BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 13. The delegation of the State Maritime and Port Agency (SMPA) of Azerbaijan represented the country at the 12th session of the Subcommittee on Human Factors, Training, and Watchkeeping of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport told Trend.
The event was attended by Said Orujov, director of the agency's ship's crew department, and Ahmad Lametov, a leading specialist of the training and certification department.
The main topic of the five-day session was dedicated to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and amendments to its code.
The delegation actively participated in the event and substantiated three previously submitted proposals. A decision was made to discuss one of the proposals within the framework of future sessions, and it was considered appropriate to discuss the other two proposals by the working group and add them to the STCW International Convention.
Important discussions highlighted the session, which was held on the basis of almost 160 documents covering over 150 gaps. At this year's 111th session of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee, which takes place in May, the projects that have been prepared will be presented for approval.
The session also addressed the need to reassess the pertinence of the current competency standards within the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), considering the swift advancements in digitalization and automation processes.
In light of the widespread digitization of contemporary navigation and control systems, the workshop stressed the need for equipping seafarers with the ability to recognize, avoid, and mitigate cyber threats.
For this purpose, a proposal was made to add new competency tables on relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies in the field of cybersecurity to the SOLAS.
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