Do you need to do an AMSA-approved STCW training course? Read this first!
STCW is not actually the name of a course. It’s an acronym for “Standards of Training and Certification for Watchkeepers” and refers to mandatory minimum requirements that were set by the International Maritime Organisation.
April 25, 2018
Many of our courses are approved by AMSA for meeting the STCW Code, but the ones people are most commonly looking for relate to obtaining or renewing a Certificate of Safety Training.
Certificate of Safety Training (CoST) - STCW
This is required by everyone working on board vessels in international waters. It is the first international qualification you need to become a seafarer.
You can either gain a new certificate, or renew an existing certificate.
If you need a brand new certificate
The full course takes 9 days plus an online Security Awareness course (7 hours) and costs $2,295 in total. With your AMC certificate, AMSA will issue you with a certificate that’s valid for 5 years. You apply for this AMSA certificate on their website.
Find out about our full Certificate of Safety Training course
If you need to renew your certificate
After five years, there are two options to renew your certificate depending on how much time you’ve worked at sea.
Refresher: if you have qualifying sea service* then you need to do the refresher course after 5 years.
*AMSA describes qualifying sea service as one of the following:
- At least 12 months in total during the preceding 5 years before application, or
- 3 months in total during the preceding 6 months prior to revalidating.
More information can be found on the AMSA website.
The course takes 2 days and costs $1,150.
As a prerequisite for the course, you need to have a Certificate of Safety Training.
Find out about our Certificate of Safety Training Refresher course
Revalidation: if you hold a certificate that needs renewing but you haven’t logged enough sea time (see above), you need to complete the Revalidation course.
Revalidation takes 5 days and costs $1,570.
Find out about our Certificate of Safety Training Revalidation course
One more thing
Security Awareness Training – anyone who requires the above AMSA Certificate of Safety Training also needs to hold a Security Awareness endorsement.
Security Awareness Training takes 7 hours and costs $295. It doesn’t expire.
If you are taking part in our full Certificate of Safety Training (COST), this course is included.
Find out more about our Security Awareness Training (Online).