§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many certificates of equivalent competency have been issued to foreign seafarers by the United Kingdom maritime administration in each year since the scheme began. [4837]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe MCA has issued the following number of certificates of equivalent competency in each year since the scheme began in 1997:
Year Number of CECs 1997 37 1998 257 1999 363 2000 1,107 2001 826
§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps the Maritime and Coastguard Agency takes to ensure that the certificates held by foreign seafarers serving on British ships are genuine. [4839]
§ Mr. JamiesonWhen foreign seafarers serving on UK ships present their certificates for recognition, the MCA scrutinises the documents and any suspicious certificates are checked with the issuing administration. Spot checks are also carried out on foreign certificates by checking authenticity with the issuing administration.
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§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the Government intend to extend United Kingdom work permit requirements to foreign seafarers serving on ships in United Kingdom coastal cargo and ferry trades. [4840]
§ Mr. JamiesonSince 1996 work permit arrangements have applied to seafarers engaged in domestic shipping services in the UK where these services are provided by ships requiring a passenger certificate. This includes passenger ferries. It also covers roll-on/roll-off freight services where 12 or more lorry drivers are on board.
On 1 April 2001 the seafarer work permit system was extended to domestic scheduled freight services generally.
The arrangements apply to seafarers who are not European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. Such seafarers need work permits if they are serving on ships registered in the UK or in a foreign state other than an EEA state.
§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the countries whose officer certificates are automatically recognised by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. [4835]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe officer certificates of other countries are only recognised when the training and certification system of that country has been assessed and is considered to afford an equivalent level of technical competence to the UK system. All officers whose mother tongue is not English or whose examinations were not conducted in English, must satisfy the MCA of their competence in the English Language. All senior officers, except the holders of Irish certificates of competency, must satisfy the MCA that they have knowledge of UK maritime legislation appropriate to their functions aboard ship. Recognition under STCW 95 is subject to final European Commission approval. At present, under STCW 78 we recognise officer certificates of competency from the following administrations:
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Eire
- Faroe Islands
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Australia
- Canada
- Croatia
- Estonia
- Hong Kong
- Iceland
- India
- Jamaica
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Malta
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- Norway
- Pakistan
- Poland
- Romania
- Russia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Ukraine
- USA.
§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many foreign seafarers were granted United Kingdom certificates of competency in each year since the scheme began, broken down by nationality. [4838]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe United Kingdom has granted certificates of competency for around 150 years and until recently there has been no record kept of the nationality of the seafarers concerned. Since the introduction of the MCA's electronic database in 1998, records of nationality have been kept and are as follows.
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1998 1999 2000 2001 Total Algeria 0 1 3 0 4 Argentina 0 3 0 0 3 Australia 3 3 12 11 29 Bahrain 0 3 3 1 7 Bangladesh 41 123 149 117 430 Barbados 0 0 1 0 1 Belgium 0 0 1 0 1 Brazil 0 0 0 1 1 Brunei Dar 0 1 4 1 6 Cameroon 0 1 0 1 2 Canada 0 1 3 1 5 Cape Verde 0 1 0 0 1 China 2 2 0 0 4 Columbia 0 0 1 0 1 Croatia 0 0 0 2 2 Cyprus 0 0 1 0 1 Denmark 0 3 1 0 4 Ecuador 0 1 0 0 1 Egypt 0 1 1 1 3 Eire 14 18 17 6 55 Ethiopia 1 5 9 7 22 Fiji 0 1 0 0 1 France 0 1 0 5 6 Gambia 0 2 0 2 4 Georgia 0 1 0 1 2 Germany 0 1 3 3 7 Ghana 2 14 44 37 97 Greece 1 1 1 0 3 Guyana 0 0 1 0 1 Hong Kong 0 0 1 2 3 Iceland 0 0 1 1 2 India 190 655 852 563 2,260 Indonesia 0 0 1 1 2 Iran 0 17 48 16 81 Iraq 0 5 8 4 17 Italy 0 0 0 5 5 Jamaica 0 0 1 1 2 Kenya 0 4 12 2 18 Kiribati 0 1 4 4 9 Kuwait 0 14 7 9 30 Lebanon 0 1 0 0 1 Liberia 0 1 0 0 1 Malawi 0 0 1 1 2 Malaysia 2 2 20 7 31 Maldives 0 1 0 1 2 Malta 2 1 5 0 8
1998 1999 2000 2001 Total Mauritania 0 0 1 0 1 Mauritius 0 1 1 1 3 Myanmar 1 0 0 1 Netherlands 0 1 1 3 5 New Zealand 3 7 9 15 34 Nigeria 1 12 19 31 63 Oman 0 5 1 1 7 Pakistan 70 153 196 126 545 Panama 1 1 0 0 2 Portugal 0 1 1 0 2 Qatar 0 0 0 1 1 Seychelles 0 3 0 0 3 Singapore 1 3 2 4 10 Slovenia 0 0 1 0 1 South Africa 2 2 2 4 10 Spain 0 0 2 0 2 Sri Lanka 15 51 48 46 160 Saudi Arabia 1 15 15 11 42 Sweden 1 0 2 1 4 Switzerland 0 0 0 1 1 Trinidad and Tobago 2 0 0 6 8 Uganda 0 0 0 1 1 UAE 8 0 0 12 20 Total 364 1,145 1,517 1,078 4,104