Certificate of Proficiency as Able Seafarer Deck

This is an advanced deck-rating certification, not an entry-level merchant-navy qualification. India’s 2014 STCW Rules require an applicant to be at least 18 at issue, already hold the R-NW CoP, complete the required approved deck sea service, and meet STCW Code section A-II/5 competence requirements.

DGS’s TEAP guidance additionally lists a pass in the 10th-standard board examination (matriculation) for this certification pathway, requires an approved Rating Training Record Book for the on-board training, and describes the competence assessment as scrutiny of service and RTRB evidence.

• Age: 18 or older at certificate issue.
• Prior credential: CoP as Rating Forming Part of a Navigational Watch (R-NW).
• Experience: 18 months of approved deck-department sea service after R-NW, or 12 months after R-NW together with approved training.
• Competence: the STCW Code A-II/5 standard for Able Seafarer Deck at the support level.
• DGS TEAP administrative guidance: 10th-standard/matriculation qualification and an approved RTRB.

There is no single fixed course duration stated in India’s rule for the CoP. The controlling timeline is sea service earned after the R-NW certificate: at least 18 months in the deck department, or at least 12 months where the candidate has also completed approved training. The actual end-to-end time therefore varies with the candidate’s prior R-NW certification date, vessel assignment, documented service, training availability, and assessment processing.

DGS’s TEAP flow diagram confirms that both routes culminate in post-sea assessment of the approved sea service and RTRB, followed by the Able Seafarer Deck CoP.

• Standard route: minimum 18 months’ approved deck sea service after R-NW.
• Training route: minimum 12 months’ approved deck sea service after R-NW plus approved training.
• No fixed duration for the approved-training component is specified in the cited Rule 34/TEAP material.

The certification is competence-based. STCW Table A-II/5 requires Able Seafarer Deck ratings to demonstrate support-level competence across navigation; cargo handling and stowage; controlling ship operations and care for people on board; and maintenance and repair. Assessment can draw on approved in-service experience, practical training, examination, training-ship experience, or—where appropriate—simulator training.

In practical terms, the standard covers contributing to a safe navigational watch and to berthing, anchoring and mooring; safe cargo and stores handling, including dangerous, hazardous and harmful cargoes; safe use of deck equipment and machinery; occupational safety and anti-pollution precautions; survival-craft and rescue-boat operation; and routine shipboard maintenance and repair. Examples in the table include line handling, anchoring equipment, pilot ladders and gangways, knots and splices, deck/cargo gear, and safe work in enclosed spaces or aloft.

• Safe navigational watchkeeping, watch handover, and communication with the officer of the watch.
• Mooring, anchoring, berthing, line handling, and related deck operations.
• Safe handling, stowage, securing, and identification of cargoes and stores, including hazardous cargoes.
• Deck machinery and equipment, including winches, windlasses, cranes, hatches, ropes, cables, chains, ladders, and access arrangements.
• Shipboard safety, pollution prevention, survival craft/rescue boats, and routine maintenance.

The DGS TEAP describes the certification stage as an assessment-centre review of satisfactory approved sea service, approved training where applicable, and the documented on-board training in the approved RTRB. This means sea-service records and training-record evidence are central to the application rather than merely course attendance.

For filing, DGS Circular No. 3 of 2015 published a Facilitation Centre checklist for Able Seafarer Deck CoPs. It listed a signed application, INDoS printout, Indian CDC, passport, R-NW CoP, employer/operator sea-service letter, applicable safety/security and deck-rating course certificates, Article of Agreement or foreign-vessel contract letter, valid medical fitness certificate, and photographs. This is a dated procedural checklist, so applicants should confirm the live filing channel, documentary format, service charges, and fee schedule with DGS/MMD or the authorised Facilitation Centre before applying.

• Prepare evidence of the prerequisite R-NW CoP, qualifying deck sea service, approved training if using the 12-month route, and completed RTRB.
• Expect assessment-centre scrutiny of sea service and on-board training evidence.
• Use the DGS/MMD or authorised Facilitation Centre’s current instructions to validate documents and fees before submission; the cited checklist is from 2015.