STCW Navigational Watchkeeping Requirements for Deck Officers

• Position
• Intended track
• Course and speed
• Draught
• Navigational hazards
• Weather, visibility, tides and currents
• Traffic situation
• Status of navigational equipment
• Master’s standing and special orders

The officer being relieved should not hand over the watch if there is reason to believe that the relieving officer is unable to perform their duties effectively. The Master should be informed in such circumstances.

A watch should also not be transferred during a developing manoeuvre or critical situation until the relieving officer fully understands the circumstances.

Using Navigational Equipment

STCW requires watchkeepers to make effective use of the navigational equipment available to them.

For the modern OOW this may involve:

ECDIS + radar/ARPA + AIS + GNSS + gyrocompass + magnetic compass + echo sounder + visual observations

These systems should not be treated as independent sources that are automatically correct.

The OOW must continuously cross-check information. A GNSS error, for example, may affect several interconnected bridge systems simultaneously. Radar information must also be interpreted in accordance with COLREG, rather than used as a replacement for the Rules.

The OOW must regularly confirm the ship’s position, course and speed and verify that the vessel remains safely within the planned passage.

When Should the Master Be Called?

The Master’s standing orders normally establish ship-specific calling criteria, but the underlying principle is simple:

If the OOW is in doubt about the safety of the vessel, the Master should be called.

Typical situations include deteriorating visibility, unexpected traffic, difficulty maintaining the passage plan, equipment failure, uncertainty about another vessel’s intentions or doubt about the appropriate action.

Calling the Master does not remove the OOW’s responsibility to take immediate action when required for safety.

Fitness for Duty and Fatigue

STCW Regulation VIII/1 requires watch systems to be arranged so that watchkeepers are sufficiently rested and their efficiency is not impaired by fatigue. 

The current minimum standard normally requires:

10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period
and
77 hours of rest in any seven-day period.

Rest may normally be divided into no more than two periods, one of which must be at least six hours, with no more than 14 hours between consecutive rest periods, subject to permitted exceptions under the applicable framework. 

False or inaccurate rest records are therefore not minor paperwork problems. IMO Port State Control procedures identify inadequate watch arrangements, insufficiently rested watchkeepers and inaccurate rest records as significant STCW deficiencies. 

Professional Takeaway

STCW watchkeeping is based on a continuous safety chain:

Fit watchkeeper → Effective lookout → Verified position → Correct risk assessment → Timely action → Proper handover

The OOW must never allow automation, administrative work or routine to reduce awareness of the vessel’s developing navigational situation.

A certificate proves that an officer has met a competence standard. Safe watchkeeping demonstrates that competence every watch.

References

International Maritime Organization. (1978). International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended. International Maritime Organization. 

International Maritime Organization. (2010). The Manila amendments to the Seafarers’ Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Code (STCW/CONF.2/34). International Maritime Organization. 

International Maritime Organization. (2019). Guidelines on fatigue (MSC.1/Circ.1598). International Maritime Organization. 

International Maritime Organization. (2023). Procedures for Port State Control, 2023 (Resolution A.1185(33)). International Maritime Organization. 

International Maritime Organization, & International Labour Organization. Guidelines for the development of tables of seafarers’ shipboard working arrangements and formats of records of seafarers’ hours of work or hours of rest.International Maritime Organization.