Australian seafarers are to receive an automatic six-month extension on their qualifications in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some 28,000 seafarers are qualified to work domestically in Australia. Of those, around 2,900 will have their certificates of competency expire over the next six months, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
Chief executive Mick Kinley said the authority was “committed to supporting” Australian seafarers and the maritime industry in Australia and abroad “during this difficult time”.
“Giving our domestic seafarers an automatic six-month extension on the time frame to renew their certificates of competency will hopefully alleviate some stress while the impacts of Covid-19 are being felt hardest by these industries,” he said.
“We’re also effectively delaying what would have been a normal cost to these industry professionals for a period of six months.”
Under Australia’s international maritime law — Navigation Act 2012 — seafarer qualifications and medical certificates will be given the six-month extension as well.
Australia has 16,000 seafarers who are qualified to work internationally, and of those, around 2,000 will have their qualifications expire over the next six months.
“Of the 16,000, we also expect around 30% to 50% will also have their medical fitness certificates expire as well,” Kinley said.
“That’s why we’ve taken a similar approach to reducing regulatory burden on our internationally qualified seafarers with this six-month extension.”
Late last month, AMSA agreed to extend the standards of training certification and watchkeeping certificates of Australian seafarers.
It said there was no requirement for vessel owners, operators or seafarers to apply to AMSA for the extensions.
However, when the time comes to re-validate an expired certificate, the new replacement certificate will be issued for a period of five years from the original certificate expiry date.
