Such was the situation when, in June-July 1995, an International
Conference was convened by IMO to amend the STCW Convention. In the event, it was a
virtual rewrite of the Annex to the original Convention, although, for legal technical
reasons, the articles of the Convention remained unchanged. The revision resulted in an
annex enumerating the regulations and a new Seafarers' Training, Certification and
Watchkeeping Code, specifying details of the provisions laid down in the regulations. The
Code has been divided into two parts, A and B, part A being mandatory and part B providing
valuable guidance.
There were a number of reasons for the revision which I will not go
into except for stating that a major one was that the 1978 Convention was outdated and had
not been adjusted to the technological developments that had, in the meantime,
revolutionized the maritime industry. The Maritime Safety Committee, IMO's most senior
technical body, therefore, agreed that "for the revision to be meaningful, the
revised STCW Convention should contain forward-looking elements so as to respond
positively to the expectations of the world maritime community".
One of the most important changes in the revised STCW Convention is the
recognition of simulators used in assessment. If a Party wishes to use simulators for
assessment of any competency, or to demonstrate any continued proficiency required by Part
A of the STCW Code, such simulators must comply with appropriate performance standards.
These standards are broad enough to permit computer-based simulation training systems to
be employed both on board ships and in training institutions. The "methods for
demonstrating competence which are listed in the tables contained in the STCW Code, form
the most important requirements for simulator training as they frequently refer to one of
the optional means of "demonstrating competence" as being "examination and
assessment of evidence obtained from approved simulator training". This demonstrates
the importance of simulators in the future for the training and examination of seafarers
in ensuring that they are competent to undertake their duties at sea.
As the on-board training in the revised STCW Convention has been given
more importance, the computer-based marine simulators for on-board as well as shore-based
training and assessment will probably play an increasingly important role in the future. A
major advantage of computer software training programmes today is the ability they offer
to structure interactive operational scenarios that not
