Water-tight or sinking? A consideration of the standards of the contemporary assessment practices underpinning seafarer licence examinations and their implications for employers

Abstract

This article draws upon recent, detailed, research into the assessment practices of six seafarer labour supply countries in connection with the issue of licences. It outlines the different forms of assessment practiced and includes the relatively recent introduction of computer-based assessment in some states. In considering the validity and appropriateness of the assessment procedures, currently in use, the paper references, and presents, the views of a sample of employers who regularly recruit seafarers to work upon internationally trading deep-sea vessels.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the European Maritime Safety Agency for commissioning the research underpinning this article and for their permission to publish from our findings. We would also like to thank all those individuals who assisted us by taking part in the research—their contributions were greatly valued.