Ship Security Officers/Alternate Ship Security Officers and security awareness training and certification
(Section 7 of Annex 3 of SDM Circular 24/2015)
All Cyprus ships are required to have a Ship Security Officer (SSO) and an alternate SSO. The SSO and alternate SSO must be identified in the SSP by rank. In this way the SSO and the alternate SSO can be identified through a cross reference to the Crew List of the ship at the time. In this manner, the need to submit amendments to the SSP for approval, as a result of shipboard personnel changes, is avoided.
Any member of the ship’s personnel, including the Master, may be designated as the SSO or as an alternate SSO provided he has the required training and understanding of the duties and obligations of the SSO or of the alternate SSO.
All SSOs and alternate SSOs on board Cyprus flagged vessel must have a certificate issued by this Administration or by a country whose certificates are recognized by the Republic of Cyprus, in accordance with regulation VI/5 of STCW 78 as amended. A list of countries whose certificates are recognized and a list of countries which are not issuing such certificates but they accept the certificates issued by training schools is available on the web page of the DMS under “Training, Certification and Maritime Labour”.
The SDM has issued additional instructions on the Manila Amendments of the STCW that are applicable as from 01 January 2012. The amendments are related to the Regulation VI/6 of the STCW 78 as amended on:
Security awareness training for the crew without security duties; and
Security awareness training for crew with security duties without SSO certificate.
All seafarers, on board a Cyprus flagged ship, without SSO certificate, must hold one of the above mentioned certificates as required by his/her appointment on board.
Owners and Managers of Cyprus vessels are reminded that more information and applications for the issuance of the aforesaid certificates may be obtained from the Seafarers Division of the Shipping Deputy Ministry.
Nomination of the Company Security Officer, his/her Alternate and the Recognized Security Organization (RSO)
(Section 6 of Annex 3 of SDM Circular 24/2015)
The Company, bearing in mind the requirements of sections A/11.2, A/13.1 and paragraph B/13.1 of the ISPS Code, must designate Company Security Officer(s) (CSO(s)) and alternate CSO(s) for the ships it operates. Their names and contact details shall be identified in the SSP.
Persons who have satisfactorily completed an approved course based on IMO Model Course 3.20 on CSO, or who have attended a course based on the knowledge, understanding and proficiency (KUP) as stated at the Annex of the MSC Circular 1154, are considered to have met the above-mentioned requirements for service as a CSO and alternate CSO.
Any Designated Persons (DP) (section 4 of the ISM Code) and any alternate DP, may also be designated as a CSO or alternate CSO, provided the requirements of sections A/11.2, A/13.1 and paragraph B/13.1 are met. In such a case, it is the Company concerned which has to ensure that such a person can adequately and efficiently perform both functions.
The name and contact details of the CSO and the alternate CSO must be communicated to the DMS using the EN04F01 form and any changes relating thereto. The form must be clearly typed and signed prior to its submission. When more than one CSO and his/her alternate is nominated by a company, then for each such nomination separate forms must be used.
The EN04F01 form is also used to notify the SDM of the nomination of the RSO of the ship and any changes relating thereto.
Whenever there are any changes of the contents of the EN04F01 form, the Company must promptly inform the SDM by submitting an updated form.
In case of changes to the CSO and/or the alternate CSO, the Ship Security Plans (SSP) must be amended accordingly to contain the details of the new CSO and/or alternate CSO.
The EN04F01 form and relevant notifications to the SDM, must be available for examination during shore-based verifications of the safety management system of the Company by the Recognized Organization (RO) issuing the Document of Compliance (DoC) of the Company as per the provisions of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code.