CMNT_TITLE

Certification of Able Seamen Convention, 1946 (No. 74) - United States of America (RATIFICATION: 1953)

Article 2 of the Convention. Certification of able seafarers. The Committee recalls that the Convention, together with 36 other international maritime labour Conventions, is revised by the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). In this respect, it draws the Government’s attention to Guideline B2.2.1 of the MLC, 2006, which essentially reproduces the definition of the term “able seaman” contained in Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee recalls, however, that in the course of the negotiations that eventually led to the adoption of the MLC, 2006, it was agreed that the responsibility for seafarers’ training and certification – except for ships’ cooks – should be transferred to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and that the provisions of the present Convention would be eventually superseded by new mandatory provisions to be adopted under the IMO Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW). The Committee notes, in this respect, that the Manila amendments to the STCW Convention and Code, adopted in June 2010 and due to enter into force on 1 January 2012, contain in Regulation II/5 new requirements for certification of ratings as able seafarers deck. Under these new requirements, the minimum age for able seafarers deck is fixed at 18 years while the minimum sea service is, in principle, not less than 24 months, including at least six months of training and 18 months of seagoing service in the deck department. The same Regulation further provides that until 1 January 2012, a party which is also a party to Convention No. 74 may continue to issue certificates in accordance with the provisions of this Convention and, until 1 January 2017, it may continue to renew and revalidate any such certificates. Recalling that the Government continues to be bound by the provisions of this Convention until the MLC, 2006, enters into force for the United States, the Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any developments regarding the process of ratification and effective implementation of the MLC, 2006.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide up-to-date information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, for instance, statistical data on the number of Merchant Mariners’ Credentials (MMC) for Able Seamen Unlimited granted during the reporting period and relevant extracts from inspection reports showing any infringements of the relevant legislation.