What Is STCW Basic Safety Training (BST)

The STCW Convention, as amended by the 2010 Manila amendments, establishes in Regulation VI/1 that seafarers shall receive safety familiarization and basic training or instruction in accordance with Section A-VI/1 of the STCW Code and shall meet the standard of competence specified in that section. Where basic training is not included in the qualification for the certificate to be issued, a certificate of proficiency is issued, indicating that the holder has attended the course in basic training. Ukraine is a Party to the Convention, so the official Ukrainian text of the amendments is published on the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006) sets the same requirement from the other side: a seafarer shall not be permitted to work on a ship unless they have successfully completed training for personal safety on board ship, and training in accordance with the mandatory instruments adopted by the IMO is considered as meeting this requirement. That is why, in the ports of MLC member States, a port State control officer may also check that a seafarer has this training: seafarers' qualifications are among the areas of detailed inspection.

Section A-VI/1 describes two different levels, and the two should not be confused.

Safety familiarization training concerns all persons on board other than passengers — even before they are assigned to the ship. It may be an approved course or sufficient information and instruction, and it must ensure seven things: the person can communicate with others on board on elementary safety matters and understands safety information symbols, signs and alarm signals; knows what to do if a person falls overboard, if fire or smoke is detected, or if the fire or abandon ship alarm is sounded; can identify muster and embarkation stations and emergency escape routes; can locate and don a lifejacket; can raise the alarm and has basic knowledge of the use of portable fire extinguishers; can take immediate action upon encountering an accident or other medical emergency before seeking further medical assistance on board; and can close and open the fire, weathertight and watertight doors fitted in the particular ship, other than those for hull openings. This part is tied to the specific ship: Regulation I/14 obliges the Administration to require the company to ensure that seafarers, on being assigned to any of its ships, are familiarized with their specific duties and with all ship arrangements, installations, equipment, procedures and ship characteristics relevant to their routine or emergency duties. So a BST certificate does not replace the briefing on board — and the briefing on board does not replace BST.

Basic training is BST itself. It is mandatory for seafarers employed or engaged on board ship in any capacity involving safety or pollution-prevention duties, and it must be completed before they are assigned to any shipboard duties. Its content is the four tables of the Code, and the result is evidence of having achieved the standard of competence in two ways at once: demonstration in accordance with the methods and criteria in columns 3 and 4 of the tables, and examination or continuous assessment as part of an approved training programme.

The STCW Code does not set a "BST certificate validity" as a single date for all four elements. Paragraph 3 of Section A-VI/1 requires something else: seafarers qualified in basic training must provide evidence of having maintained the required standard of competence within the previous five years under Tables A-VI/1-1 and A-VI/1-2 — survival techniques and fire fighting. Elementary first aid and personal safety are not part of this requirement.

Paragraph 4 of the same section allows Parties to accept onboard training and experience for a separate list of elements (for survival — from donning a lifejacket to operating location devices, including radio equipment; for fire — using breathing apparatus and rescue in a smoke-filled space). But this is a "may", not a "shall": whether a specific flag and company accept onboard training instead of a course is something to find out before the voyage.

The Ukrainian Administration has settled the validity question directly: the certificate of proficiency in basic safety training is valid for five years — this is set by the Regulations on Ranks of Ship Officers (para. 74), to which the Rules for certification of ratings also refer. So the wording "the certificate is valid for 5 years" is literally correct for a Ukrainian document, while for documents of other administrations it should be read like this: after five years you will need evidence of maintained skills in two elements, and you should check in what form it is accepted for the ship you are joining.

In Ukraine, safety training of ratings is certified by certificates of proficiency in accordance with the Rules for certification of ratings of seagoing ships' crews. The certificate of proficiency in basic safety training is issued to all ratings; there are also separate certificates in survival craft and rescue boats, in advanced fire fighting, in medical first aid and in medical care — they are issued only to those assigned to the relevant duties. The certificate in basic safety training, together with the certificate in security-awareness training, is among the qualification requirements for obtaining certificates of proficiency as a rating forming part of a navigational watch, a rating forming part of an engineering watch, an electro-technical rating (ship's electrician) and a ship's cook.

For officers, the procedure is set by the Regulations on Ranks of Ship Officers: the certificate in basic safety training is required for the ranks of officer in charge of a navigational watch, officer in charge of an engineering watch and electro-technical officer, except during the first five years after the issue of the maritime education diploma, while certificates of competency of masters, deck officers, engineer officers and electro-technical officers and their endorsements certify completion of this training for five years after issue.

Check before signing the contract:

1. Compliance with the standard. The certificate must state the regulation of the Convention or the section of the Code under which it was issued — for BST, this is Regulation VI/1 and Section A-VI/1 of the STCW Code. Also make sure the course covered all four tables, not just some of them.
2. Recognition by the flag. Does the Administration of the flag of the ship you are joining accept a document issued by your training centre or your Administration? The certificate itself does not settle this — it is a question for the crewing agency or the flag Administration.
3. Date of training and the five-year evidence. If about five years have passed since the course, find out in what form the flag and the company accept evidence of maintained competence in survival and fire fighting — and whether they count onboard training.
4. The violence and harassment element. Does your training cover the new version of Table A-VI/1-4 under MSC.560(108), in force since 1 January 2026? If the course is older, ask the company whether a supplement is needed.
5. Familiarization on the ship. After arriving on board, there should be a briefing on the specific ship — muster stations, escape routes, your duties under the muster list, doors, equipment. This is the company's obligation, not an "extra formality" on your part.
6. Related documents. The medical certificate, the certificate in security-awareness training and, for those assigned to special duties, certificates under Regulations VI/2, VI/3, VI/4. What to gather before your first trip to sea is in a separate checklist of items and documents for the voyage.

The AVANT training centre offers the Basic Safety Training (BST) Course. For conditions, format, duration and the programme, see the course page. How to obtain the certificate at AVANT and which documents you need are on the BST certificate for seafarers page.

If you are assigned to special duties on board, the next step is separate certificates of proficiency under Regulations VI/2, VI/3, VI/4; the centre offers the Advanced Fire Fighting course, the survival craft and rescue boats course and the medical first aid course. For conditions, format, duration and the programme, see the course pages.

BST is four skills that the Convention requires you to prove in practice, not a piece of paper for the crewing agency. Before the voyage, make sure the document covers all four tables, is recognized by the ship's flag, does not yet need the five-year confirmation in survival and fire fighting — and that after arrival on board you will be familiarized with the specific ship. If you still need to take or update the training, enrol on the BST course at the AVANT training centre.