STCW10 Updating or Renewal Courses

STCW10 Updating or Renewal Courses

Seafarers who hold an existing Personal Survival Techniques (PST) certificate and Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting certificate (FPFF) are required to complete this updating training course every 5 years to maintain proficiency under the STCW 2010 Manila Amendments (STCW Section A-VI/1 and table A-VI/1-1).

Ondeck delivers both of these MCA approved STCW Updating courses. Each is conducted over a full day period by our qualified and highly experienced maritime instructors.

Though not mandatory for STCW, many organisations, including the RYA, require the First Aid Certificate to be updated every 2 or 3 years to remain current in their qualification. This course is also ideal for any seafarer who wishes to keep their first aid skills and knowledge up to date allowing them to remain competent and confident in applying basic life saving techniques. This would be an extra day in addition to the above

Fire prevention and Fire Fighting Updating - $245usd pp or take both together for $575usd pp.

Under the STCW 2010 requirements for training and certification, updated proficiency training will need to be undertaken in fire prevention and firefighting every five years. Section A-VI/1 of the STCW Code (paragraph 3) states that ‘Seafarers qualified in accordance with paragraph 2 in basic training shall be required, every five years, to provide evidence of having maintained the required standard of competence, to undertake the tasks, duties and responsibilities listed in column 1 of table A VI/1-2.’

This is a practical one-day fire course involving use of hoses, nozzles and extinguishers, as well as breathing apparatus inside the fire unit, both in restricted visibility and hot fire conditions.

Subjects covered in this practical module include:

Use of portable fire extinguishers on appropriate fire types

Use of fire blankets

Use of hoses, nozzles and hose equipment

Extinguish fires as a member of a team

Test and use BA and associated equipment

Safe door opening procedures, ladder use, search procedures, rescue techniques and evacuation in reduced visibility

Casualty rescue, communication and team work within a smoke-filled or hostile environment

Fighting fires in an accommodation or engine room area in heavy smoke

On successful completion of this course the student will receive an MCA approved STCW Updating Proficiency in Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting (STCW Regulation A-VI/1-2) certificate

PST – Personal Survival Techniques Updating - $245usd pp or take both together for $575usd pp.

Under the STCW 2010 requirements for training and certification, updated proficiency training will need to be undertaken in personal survival techniques every five years. Section A-VI/1 of STCW (paragraph 3) states that ‘Seafarers qualified in accordance with paragraph 2 in basic training shall be required, every five years, to provide evidence of having maintained the required standard of competence, to undertake the tasks, duties and responsibilities listed in column 1 of table A VI/1-1.’

Put simply, all seafarers who hold an existing personal survival techniques (PST) certificate are required to complete this updating training course every 5 years. This one-day course covers both theoretical and practical elements of PST.

Subjects covered in this module include:

Emergency situations such as collision, fire and flooding.

Different types of life-saving appliances carried on ships.

Equipment in survival craft.

Location of personal life-saving appliances.

Principles concerning survival at sea.

Donning (putting on) a life jacket.

Immersion suits.

Safely jumping from a height into the water.

Righting an upturned life raft while wearing a life jacket.

Swimming while wearing a life jacket and keeping afloat.

Boarding a life raft from a ship or the water while wearing a life jacket.

Taking initial actions on boarding a survival craft to enhance chance of survival.

Streaming a sea anchor.

Recovering an injured person to a survival craft.

On completion of this course the student will receive an MCA approved STCW Updated certificate in Personal Survival Techniques (STCW Regulation A-VI/1-1).

Please click on the 'Training Dates & Booking' button on the right to check available dates.

Fire prevention and Fire Fighting

Fire prevention and Fire Fighting (2½ Days)

We can’t make you into fire fighters in just a few days but we can help you protect your vessel and crew with some exciting scenario training and real fire training. This element will give you a greater understanding of how to manage a fire, don on Breathing Apperatus while safely extinguishing any fire found. For this course we recommend you wear long sleeved tops and tracksuit bottoms and that you don’t mind smelling of smoke, all other equipment will be provided. 

Proficiency in Security Awareness (PSA)

Proficiency in Security Awareness (PSA) ½ day

This is included within our STCW Safety Training course or can be taken as a stand alone 4 hour course and is required by anyone working on a vessel to which the ISPS code applies 

It is required for those who don’t have designated security duties and aims to enable crew to contribute to the enhancement of maritime security, recognising threats and understanding the need for maintaining awareness and vigilance.

Cost as stand alone course US $95

Personal Safety and Social Responsibilites (PSSR)

Personal Safety and Social Responsibilites (PSSR)

All sounds very serious for those who have never found themselves living in close proximity with others and in areas of the world where traditions/cultures and security is of importance. This course gives you an over view of how to respect your crew mates and understand the possible vulnerability of being the foreigner and keeping you, the crew and the vessel you’re on safe.

