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Maritime Career Training (MCT) provides Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) approved Certificate of Safety Training courses. These courses are usually delivered over 9 straight days, including weekends and public holidays to minimise the time you have to take off work to attend them. We conduct all the training including First Aid, Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting, Personal Safety & Social Responsibilities, Personal Survival Techniques and Security Awareness Training at our Nambour training centre except the sea survival practical which is conducted at the nearby Kawana Aquatic Centre. If you have successfully completed all the course assessments, you will receive Certificates of Completion on the last day of the course. We usually conduct more than one course each month so we can often provide places on our courses at short notice.

The Certificate of Safety Training (CoST) issued by AMSA meets the requirements of the International Maritime Organization's Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, as amended. (The STCW Convention). If you successfully complete all five modules of the course AMSA will issue you with a Certificate of Safety Training valid for a full five years.

Important recent changes to the Certificate of Safety Training issued by AMSA

As a result of recent amendments to the international STCW convention, the Certificates of Safety Training issued by AMSA are now valid for up to five years from the date of issue.

All CoST's previously issued by AMSA as perpetual now expire on the January 1st, 2017. If you hold one of these certificates and you wish to continue your career at sea beyond that date, you must revalidate your certificate before January 1st, 2017. As a minimum you must attend a Basic Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting refresher course and a Personal Survival Training refresher course at an AMSA approved training centre such as Maritime Career Training as part of the revalidation process.

Another amendment to the STCW convention requires that all seafarers complete a one day maritime Security Awareness Training course (SAT) before January 1st, 2017.

When applying to AMSA for revalidation before January 1, 2017 or a new issue of a CoST after January 1, 2014, it will be necessary to have completed a one day SAT course at an AMSA approved training centre.

Interim Arrangement - If you have completed 6 months service on board a vessel (which is subject to implementation of the ISPS Code) while holding a CoST in the period from the 1st January 2009 to the 31st December 2011, you can apply to AMSA for acceptance of shipboard training which you have received during your employment on board the vessel. If this approval is granted then you do not have to attend the SAT course. This is a transitional arrangement which is in force up to 1st January 2014.

To obtain a Certificate of Safety Training valid for a full 5 years

All new entrants who wish to have a CoST valid for a full five years must complete a SAT course. If they do not complete a SAT course AMSA will only issue the CoST up to 31 December 2016. Maritime Career Training has gained approval from AMSA to deliver the Security Awareness Course training. The first course was conducted on Wednesday October 3, 2012. A full list of course dates can be found on our Course Dates page. For further information about the changes to the STCW convention and how they affect Australian Seafarers, please visit AMSA's website at www.amsa.gov.au.

STCW 95 (Certificate of Safety Training)

Commonly incorrectly referred to as the STCW95 Basic Safety Training Course, this qualification is an essential pre-requisite for everyone seeking work in the offshore oil and gas industry or on an Australian registered vessel.

Superyachts

This qualification is also very widely recognised by other Flag States (other countries who are signatories to the International Maritime Organization's STCW convention). The United Kingdom Maritime and Coastguard Agency (the MCA) recognises this qualification. MCA recognition of your CoST is required as a pre-requisite to obtaining work as a crew member on most of the world's superyachts.

An AMSA CoST may also be recognised by State and Territory waterways authorities in Australia as being equivalent to or a higher level qualification than Elements of Shipboard Safety (ESS), required to work on an Australian State or Territory registered vessel. Candidates requiring an ESS Certificate should enquire with their state waterways authority about recognition of the CoST before enrolling.

It is important to note that AMSA will only issue a CoST to those candidates who complete the CoST at an AMSA approved Registered Training Organisation such as MCT.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

MCT's CoST Course comprises four mandatory short courses - Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting (Fire), Personal Survival Techniques (PST), Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities (PSSR) and Elementary First Aid. The SAT training is an optional fifth short course at this stage. After January 1, 2014 AMSA will only issue a CoST to candidates who have completed all five short courses, including the SAT.

AMSA will only allow RPL for the Basic First Aid part of the training.

As an accredited provider of training and assessment services we are obliged to offer recognition of prior learning (RPL) to any student who believes he or she can substantiate a claim to being already competent in a particular unit of a course we deliver under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).  

Presently we deliver just one course for which RPL is applicable - Apply First Aid. AMSA do not accept any First Aid certificates other than those issued by an AMSA approved training establishment. The theory training and assessment for our First Aid training is provided through internet based on-line learning. The practical training and assessment is delivered during attendance at a one day course. If your First Aid certificate and your CPR has been revalidated within the two months prior to the commencement of our First Aid training day and you can satisfy us with evidence of this then we will recognise your current competency in Apply First Aid. In this case you will not need to complete the on-line learning nor will you need to attend the practical First Aid training. However, there will be no reduction if fees. If your Apply First Aid certificate and CPR revalidation was issued more then two months but within three years of the commencement date of our Apply First Aid course then you must complete both the on-line learning as well as the training and assessment conducted in the classroom. Again there will be no reduction in the course fee. If you are competent then the on-line learning component of the training should only take you an hour or two to complete.

Applying to AMSA for your Certificate of Safety Training (CoST)

Having received MCT's Statement of Attainment, the next step is to apply to AMSA for the issue of a Certificate of Safety Training. Currently this certificate is provided in a credit card style photo ID format. With your application to AMSA you must provide ID and other documents endorsed as true copies of the originals by a Justice of the Peace or other AMSA approved person. The application form 63 can be downloaded from http://www.amsa.gov.au/forms/AMSA63.pdf. There is a fee of $155 payable to AMSA for the issue of the Certificate of Safety Training. Please do not send this payment to us. The application fee of $155 must be sent direct to AMSA when applying for your Certificate of Safety Training.

Course Entry Requirements

There are no sea time, physical, race, gender or academic pre-requisites. However, the practical elements of the training are physically demanding. If you are unable to lift weights of up to to your body weight then you will have difficulty with the PST and the FIRE modules of the training. The PST practical assessment also demands that you can swim and stay afloat without a buoyancy device. Candidates must have attained the age of 16 years before commencing the training. However, it might be difficult for anyone younger than 18 years of age to obtain work in the maritime industries.

To start the journey to your maritime career please call Barry Barnes on 0418 243 042 or email Barry on bb@stcw95.net