Entry & progression
Governing: Marine Order 73 (Ratings) 2014, read with Marine Order 70 (Seafarer certification) 2014. Builds on: Australia: AMSA, the National Law and STCW.
What a rating certificate is
On a regulated Australian vessel under the Navigation Act 2012, a rating needs a seafarer certificate for the duties they perform. Marine Order 73 (MO 73) sets the standards for those certificates and gives effect to the STCW Convention. What you receive is a certificate of proficiency (CoP), not a certificate of competency: it proves you can support the watch, not run it.
The Act has teeth. MO 73 points to the offences in Chapter 2, Part 2, Division 3 of the Act: falsely representing that you hold a certificate (s 34), performing duties without the appropriate certificate (s 35) and breaching a certificate condition (s 37).
The six grades
Schedule 1 of MO 73 lists six grades. Every one of them is valid on vessels of any size in any operating area.
| Grade | STCW basis | Duties defined by |
|---|---|---|
| Navigational Watch Rating (NWR) | Reg II/4 | Table A-II/4, column 1 |
| Engine Room Watch Rating (ERWR) | Reg III/4 | Table A-III/4 (see note) |
| Able Seafarer—Deck | Reg II/5 | Table A-II/5, column 1 |
| Able Seafarer—Engine | Reg III/5 | Table A-III/5, column 1 |
| Integrated Rating | II/5 and III/5 duties | both Able Seafarer tables |
| Chief Integrated Rating | senior II/5 and III/5 duties | as above, plus supervision |
Note: the compiled text of MO 73 defines engine room watch rating duties by reference to "Table A-II/4", which looks like a drafting slip for A-III/4. Treat the engine table as the intended one and let an SME confirm.
Where the Order stands
The current text is Compilation No. 2, dated 1 January 2018. It is exempt from sunsetting, so it has not been remade the way the deck officer order was (MO 71 in 2023). One AMSA web page for the NWR names MO 70 and MO 71 as the issuing orders; the Order text and AMSA's own June 2024 guidance notice say MO 70 and MO 73. Quote MO 73.
Old-style certificates under Marine Order 3 (2004), such as Able Seaman, Deck Rating and Engine Room Rating, expired on 1 January 2017. Schedule 5 mapped them across: Able Seaman and Deck Rating to Able Seafarer—Deck, Engine Room Rating to Able Seafarer—Engine.
Domestic hands: where GPH fits
The General Purpose Hand near coastal (GPH NC) is a domestic certificate under Marine Order 505 and the National Law, not an STCW certificate. It needs a minimum age of 16, 5 days on commercial vessels and the Certificate I in Maritime Operations (GPH Near Coastal). AMSA states that if you hold any of the six MO 73 rating certificates you can work as a GPH NC without holding the GPH, though you may apply for one as an equivalent. It does not work the other way: a GPH gives you nothing under MO 73. The domestic route is covered in General Purpose Hand and Coxswain.
TIP — Say the regulation, not the nickname Crew agents abroad will ask for "your II/4" or "your AB". Know that NWR is STCW II/4 and Able Seafarer—Deck is II/5, and have the certificate in hand.
Why yacht crew should care
Most Australian deckhands start on domestic charter work in the Whitsundays, Sydney or the Gold Coast with a GPH or Coxswain. The move to a large foreign-flag yacht is where an STCW rating certificate earns its keep. The Australian certificates are built on the same STCW tables as everyone else's. The yacht's flag state and its manning document still decide what it will accept, so confirm with the management company before you sign on.