STCW II/5 for Able Seafarer Deck (AB) COP is just one of the numerous new training courses laid out as a result of 2010 STCW Convention. This STCW II/5 COP is exclusively for deck ratings who wish to be promoted to Able seafarer deck.
Wait, what’s an AB?
An STCW II/5 Able Seafarer – Deck (AS-D), is a qualified rating at the STCW Support Level in the deck department on seagoing vessels of 500 GT or more.
Duties include but are not limited to standing navigational watches, lookout watches, maintaining the safety and security. In addition, Cargo and personnel and undertaking a range of practical seafarer skills covering rope work, anchoring, mooring activities and operations.
An able seafarer must be able to work safely in enclosed spaces and at heights, and must also be able to respond to vessel emergencies; administer emergency first aid; carry out fire prevention and fire-fighting duties; be able to use survival techniques in the water; and be able to operate survival craft and rescue boats.
Each person serving as an able seafarer-deck, in a 500 GT or more must hold an STCW endorsement certifying him or her as qualified to perform the navigational function at the support level, on vessels subject to STCW. An individual meeting this requirement must also hold an STCW endorsement as ratings forming part of a navigational watch (RFPNW) or able seafarer-deck on domestic near-coastal voyages.
As of January 1, 2017, onboard a seagoing vessel of 500 GT or more, no person may serve, as an able seafarer-deck, except for in a training capacity, unless this person holds a valid STCW endorsement as II/5 Able Seafarer Deck. – Source: MPT
An OS who wish to become an Able seafarer (AB) shall have this certificate. Port state control inspection may notice this if ever you, as able seafarer deck, is not certified as per STCW II/5.
What are the requirements of COP II/5?
As disclosed by MARINA in its official FB page, the requirements are the following:
Same with COP II/4, holders of COC OIC NW are exempted from practical assessment of this COP.
RELATED: How to get STCW II/4 COP
Practical Assessment Process of STCW II/5 COP
The applicant needs to confirm first the result of the online evaluation before taking up the practical assessment. Do not go directly to any assessment centers without that result.
An applicant needs to Log In to MISMO. Don’t have one? Click here.
Update your profile, check all your information and once done, click Select Transaction.
Select Examination, and then tick Practical Assessment. Then in the document type, choose RATINGS AS ABLE SEAFARER DECK II/5.
Tick “I hereby declare that my profile & service records are updated”. Click “Proceed”. A list of requirements will pop up. Upload it. If you have previously uploaded some documents, it will be marked green.
After uploading all the requirements, please click the Submit button. Don’t forget to keep your file size less than 1MB.
How do I know if they are done examining the documents I uploaded? MARINA will inform you via a text message in regards to your application. It looks like this:
If however your application has been rejected, go back to your MISMO profile, and select Application tab. Click View Details. You can see the status of your documents in there.
Then, after approval of your application, you will then receive the following message:
After receiving this message, please proceed to your preferred assessment centers. Take note of this number because the assessment centers will ask for this. For your guidance, we have compiled it for you. Click here.
After successfully passing the practical assessment, your “Daily Result of Assessment” which is a requirement for COP issuance, will be uploaded by the assessment center. Expect that document to be uploaded few hours after your assessment is complete.
Now, you can proceed to COP II/5 Issuance. Just follow the process below.
How to process COP II/5 in MARINA…
A new online service will replace the way we process COPs in MARINA. No need to fill up the blue forms like we used to. In addition, an appointment is necessary for you to process your COP II/5.
First, log on to MARINA’s new online appointment system. Don’t have one? Click here.
You can log in using your SCS account if you have. If you don’t, create SRN first. On the other hand, you can also click Sign Up button. In case it says “Invalid credentials”, MARINA’s IT backend is working to fix this.
After you successfully logged in to your account, click Select Transaction.
Then a pop up window will appear, Click Certification. Choose which COP to process. For this process, choose RATINGS AS ABLE SEAFARER DECK II/5.
After you click Proceed, you will be redirected to the Application page. Your application will be saved as draft until you click the submit button. But before you click that, upload the requirements first.
Payment Process
After clicking the Submit button, you will now proceed to the payment portal. Pay the corresponding fees as follows:
COP: Regular – P130 ; Expedite: P330
Choose between Bayad Center or Visa/Mastercard options. As of this writing, Visa/Mastercard option does not work well. So i suggest, you use the Bayad Center option for your payment.
After choosing Bayad Center as payment method, click Proceed.
You will then be redirected to the payment window where you can see your reference number. It will also be sent via SMS.
Pay via GCash, BPI App or in Bayad Centers. After payment, you will receive an acknowledgement via SMS along with the instructions for final evaluation.
Final Evaluation & Printing of COP Certificate
As of February 2020, MARINA removed the online evaluation. Thus, making the process faster. It will directly be for the Final Evaluation. Once approved, the certificates will reflect in MISMO.
Thereafter, it can be printed into an A4 size bond paper. If you’re not approved, you will also be notified via text on what deficiencies you need to comply.
Personal appearance is not a requirement in any case unless there is some problems with your documents. Nevertheless, it will be the only time the applicant will go to nearest MARINA office.
To sum it up, the entire process can be done without going to any MARINA Offices. You can have your COP within a weeks time, far from what we have before the MISMO era.