ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION IN THE FIELD OF REGULATION OF SEAFARERS' QUALIFICATION DOCUMENTS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of national and international legislation in the sphere of regulation of seafarers' qualification documents. It is substantiated that the internationality of shipping is ensured, mainly, by the regulation of this sphere by the provisions of international acts, which are recognized by the majority of world states and establish uniform requirements for crew members, the level of their training and professional development, as well as a list and samples of documents confirming their competence.

It has been established that international acts, in particular the provisions of the STCW Convention, provide for minimum standards regarding the training, certification of seafarers and their watchkeeping, and the member states of the STCW Convention must introduce their own (national) methods of achieving/implementing its provisions, with the mandatory provision of compliance with its minimum standards, which does not exclude the possibility of establishing national standards that would exceed them. In this regard, the national level of legal regulation of the training and certification of seafarers, as well as the issuance of relevant supporting documents to them, is also important.

The national legislation that determines the procedure for training and improving the qualifications of seafarers, as well as their watch keeping in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on Maritime and Maritime Affairs, has been analyzed. The prevalence of by-laws has been established, which negatively affects the stability of regulations.

The inconsistency of the national sample documents of the members of the command staff and the ship's crew of sea vessels with the provisions of the STCW Convention, which relate to the inconsistency of the names of some qualification documents and the incorrect indication of references to the provisions of the Code on training and certification of seafarers and keeping a watch, has been proven. Amendments to the provisions of the current legislation are proposed.