Determining Competences in MET of Ship Officers

Organizational structure of a ship changes under the influence of technological development. Processes on board a ship change as well. Major change refers to the role of the crew and consequently leads to the change of a method of determining competences. Equipment and working processes are becoming more complicated. They have a strong impact on the crew, i.e. on their competences. Competences prescribed in STCW Convention are not in accordance with the changed role of the crew in the processes on board. In STCW Convention, competences have been grouped according to the ship’s functions at different levels of responsibility. Competences have not been prescribed on the basis of the working processes within a system. Such a situation has led to the absence of the proper upgrade of needed competences. Based on the analysis of the functional organizational structure of a ship, the paper suggests more elaborated approach to defining competences. Such an approach links competences with equipment and working processes on board a ship.