appointment of professors of hydrography delivering free maritime education.
9
Despite this act, maritime institutions developed only during the period
1665–1681 when about a dozen maritime schools, both for shipping and navy,
were recognized. The final link in the process to establish a national maritime
education system came with the 1681 “Ordonnance de la Marine” (Maritime
Act).
10 This comprehensive legislation addressed maritime education directly (for
example in Book 1 title VIII about the tasks and qualifications required for professors of hydrography) or indirectly by establishing binding examinations by peers
for shipmasters to be taken after the completion of at least 5 years at sea. “Pilots” on
ships (today’s “officers of the watch”) were also required to have some sea experience before taking the examinations.
Interestingly, a study of this period also shows that other facets of a maritime
education and training system were also present: instructions were given to ensure
the learning abilities of those willing to join schools (1670), school inspections were
implemented and there was a differentiation of education for those with or without
sea experience (1680). Importantly there was a complaint process relating to fraudulent practices in respect of examination boards (1672).
11 By 1681 a system of
compulsory examinations for seafarers was entrenched in France.
Other traditional maritime nations showed similar trajectories for the development of administrative and legal systems for seafarer education, training and certification. The alleged creation of a school for navigators attributed to the Portuguese
King Henry the Navigator in 1419 has been alluded to earlier.
12 In 1503 and 1552, a
school for pilots and then a nautical academy respectively, were established in
Seville, Spain. An official examiner of mates was appointed in 1619 in the Netherlands and naval officers’ exams were introduced in the UK in 1677 by Samuel Pepys
(of the English navy and a Member of the UK Parliament).
13 In 1701, Peter I
launched a school of mathematical and navigational sciences in Moscow. By the
middle of the seventeenth century, national governments had become primary
stakeholders in public seafarer education, training and certification systems and
going on into the eighteenth century, many public navigation schools were well
established. All this was in a context of national sovereignty and jurisdiction. As in
the case of France, the creation of such systems of seafarer education, training and
certification coincided with (or more appropriately was triggered by) the political
will to enhance commercial maritime and naval power. The systems were, generallyspeaking, characterised by principles relating to the blending of experience and
9 Ibid.
10 Isambert and Taillandier (1829).
11 Larrieu (2010).
12 The existence and exact nature of Henry the Navigator’s “school of navigation” is disputed by
academics (see Randles (1993)). What is not contested is the fact that during this era in Portuguese
maritime history, concerted state efforts were made to advance a national system of maritime
education, training and certification.
13 A relatively detailed description of the developments in the UK context is given in
Kennerley (2002).
The Evolution of Seafarer Education and Training in International Law
473
9
Despite this act, maritime institutions developed only during the period
1665–1681 when about a dozen maritime schools, both for shipping and navy,
were recognized. The final link in the process to establish a national maritime
education system came with the 1681 “Ordonnance de la Marine” (Maritime
Act).
10 This comprehensive legislation addressed maritime education directly (for
example in Book 1 title VIII about the tasks and qualifications required for professors of hydrography) or indirectly by establishing binding examinations by peers
for shipmasters to be taken after the completion of at least 5 years at sea. “Pilots” on
ships (today’s “officers of the watch”) were also required to have some sea experience before taking the examinations.
Interestingly, a study of this period also shows that other facets of a maritime
education and training system were also present: instructions were given to ensure
the learning abilities of those willing to join schools (1670), school inspections were
implemented and there was a differentiation of education for those with or without
sea experience (1680). Importantly there was a complaint process relating to fraudulent practices in respect of examination boards (1672).
11 By 1681 a system of
compulsory examinations for seafarers was entrenched in France.
Other traditional maritime nations showed similar trajectories for the development of administrative and legal systems for seafarer education, training and certification. The alleged creation of a school for navigators attributed to the Portuguese
King Henry the Navigator in 1419 has been alluded to earlier.
12 In 1503 and 1552, a
school for pilots and then a nautical academy respectively, were established in
Seville, Spain. An official examiner of mates was appointed in 1619 in the Netherlands and naval officers’ exams were introduced in the UK in 1677 by Samuel Pepys
(of the English navy and a Member of the UK Parliament).
13 In 1701, Peter I
launched a school of mathematical and navigational sciences in Moscow. By the
middle of the seventeenth century, national governments had become primary
stakeholders in public seafarer education, training and certification systems and
going on into the eighteenth century, many public navigation schools were well
established. All this was in a context of national sovereignty and jurisdiction. As in
the case of France, the creation of such systems of seafarer education, training and
certification coincided with (or more appropriately was triggered by) the political
will to enhance commercial maritime and naval power. The systems were, generallyspeaking, characterised by principles relating to the blending of experience and
9 Ibid.
10 Isambert and Taillandier (1829).
11 Larrieu (2010).
12 The existence and exact nature of Henry the Navigator’s “school of navigation” is disputed by
academics (see Randles (1993)). What is not contested is the fact that during this era in Portuguese
maritime history, concerted state efforts were made to advance a national system of maritime
education, training and certification.
13 A relatively detailed description of the developments in the UK context is given in
Kennerley (2002).
The Evolution of Seafarer Education and Training in International Law
473