The Danish Presidency has just reached an agreement in the EU ensuring seafarers improved training.
The Danish EU Presidency has conducted the negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament that have now resulted in an agreement to amend the EU directive on the minimum level of training of seafarers.
The agreement ensures the incorporation into EU legislation of the most recent amendments to the UN International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. Thus, the EU countries are obliged to meet international regulations. This will help ensure improved training, health checks and amended regulations on hours of rest as well as the introduction of blood alcohol concentration limits for seafarers.
Minister for Business and Growth Ole Sohn:
With this agreement, we strengthen the competences of European seafarers through improved training. The new regulations will help ensure that, also in the future, we have many skilled seafarers from European countries. Competent seafarers are decisive for our ability to retain our competitiveness in the maritime field. This means that we can continue to create growth in a growth industry of great importance – not least to Denmark.
The agreement will be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council later this year, and subsequently the agreement will be transposed into amendments to the directive on the minimum level of training of seafarers.