Issued under STCW Regulation III/6
The UK Electro-Technical Officer Certificate of Competency is issued under STCW Convention Regulation III/6, implemented domestically through the Merchant Shipping (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations 2022. Understanding which regulation governs your certificate matters in the oral because an examiner will expect you to cite it precisely — not just say "STCW" generically.
The certificate carries no area limitation and no tonnage limitation. This distinguishes it from many deck and engineer officer certificates that restrict service by trading area or ship size. An ETO CoC is therefore valid across the full range of vessels and voyages, provided the ship's Safe Manning Document calls for an ETO or the owner/operator determines one is required.
The three functions the CoC covers
Your CoC authorises you to perform three STCW functions, all at operational level:
- Function 3 — Controlling the operation of the ship and care for persons on board
- Function 5 — Electrical, electronic and control engineering
- Function 6 — Maintenance and repair
Know these by number as well as by name; examiners may refer to them either way. Function 5 is the technical core of the ETO role, but Functions 3 and 6 confirm that the ETO also shares responsibility for shipboard safety and the upkeep of all electrical, electronic and control systems — not just fault response.
All three functions sit at the operational level, not the management level. The management level is relevant only if you later pursue the Senior ETO endorsement, which is a separate pathway requiring additional qualifications and sea service after the CoC is issued.
Why 18 is the minimum age
MSN 1860 Amendment 1 states that a candidate must be at least 18 years old at the point of issue. This aligns with the STCW Convention's general minimum age provisions for certificated officers. A candidate who completes all training and sea service before their eighteenth birthday must still wait for the CoC to be issued.
The current governing notice
The UK requirements for ETO certification are set out in MSN 1860 Amendment 1, published 19 December 2022. The original MSN 1860 (2015) was withdrawn from gov.uk on 10 January 2023 and has no standing. In the oral, if asked which Merchant Shipping Notice governs ETO certification, you must cite the Amendment 1 version and its December 2022 date — citing the 2015 original would be incorrect.
MIN 654 (the ETO oral syllabus notice) sits alongside MSN 1860 A1: it defines what the examiner will assess, whereas MSN 1860 A1 defines what you must have done to sit the exam.
Employed as an ETO? The CoC is mandatory
MSN 1860 A1 is explicit: if you are employed on a ship as an ETO, you must hold an STCW ETO CoC even when no ETO billet appears on the Safe Manning Document. However, STCW Regulation III/6 paragraph 5 permits a suitably qualified person who does not hold the CoC to carry out certain ETO functions — for example, in the role of Electrician or Systems Engineer. The distinction is in the job title and the responsibilities assigned, not simply the tasks performed day-to-day.