Elementary First Aid

Elementary First Aid (1 day)

Elementary First Aid

The Elementary First Aid course module combines theory and practical training for basic first aid and lifesaving skills. The course aims to provide an introduction to the principles of first aid and details how to respond to common medical emergencies.

Subjects covered in this module include:

Types of accidents and emergencies on board that may require first aid

Methods of raising the alarm

Immediate actions when accidents or medical emergencies occur

Minimising risk of further harm

Body structure and functions

Emergency first aid equipment and its use

Priorities of treatment (Triage)

Casualty positioning and transportation

Basic Life Support (CPR)

Shock management

Bandaging

Wounds/Bleeding

Burns/Scalds

On successful completion of this course the student will receive an MCA approved STCW certificate in Elementary First Aid (STCW Regulation A-VI/1-3)

$195usd pp. Please click on the 'Training Dates & Booking' button on the right to check available dates.

Sea Survival

Personal Survival Techniques (PST)

This is a one day course and gives you the introduction of what to do should you ever need to abandon ship and take to the liferaft. The course covers basic survival afloat, what to take with you and how to best survive whilst awaiting rescue. The practical part of the course, takes part in the sea where you will don on a lifejacket and practice your skills in and out of the liferaft.

It is one of the modules of the MCA Basic Safety Training and relevant for both professional and leisure vessel users

You will be required to wear your swim suit, shorts a, whilst completing the pool session. Please also bring a towel.

The aim of the sea survival module is to provide seafarers with the essential education and training in personal survival techniques to maximise the chances of survival in the event of an emergency or abandonment

Subjects covered in this module include:

Emergency situations such as collision, fire and flooding.

Different types of life-saving appliances carried on ships.

Equipment in survival craft.

Location of personal life-saving appliances.

Principles concerning survival at sea.

Donning (putting on) a life jacket.

Immersion suits.

Safely jumping from a height into the water.

Righting an upturned life raft while wearing a life jacket.

Swimming while wearing a life jacket and keeping afloat.

Boarding a life raft from a ship or the water while wearing a life jacket.

Taking initial actions on boarding a survival craft to enhance chance of survival.

Streaming a sea anchor.

Recovering an injured person to a survival craft.

On completion of this course the student will receive an MCA approved STCW certificate in Personal Survival Techniques (STCW Regulation A-VI/1-1).

$245usd pp. Please click on the 'Training Dates & Booking' button on the right to check available dates.

RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory

RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory & Oral Exam

Ondeck provide a comprehensive, professional training curriculum, covering all aspects of Ocean Sailing from the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory course to the qualifying Ocean Passage and Oral Exam.

The Yachtmaster Ocean Theory course is run over 5 days and covers astro-navigation and worldwide meteorology. You will learn the art of using a sextant as well as what to do in heavy weather and hurricane situations. Passage planning is also covered as part of this course and you will be ask to consider everything from your choice of yacht to victualling and fuel management and much much more.
The usual sequence is to complete the theory and exam papers; follow this with a 650 nm qualifying passage during which you should take sights and then arrange for the oral exam. There are some allowed variations to this so please call for more information.

We have prepared some notes which cover the Ocean exam pre-requisites, including certification required, minimum seatime and more. Please click here for the qualifying passage RYA requirements.

Students wanting to complete the Yachtmaster Ocean Exam will need to hold a Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence.

Please click here to see the progression and recommended path for RYA theory courses.

Classroom $1250usd pp - Oral exam only $150usd pp. Please click on the 'Training Dates & Booking' button on the right to check available dates.

Yachtmaster Offshore Fast Track Programmes

RYA YACHTMASTER OFFSHORE FAST TRACK PROGRAMMES

2nd January 2017 – 15th April 2017 and 4th September 2017 – 22nd December 2017


Ondeck’s Fast Track course is built to take sailing novices through to Yacht Master Offshore with STCW & Engineering Qualifications – ideal as a stepping-stone for a career in the sailing industry.

We are based in the Caribbean on the beautiful island of Antigua, a unique place to do our Fast Track programme, as it is a hub for super yachts looking for skilled & qualified crew.  Antigua & Barbuda is one of the principal yachting & sailing centres in the Caribbean. 

Our Ondeck Maritime Training Centre offers the complete STCW 2010 course curriculum, while the new engineering training centre offers engineering and yacht maintenance qualifications. Our programme also involves visits to other islands/countries so not only interesting but invaluable in terms of learning customs and immigration procedures for yachts 

We have a flotilla of modern 40 ft yachts plus a 65 ft training vessel – ideal for training & building your experience before working on larger private yachts. Our crew house is available to rent for the shore base courses.  We also offer dinghy sailing level 1 & 2 at Sailing Academy in Falmouth, which can be taken ahead of the Fast Track course to help develop basic sailing skills & wind awareness.

