training should send an email to [email protected] this be accompanied with:

  • a company letter confirming the vessel they need to join and the date they are required;
  • scanned copies of their original STCW Safety Training Certificate that will no longer be valid; and
  • The applicable self-declaration for the STCW training that requires updating/refreshing from MSN 1865 (annex B,C,D and E).

The MCA will then issue the seafarer with a letter from the MCA extending the validity of the training that needs updating/refreshing.

More information is available on the Nautilus website via the following links:

Thank you to Nautilus International for contributing this information.

(Information correct as of June 2020)

Share this article:

  • Sailors’ Society on Twitter
  • Sailors’ Society on Facebook
  • Sailors’ Society on LinkedIn

You might also be interested in

Keep in touch

Keep me up-to-date on Sailors' Society news, events and appeals.

Join us on social

Join us on social