Date of Release:

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) through the MARINA Advisory No. 2020-71, has issued the guidelines on the implementation of remote inspection / re-inspection relative to the conduct of course approval of Maritime Training Institutions (MTIs) and other MARINA-Authorized Training Providers (OMATPs) and Accreditation of Assessment Centers (ACs), including the conduct of monitoring and surveillance activities.

The issuance of this Advisory is to ensure that the processing of applications for course approval and accreditation, monitoring, and surveillance by the MTIs, ACs, and OMATPs remains unhindered without compromising the safety and health of the MARINA STCW Office Evaluation Team (ET) and the institutions’ personnel.

MA 2020-71 advises that the approach on the method of assessment will entail the remote evaluation of the MTIs’/ACs’/OMATPs’ capability to provide quality training and assessment. The remote evaluation will be done by making use of telecommunication devices to conduct discussions and presentations between the institutions and the MARINA ET who are in various locations.

The MTIs’/ACs/OMATPs’ will be assessed according to their compliance with existing MARINA Circulars and MARINA Advisory Nos. 2020-36, 2020-59, and other related issuances.

The Advisory also provides the general guidelines in the implementation of remote evaluation for accreditation, monitoring, and surveillance of MTIs, ACs, and OMATPs in place of the on-site evaluation in compliance with the applicable MARINA issuances and their subsequent amendments.

MTIs’/ACs’/OMATPs’ are urged to ensure that all the details in the key areas of evaluation, facilities, equipment and instruments/publications under verifications conform to the specifications of the document(s) submitted and are readily available.

The complete guidelines for the conduct of the remote evaluation, including the specific responsibilities of the MARINA STCW is available for viewing on the official MARINA website.

To access MARINA Advisory 2020-71, visit the link here.