Circular Letter
STCW.7/Circ.11

GUIDANCE TO PARTIES ON THE APPLICATION OF THE STANDARD MARINE COMMUNICATION PHRASES AS REQUIRED BY SECTION A-II/1 OF THE STCW CODE

(adopted on 1 June 2001)

1. The Sub-Committee on Standards of Training and Watchkeeping, at its thirty-second session (22 to 26 January 2001), noted that guidance with respect to the application of the IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases as required by Section A-II/1 of the STCW Code on implementation of the 1995 amendments to the STCW Convention and of the STCW Code which both entered into force on 1 February 1997, was necessary.

2. The Sub-Committee agreed that:

.1 Part A of the IMO Standards Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) covers phrases to be applied according to the requirements of Table A-II/1 of the STCW Code and may thus be regarded as the replacement of the Standard Marine Navigational Vocabulary, 1985: and

.2 The IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases (referred to in Table A-II/1) should be taught and learnt, according to the users' specific needs. The instruction should be based on common maritime industry practice and be implemented through appropriate modern language methods.

3. Parties to the STCW Convention are invited to be guided accordingly and to bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all training institutions and those responsible for the implementation of the requirements of Section A-II/1 of the STCW Code.