Seafarers’ Perceptions of the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate

Abstract

This thesis will critically assess the Minimum Safe Manning Certificate (MSMC) in the context of the seafarers onboard modern commercial vessels, and how it is practically sufficient to represent the actual manpower needs in operations and the ability to comply with international maritime safety and labour protocols. The MSMC is a key regulatory tool within the framework of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), Standards of Training, Certificate and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention and the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006). Although it has a legal importance, there is an increasing amount of evidence that there is a structural disjunction between the manning levels which are formally certified and the realities which seafarers on board have to face. An online questionnaire is used in which twenty-one (21) seafarers, mostly senior officers on bulk carriers and tankers working in the international deep-sea trade are given a doctrinal and comparative legal examination of the international instruments involved. The questionnaire examines the attitudes of the respondents towards the adequacy of manning, workload, fatigue, and compliance of work and rest hours as well as the practical role of the MSMC as a control tool. The results suggest that the respondents perceive that the MSMC has a legal significance, but not always as an adequate indicator of real manpower requirements. According to all respondents, frequent port calls and commercial pressure are the major contributors to the workload of the crews. Fatigue issues were raised in all the questionnaires and there was almost unanimity that inadequate crew numbers have hindered adherence to the required restful time. Another important percentage of the respondents also did not find proof of the work and rest hour records accuracy, indicating that there is always a gap between what is documented and what is happening in operations. Variations in Flag State practices were found to cause an uneven result in the manning of similar vessels. The paper concludes that the MSMC, as it stands, is more of a threshold compliance tool than a substantive operation adequacy tool. Respondent-recommended reform measures are workload-based manning evaluation, more often certificate assessment, more harmonisation of Flag State practice, and formal consideration of seafarer experience in the certificate assessment process.