Consultation on proposed Regulations on Certificates of Competency for officers working on board Fishing Vessels

The Department of Transport is carrying out a consultation with regard to a review of the Fishing Vessels (Certification of Deck Officers and Engineer Officers) Regulations, 1988 (S.I. No. 289 of 1988) and its amending regulations. It is intended to prepare a new set of regulations which will revoke and replace the 1988 regulations.

Similar to the 1988 regulations, the new regulations will apply to fishers aboard fishing vessels that are 15m in length overall and over, and government research fishery vessels. The main proposals can be summarised as follows:

• Replacement of the Second Hand (Special) qualification with a Skipper (Limited) <24m qualification.
• Placing a 5-year expiry date on all certificates of competency.
• Recertification every 5 years will be dependent on undertaking updated ancillary training for Personal Survival Techniques, Fire Prevention and Firefighting and Advanced Firefighting.
• No longer issue Certificates of Service but continue to recognise those held at the moment.
• Revoke the Merchant Shipping (Recognition of British Certificates of Competency) Order, 1995 which allows us to automatically recognise UK Certificates of Competency. Instead, it is proposed to compel fishers working on board Irish fishing vessels with a UK certificate to apply to the Marine Survey Office for a certificate of equivalent competency. We are putting in place a 3-year transition period for this in which they must apply. After the 3-year period, you cannot work aboard an Irish fishing vessel without the certificate of equivalent competency.
• Updating of the regulations to take account of the EU Regulations on the recognition of professional qualifications and to allow us to recognise certificates from third countries including those issued under the STCW-F.

Further details on the proposals for the new fishing vessel certification regulations are set out in Marine Notice No. 83 of 2022. Interested parties are invited to submit their views on the proposed new regulations to the Department of Transport by submitting an email to the following address: maritimesafetypolicydivision@transport.gov.ie or in writing to the Maritime Safety Policy Division, Department of Transport, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2, D02 TR60.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is 1pm on Tuesday 31 January 2023