The course culminates in the Yachtmaster Offshore Exam by an independent RYA Yachtmaster Examiner. This is a 10 hour practical and oral examination on all aspects of sailing a yacht in difficult circumstances.  With your hard working & our experienced instructors, you can be fully prepared and confident of passing the exam.

After the course we offer agency help in finding work in the sailing industry.

These courses are timed to finish at the end of the 2017 season in April which means that delivery jobs back to Europe or North America will be plentiful. The second courses starting in September 2017 will finish in time for candidates looking for work in the Caribbean at the beginning of the busy season there.

Pre-Requisites

Before arriving in Antigua, suggest you have the following:

> ENG 1 or equivalent Medical which is a requirement for working on many yachts 

> B1/B2 Visa for the USA. This allows you to sail into the US and so opens up more work opportunities 

> Dinghy course – if no previous sailing experience.  This can be booked at the Sailing Academy in Antigua ahead of the start of the Fast Track Course.


Course Details

Module 1 – builds a strong foundation, introducing novices to the theoretical & practical side of sailing. Acquire the qualifications & licenses to run a yacht with confidence & pursue a profession in the sailing industry.

Module 1PracticalShorebased
Competent Crew5-days 
STCW 5-days
Weekend Off
Day Skipper Theory 5-days
Mile and Experience Builder7-days 
Weekend Off
Day Skipper Practical5-days 
SRC 1-day
Powerboat Level 22-days 

Module 2 – builds your experience & level of skills, continually broadening the conditions & circumstances in which you get to practice handling & running the boat.

Module 2PracticalShorebased
Coastal Skipper Theory 5-days
Weekend Off
Coastal Skipper Practical5-days 
Distance Sail7-days 
Weekend Off
Coastal Skipper Assessment Week5-days 
Yacht Maintenence 7-days

Module 3 – Focus is on completing the miles required for your exam & then honing you skills so you are as prepared as you can be for the exam.

Module 3PracticalShorebased
Distance Sail – 65 ft training vessel21-days 
Distance Sail7-days 
Weekend Off
Yachtmaster Prep12-days 
Yachtmaster Exam2-days 

Yachtmaster Sail to Power Conversion

POWER TO SAIL AND SAIL TO POWER EXAMS

From July 2021 there is no longer a shortened conversion exam as such

The exam that will be undertaken by the candidate is a full exam, however the fact that the candidate already holds an RYA Yachtmaster Certificate of Competence in one discipline, means that we can accepted a reduced amount of mileage and sea time in the discipline for which they will now be examined.

Holders of the RYA Yachtmaster® Coastal or Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence in a particular discipline (sail or power) are eligible for a “discount” in terms of the mileage and sea time that is required for the exam in the other discipline.

The sea time shown below must be in the discipline in which you are to be examined (sail or power). All qualifying seatime must be within 10 years

Yachtmaster Offshore

  • Minimum of 1250 miles
  • 25 days living on board
  • 3 days as skipper
  • 3 passages over 60 miles including 1 overnight and 1 as skipper

It is essential that candidates for any exam be fully conversant with the entire syllabus relating to the relevant type of vessel (sail or motor) and that they have adequate experience to be confident in the capacity of skipper of that type of craft. 


RYA Yachtmaster Offshore/Coastal Theory

RYA Coastal/Yachtmaster Offshore Theory

The  course builds on the navigation and other theory knowledge acquired on the Day Skipper Course. It is intended for cruising yachtsmen, motor boaters, and those who are looking to undertake more complex passages, perhaps offshore or at night.

It is a demanding theory course covering advanced navigation techniques such as – Position Fixing, Course to Steer, Passage Planning, Pilotage, Meteorology, IRPCS, Stability and Buoyage. By the end of the course the successful student will have a comprehensive knowledge of what is required to navigate to Yachtmaster standard, and will have passed 3 exams on chart work, passage planning, and IRPCS.

It is highly recommended that you revise the collision regulations before attending the course and have acquired the Day Skipper Theory knowledge before doing this course, to ensure successful completion.

Please click here to see the progression and recommended path for RYA theory courses.

The course is 6 full days but candidates can choose to continue their study before taking the final exams.

If you are planning to follow this course with the Yachtmaster Coastal or Offshore practical preparation and exams do ensure that you have an acceptable First Aid and VHF certificate - if not these can be booked with Ondeck.

Online - $475usd pp - Classroom $995usd pp. Please click on the 'Training Dates & Booking' button on the right to check available dates.

Duration:  6 Days No. Students to Instructor: 6:1
Previous Experience: Day skipper theory or similar   Minimum Age: none
Locations: Antigua Dates: This course is run all year round