How SAMSA certifies
Governing: 2021 Regulations, regs 4 to 9 and 18 to 21. Builds on: L1.1.
Before looking at individual tickets, get the machinery straight. SAMSA does not train you; accredited institutions do. SAMSA assesses, certifies, registers and audits.
The people
| Role | What the Regulations give them |
|---|---|
| Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Seafarers | Issue certificates and endorsements; keep an electronic register; verify certificates for other administrations and companies |
| Examiners | Appointed under section 77(4) of the Act; conduct assessments |
| Senior Examiners (deck, engine, radio) | Decide doubtful or "equivalent" sea service, accredit training, review penalties |
| Chief Examiner | Final say on assessment matters; chairs the syllabus committee |
The syllabus committee keeps the Training Standards Code under review and must meet twice a year.
Three levels of assessment
Regulation 18 is the heart of the system. You will hear "L3" used as a noun in every SA maritime college.
| Level | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | On board | Onboard training assessed by qualified officers and recorded in an approved training record book |
| Level 2 | Accredited training institution | Approved courses and written examinations |
| Level 3 | SAMSA | Oral examination by an examiner, for any CoC, endorsement or removal of a limitation |
What you need depends on the document:
- Officer CoC: competent at Levels 1, 2 and 3.
- Certificate of proficiency (and radio CoCs): Levels 1 and 2.
- Ordinary seafarer: Level 1 only.
You must be competent at the lower levels before sitting Level 3.
Competency versus proficiency
The Regulations use STCW's two terms carefully:
- Certificate of Competency (CoC) for officers (deck, engineer, radio) at operational and management level.
- Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) for ratings and for the short courses: basic training, survival craft, advanced firefighting, medical care, security and the rest.
Some certificates are national only. Regulation 2(11) says the special grade CoCs, all port operations certificates, the ship's cook certificate and the long and short range radio certificates are not issued under STCW. That matters abroad: a port operations ticket will not earn you a foreign endorsement.
Quality standards and the White List
Regulation 6 establishes SAMSA's Quality Standards System, which must stand up to independent evaluation under STCW and the IMO audit scheme. South Africa's STCW implementation was reported to IMO's Maritime Safety Committee in October 2022 as giving full and complete effect to the Convention, keeping the country on the White List. That status is why SAMSA certificates can be recognised by other flags at all.
TIP — Keep your own copy The Registrar holds the official record, but you should hold scans of every certificate, testimonial and record-book page. When a yacht management company asks for a verification, having the certificate number and issue date to hand speeds it up.
Where this course draws its lines
Small vessel skipper tickets under the National Small Vessel Safety Regulations are covered in SAMSA Skipper Categories R–B and SAMSA Coastal Skipper and Skipper Offshore. Radio certificates are in South African Marine Radio. Here we stay with STCW officer and rating certification.