# The Merchant Shipping (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations 2022, Regulation 61: Responsibilities of companies, masters and others


(1) A company must ensure that—
(a) a seafarer assigned to any of its ships, other than a hovercraft, holds an appropriate certificate in respect of any function that person performs on that ship;
(b) a seafarer on any of its ships has had training specified in Part 2 (training and certification: ships) or Part 3 (training and certification: hovercraft) in respect of any function that person performs on that ship; and
(c) documentation and data relevant to a seafarer employed on its ships are maintained and readily available for inspection and include, without being limited to, documentation and data on their experience, training, medical fitness and competency in assigned duties.
(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) prohibits the allocation of tasks for training under supervision or in case of force majeure.
(3) A company must provide written instructions to the master of each of its ships setting out the policies and the procedures to be followed to ensure that all officers and ratings who are newly employed on board the ship are given a reasonable opportunity to become familiar with the shipboard equipment, operating procedures and other arrangements needed for the proper performance of their duties, before being assigned to those duties.
(4) The policies and procedures referred to in paragraph (3) include—
(a) allocation of a reasonable period of time during which each newly employed officer or rating will have an opportunity to become acquainted with—
(i) the specific equipment the officer or rating will be using or operating; and
(ii) ship-specific watchkeeping, safety, marine environmental protection and emergency procedures and arrangements the officer or rating needs to know to perform the assigned duties properly; and
(b) designation of a knowledgeable crew member responsible for ensuring that an opportunity is provided to each newly employed officer or rating to receive essential information in a language the officer or rating understands.
(5) A master and a member of a crew designated with an obligation under paragraph (4)(b) must carry out that obligation.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2022/9780348240368/regulation/61 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-merchant-shipping-standards-of-training-certification-and-watchkeeping-regulations-2022/regulation-61
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.