of Able Seamen Convention, 1946 (No. 74). The former specified a global requirement for officers on ships to be trained and certified, the first international instrument
to do so. The Convention entered into force on 29 March 1939 and was ratified by
37 States with 13 subsequent denunciations. It required, among other things, that:
No person shall be engaged to perform or shall perform on board any vessel to which this
Convention applies the duties of master or skipper, navigating officer in charge of a watch,
chief engineer, or engineer officer in charge of a watch, unless he holds a certificate of
competency to perform such duties, issued or approved by the public authority of the
territory where the vessel is registered.
and that “exceptions to the provisions of this Article may be made only in cases of
force majeure”.
20
Furthermore, the Convention required, per the following paragraphs,
21 that:
1. No person shall be granted a certificate of competency unless-(a) he has reached the minimum age prescribed for the issue of the certificate in
question;
(b) his professional experience has been of the minimum duration prescribed for
the issue of the certificate in question; and
(c) he has passed the examinations organised and supervised by the competent
authority for the purpose of testing whether he possesses the qualifications
necessary for performing the duties corresponding to the certificate for which
he is a candidate.
2. National laws or regulations shall-(a) prescribe a minimum age to have been attained by and a minimum period of
professional experience to have been completed by candidates for each grade
of competency certificate;
(b) provide for the organisation and supervision by the competent authority of
one or more examinations for the purpose of testing whether candidates for
competency certificates possess the qualifications necessary for performing
the duties corresponding to the certificates for which they are candidates.
3. Any Member of the Organisation may, during a period of 3 years from the date of
its ratification, issue competency certificates to persons who have not passed the
examinations organised in virtue of paragraph 2 (b) of this Article who
(a) have in fact had sufficient practical experience of the duties corresponding to
the certificate in question; and
(b) have no record of any serious technical error against them.
While the ILO Conventions 53 and 74 were the first substantive attempts in an
international forum to require that national laws and administrative systems regulate
20 Article 3 of ILO C53 on Officers’ Competency Certificates.
21 In Article 4 of the Convention.
476
M. E. Manuel and R. Baumler
to do so. The Convention entered into force on 29 March 1939 and was ratified by
37 States with 13 subsequent denunciations. It required, among other things, that:
No person shall be engaged to perform or shall perform on board any vessel to which this
Convention applies the duties of master or skipper, navigating officer in charge of a watch,
chief engineer, or engineer officer in charge of a watch, unless he holds a certificate of
competency to perform such duties, issued or approved by the public authority of the
territory where the vessel is registered.
and that “exceptions to the provisions of this Article may be made only in cases of
force majeure”.
20
Furthermore, the Convention required, per the following paragraphs,
21 that:
1. No person shall be granted a certificate of competency unless-(a) he has reached the minimum age prescribed for the issue of the certificate in
question;
(b) his professional experience has been of the minimum duration prescribed for
the issue of the certificate in question; and
(c) he has passed the examinations organised and supervised by the competent
authority for the purpose of testing whether he possesses the qualifications
necessary for performing the duties corresponding to the certificate for which
he is a candidate.
2. National laws or regulations shall-(a) prescribe a minimum age to have been attained by and a minimum period of
professional experience to have been completed by candidates for each grade
of competency certificate;
(b) provide for the organisation and supervision by the competent authority of
one or more examinations for the purpose of testing whether candidates for
competency certificates possess the qualifications necessary for performing
the duties corresponding to the certificates for which they are candidates.
3. Any Member of the Organisation may, during a period of 3 years from the date of
its ratification, issue competency certificates to persons who have not passed the
examinations organised in virtue of paragraph 2 (b) of this Article who
(a) have in fact had sufficient practical experience of the duties corresponding to
the certificate in question; and
(b) have no record of any serious technical error against them.
While the ILO Conventions 53 and 74 were the first substantive attempts in an
international forum to require that national laws and administrative systems regulate
20 Article 3 of ILO C53 on Officers’ Competency Certificates.
21 In Article 4 of the Convention.
476
M. E. Manuel and R. Baumler