Marshall Islands - CADET WORKING HOURS AND TRAINING RECORDS - MARINE SAFETY ADVISORY

Republic of the Marshall Islands

MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR 

MARINE SAFETY ADVISORY No. 34-20

To:	Owners/Operators, Masters, Nautical Inspectors, Recognized Organizations

Subject:

CADET WORKING HOURS AND TRAINING RECORDS

Date:

2 November 2020

Port State Control (PSC) deficiencies are frequently being issued over cadet working hours or missing or unavailable training records. Cadets are seafarers and, therefore, must be covered under a seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA) or a training agreement in lieu of a SEA (see Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Marine Notice 2-011-33, Administrator’s Determinations, page 19).

Most training agreements provide for a monthly lumpsum payment, a stipend. The agreements do not include overtime as do standard SEAs. Thus, it is understood that the cadets are to work normal hours. Normal working hours in port and at sea mean eight hours per day (see RMI Maritime Regulations (MI-108), §7.51.5a(1)).

The RMI Maritime Administrator (the “Administrator”) has observed during flag State inspections that cadets are working overtime hours on re-occurring basis. This fact is also being picked up by PSC who are issuing Code 17s and require payment of overtime.

During a recent PSC inspection, records for an onboard training program were not available on board. In another case, PSC determined that a licensed Electro-Technical Officer (Reg. III/6 of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) could not serve as cadet. The PSC officer issued deficiencies stating that the contracts needed to be changed per joining date and the wages paid per the Collective Bargaining Agreement scale. 

The Administrator advises that cadets must either be covered under a SEA that includes overtime or adhere to normal working hours under a training agreement where overtime is not specified. In addition, documentation should be available onboard to show that the cadet training program is followed for the period that the cadet is on board.  

This MSA expires one (1) year after its issuance, unless otherwise noted, extended, superseded, or revoked.  

Republic of the Marshall Islands
MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR
11495 COMMERCE PARK DRIVE, RESTON, VIRGINIA 20191-1506
TELEPHONE: +1-703-620-4880 FAX: +1-703-476-8522
EMAIL: maritime@register-iri.com WEBSITE: www.register-iri.com 

Link to download the Advisory:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/109OoI4WwWfuOaX9oROlKtrqmpStZ6oWy/view?usp=sharing