The Maritime Safety Committee
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Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Circulars - Maritime Safety Committee - MSC/Circular.738/Rev.2 – Guidelines for Dynamic Positioning System (DP) Operator Training – (Adopted on 16 June 2017) - The Maritime Safety Committee

The Maritime Safety Committee

1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its sixty-sixth session (28 May to 6 June 1996), considered the issue of training of dynamic positioning system (DP) operators in relation to paragraph 4.12 of the 1989 MODU Code and noted that the International Marine Contractors' Association (IMCA) had prepared a publication on the "Training and Experience of Key DP Personnel (Issue 1/Rev.1)" which could be used as a guideline for the training of DP operators.

2 The Committee, recalling the obligations contained in regulation I/14 of the 1978 STCW Convention, as amended, and noting the importance of adequate training of DP operators and the recommendation of the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment, at its thirty-ninth session (22 to 26 January 1996), invited Member States to bring the aforementioned guidelines to the attention of the bodies concerned and apply them to the training of key DP personnel employed on dynamically positioned vessels defined in paragraph 1.3.1 of the annex to MSC/Circ.645.

3 The Committee also agreed to make a reference to the Guidelines in the footnote to section 4.12 of the 1989 MODU Code, as well as the STCW Code, section B-V/f.

4 The Committee, at its ninety-seventh session (21 to 25 November 2016), noted information by IMCA that the Guidelines had been updated to ensure conformance with current best practice, and reissued as IMCA M 117 Rev.2, which is annexed to document MSC 97/INF.9. The Committee also noted that there have been no changes to the core content of the Guidelines, and may be amended by IMCA from time to time in future.

5 The Committee noted that the above-mentioned IMCA publication identifies training programmes, levels of competency and experience for the safe operation of DP vessels, the most recent one of which is available from: the International Marine Contractors' Association (IMCA) website: www.imca-int.com

6 The Committee, at its ninety-eighth session (7 to 16 June 2017), approved the revised circular and requested all Member States to bring it to the attention of all parties concerned.

7 The Committee invited IMCA to keep IMO informed of future amendments to the IMCA guidelines, as appropriate, and make them available on the above-mentioned website.

8 This circular revokes MSC.1/Circ.738/Rev.1.


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